Directional extreme wind speed data for the design of buildings and other structures

The purpose is to provide largest yearly fastest-mile wind speed data corresponding to winds blowing from each octant at 37 airport stations in the United States. Four sets of data are presented. The first set consists of largest yearly fastest-mile wind speeds at 24 stations as extracted from original records. The second set consists of largest yearly fastest-mile wind speeds at 13 stations as extracted from Local Climatological Data (LCD) summaries. The third and fourth sets consist of the data from the first and second sets reduced to a height of 10 m above ground. Information on possible differences between extreme data extracted from original records on the one hand and from LCD summaries on the other hand is given. Procedures for estimating extreme wind effects that take into account the directional characteristics of the extreme wind climate and of the aerodynamic behavior of the structure are briefly reviewed, and it is noted that additional research on sampling errors in the estimation of extreme wind effects appears to be warranted.