Many people--including many Chicagoans--assume Chicago is the windiest city in the country.

Although it is irrelevant to the question of how the nickname "Windy City" got started, Chicago is far from the windiest city there is. In terms of average annual wind speed as measured by the National Climatic Data Center, Chicago trails Boston, New York, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Des Moines, Honolulu, Key West, and dozens of other cities mostly on the coasts and plains.

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National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/online/ccd/maxwnd.txt
http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/plsql/olstore.prodspecific?prodnum=C00095-PUB-A0001#TABLES

DATA THROUGH 2003 / AVG ANNUAL WIND SPEED (MPH)

MT. WASHINGTON, NH 35.1
ST. PAUL ISLAND, AK 16.9
COLD BAY,AK 16.8
JOHNSTON ISLAND, PC 15.8
BLUE HILL, MA 15.2
DODGE CITY, KS 13.9
WAKE ISLAND, PC 13.8
AMARILLO, TX 13.5
KWAJALEIN, MARSHALL IS., PC 13.4
BARTER IS.,AK 13.2

CHEYENNE, WY 12.9
KAHULUI, HI 12.8
KOTZEBUE, AK 12.8
ROCHESTER, MN 12.8
CASPER, WY 12.7
BETHEL, AK 12.5
GOODLAND, KS 12.5
GREAT FALLS, MT 12.5
LIHUE, HI 12.5
BOSTON, MA 12.4

LUBBOCK, TX 12.4
CLAYTON, NM 12.2
FARGO, ND 12.2
NEW YORK (LAGUARDIA AP), NY 12.2
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 12.2
WICHITA, KS 12.2
BARROW, AK 12.0
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX 12.0
ABILENE, TX 11.9
CONCORDIA, KS 11.9

BUFFALO, NY 11.8
GRAND ISLAND, NE 11.8
NEW YORK (JFK AP), NY 11.8
SEXTON SUMMIT, OR 11.6
WICHITA FALLS, TX 11.6
HURON, SD 11.5
MILWAUKEE, WI 11.5
BRIDGEPORT, CT 11.3
BROWNSVILLE, TX 11.3
HONOLULU,HI 11.3

BILLINGS, MT 11.2
NORFOLK, NE 11.2
RAPID CITY, SD 11.2
MIDLAND-ODESSA, TX 11.1
DULUTH, MN 11.0
ERIE, PA. 11.0
GALVESTON, TX 11.0
SIOUX CITY, IA 11.0
SIOUX FALLS, SD 11.0
WACO, TX 11.0

ABERDEEN, SD 10.9
CAPE HATTERAS, NC 10.9
KEY WEST, FL 10.9
KODIAK, AK 10.9
PAGO PAGO, AMER SAMOA, PC 10.9
SPRINGFIELD, IL 10.9
DALLAS-FORT WORTH, TX 10.7
DES MOINES, IA 10.7
GLASGOW, MT 10.7
BLOCK IS.,RI 10.6

KANSAS CITY, MO 10.6
MUSKEGON, MI 10.6
SAN FRANCISCO AP, CA 10.6
MINNEAPOLIS-ST.PAUL, MN 10.5
NORFOLK, VA 10.5
CLEVELAND, OH 10.5
OMAHA EPPLEY AP, NE 10.5
SCOTTSBLUFF, NE 10.5
KING SALMON, AK 10.5
WATERLOO, IA 10.5

NOME, AK 10.4
PROVIDENCE, RI 10.4
SPRINGFIELD, MO 10.4
CHICAGO,IL 10.3
ELY, NV 10.3
GRAND FORKS, ND 10.3
SAN ANGELO, TX 10.3
BISMARCK, ND 10.2
DETROIT, MI 10.2
FLINT, MI 10.2
MAJURO, MARSHALL IS, PC 10.2
MANSFIELD, OH 10.2
NEWARK, NJ 10.2
SOUTH BEND, IN 10.2
TULSA, OK 10.2
ANNETTE, AK 10.1
BINGHAMTON, NY 10.1
NORTH PLATTE, NE 10.1
POCATELLO, ID 10.1
WORCESTER, MA 10.1
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 10.0
HAVRE, MT 10.0
LINCOLN, NE 10.0

REMAINING CITIES (UNRANKED)

SAINT CLOUD, MN 8.3 JACKSON, MS 7.0 MERIDIAN, MS 6.2 TUPELO, MS 6.7 COLUMBIA, MO 9.8 ST. LOUIS, MO 9.6 HELENA, MT 7.7 KALISPELL, MT 6.2 MISSOULA, MT 6.2 OMAHA (NORTH), NE 9.1 VALENTINE, NE 9.8 ELKO, NV 5.9 LAS VEGAS, NV 9.2 RENO, NV 6.6 WINNEMUCCA, NV 8.0 CONCORD, NH 6.7 ATLANTIC CITY AP, NJ 9.8 ALBUQUERQUE, NM 8.9 ROSWELL, NM 8.7 ALBANY, NY 8.9 ISLIP, NY 9.0 NEW YORK C.PARK, NY 9.3 ROCHESTER, NY 9.6 SYRACUSE, NY 9.4 ASHEVILLE, NC 7.3 CHARLOTTE, NC 7.4 GREENSBORO-WNSTN-SALM-HGHPT,NC 7.5 RALEIGH, NC 7.6 WILMINGTON, NC 8.6 WILLISTON, ND 9.8 AKRON, OH 9.7 COLUMBUS, OH 8.3 DAYTON, OH 9.9 TOLEDO, OH 9.4 YOUNGSTOWN, OH 9.7 ASTORIA, OR 8.5 EUGENE, OR 7.6 MEDFORD, OR 4.8 PENDLETON, OR 8.6 PORTLAND, OR 7.9 SALEM, OR 7.0 GUAM, PC 9.1 KOROR, PC 6.8 POHNPEI, CAROLINE IS., PC 6.3 CHUUK, E. CAROLINE IS., PC 9.0 YAP, W CAROLINE IS., PC 8.0 ALLENTOWN, PA 8.9 HARRISBURG, PA 7.5 MIDDLETOWN/HARRISBURG INTL APT 7.7 PHILADELPHIA, PA 9.5 PITTSBURGH, PA 9.0 AVOCA, PA 8.2 WILLIAMSPORT, PA 7.5 CHARLESTON AP,SC 8.6 COLUMBIA, SC 6.8 GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG AP, SC 7.0 BRISTOL-JHNSN CTY-KNGSPRT,TN 5.4 CHATTANOOGA, TN 6.0 KNOXVILLE, TN 6.9 MEMPHIS, TN 8.8 NASHVILLE, TN 8.0 OAK RIDGE,TN 4.1 AUSTIN/CITY, TX 8.9 AUSTIN/BERGSTROM, TX 7.0 DALLAS-LOVE FIELD, TX 9.5 DEL RIO, TX 9.6 EL PASO, TX 8.8 HOUSTON, TX 7.6 PORT ARTHUR, TX 9.6 SAN ANTONIO, TX 9.1 VICTORIA, TX 9.9 SALT LAKE CITY, UT 8.8 BURLINGTON, VT 9.0 LYNCHBURG, VA 7.0 RICHMOND, VA 7.7 ROANOKE, VA 7.9 OLYMPIA, WA 6.6 QUILLAYUTE, WA 5.9 SEATTLE SEA-TAC AP, WA 8.8 SPOKANE, WA 8.9 YAKIMA, WA 7.1 SAN JUAN, PR 8.4 BECKLEY, WV 8.4 CHARLESTON, WV 5.8 ELKINS, WV 5.7 HUNTINGTON, WV 6.5 GREEN BAY, WI 9.9 LA CROSSE, WI 8.9 MADISON, WI 9.6 LANDER, WY 6.8 SHERIDAN, WY 8.0