Forecast map / Forecast, hour by hour

Forecast wind gusts map

Over MET STN AT FOURMILE CK AT VA CAP TRL AT VARINA, Virginia, where the map opens. The whole country

The strongest gusts ahead, in miles an hour: the brief bursts that bring down limbs and power lines. How to read it.

Gusts on the map

What the gusts map shows

The strongest gusts ahead, in miles an hour: the brief bursts above the steady wind that bring down limbs and power lines. Gusts over 58 mph are what a severe thunderstorm or high wind warning names.

How to read it

Under 20 mph: Little gusting.
20 to 40 mph: Gusty; loose things blow about.
40 to 58 mph: Limbs down, power cuts possible.
Over 58 mph: Severe; what a severe thunderstorm or high wind warning names.
Over 74 mph: Hurricane force.

What it is for

Know when to tie down, take in or stay off the road.
See where power lines and trees are most at risk.
Read with the wind map: steady wind and gusts together.

How it is made

The forecast maps are drawn from the national blend of the forecast models: the models joined into one forecast and corrected against what each place has measured, on a grid 1.6 miles across, the forecast the country’s forecasters start from. Each of its main runs, four a day, is read whole, laid onto the same grid of latitude and longitude as the radar at 2.8 miles a cell, and played forward from now.

A frame every 3 hours to 3 days, then every 6 hours to 7 days, played from now as a loop of 1 to 7 days. As data: /radar/now.json?show=fgust, the times of its frames.