79 Years ago today, Mount Washington Observatory records the highest surface wind ever measured, anywhere on earth at 231 miles per hour! That’s an astoundingly powerful wind.
Building codes for much of the United States require buildings to be built for 90 mph wind loads. Due to the design and construction requirements inherent in modular buildings, particularly during their transport, we find that our modular buildings often exceed building code without extra reinforcing. While designing to accommodate 231 mph winds would present a monumental challenge we have done work along the Gulf Coast that requires buildings to meet wind loads from 100-150 mph. In 2008 Hurricane Ike made landfall with 110 mph Category 2 winds and a 22-foot storm surge West of Cameron Parish, Louisiana the site of a Palomar modular building the Johnson Bayou Rural Health Clinic. The building, sitting on a foundation of raised piers for flood safety, suffered minor damage to its underside in the third-costliest hurricane to make landfall in the United States.
The highest surface wind speed ever officially recorded is 372 km/h (231 mph; 103 m/s) at the Mount Washington (New Hampshire) Observatory in the US on 12 April 1934, using a heated anemometer. The anemometer, specifically designed for use on Mount Washington, was later tested by the US National Weather Bureau and confirmed to be accurate. (Source Wikipedia)