.Very Windy Winter, and Windy March Across The U.S, Including Vermont

Early spring can bring a lot wind to Vermont, in this
case dumping a dead tree onto one of my perennial
gardens last year. This winter and the past month
have been very unusually windy in Vermont,
and the United States as a whole, 

 Was your hairdo a mess during March, and for most of the winter for that matter. 

The reason might be because it was windy as hell. All over the United States including here in Vermont, 

The people who measure these things say March was the second windiest overall in the United States since at least 1940, the Washington Post reports.

Michigan had its windiest March on record, Nine states, including Vermont, had their second windiest March on record. 

At Burlington, 18 days in March had gusts to at least 30 mph, including seven that reached at least 40 mph. The wind gusted to 60 mph on March 16.

March has always had a windy reputation anyway.  Differences in air temperature help create wind.  And the closer the warm air is to the cold air, the gustier it tends to be.

In March, you still get those frigid Arctic air blasts coming down from Canada. Meanwhile the forces of spring are gathering to the south, and starting to push that balmy air northward. The clash causes storms  - which means wind. 

This March, the jet stream was wavier than usual. Meaning the north and southward bulges in the jet stream helped create even stronger storms than we usually see in March. Climate change has also turned the Gulf of Mexico warmer. That heats and moisturizes the air over the Gulf more than it used to, which means even hotter air clashed with the cold fronts from Canada.

The results were a lot of wind. 

WINDY VERMONT WINTER

The entire cold season in Vermont was more blustery than usual, says the National Weather Service office in South Burlington.   

According to National Weather Service data, wind gusts in Burlington reached at least 30 mph on 73 days between October 1, 2024 and April 1, 2025.  That's the most in any cold season since at least 1989.  The old record was 70 such days in 2020-21 and 2014-15.

Montpelier was even more impressive at being blustery since the beginning of October. They had 63 days between last October 1 and this April 1 with gusts to 30 mph or greater.  Before that, no year since at least the late 1980s had more than 49 days with such gusts during that six months period. 

If you average out all the daily peak gusts in the six months ending April 1, the average peak gust on a given day in Burlington during that period was 28.29 mph.  Again, a record high since at least the late 1980s.  Montpelier had a similar pattern, with its gustiest cold season on record in 2024-25.

Also, I counted at least 25 days in Burlington between October 1 and April 1 with gusts too at least 40 mph.

No wonder I've been playing pick up sticks in my yard so much lately now that the snow has melted.

The National Weather Service in South Burlington didn't get into why the winter was so blustery. I know we had a lot of days in which strong storms passed by to our west, which tend to create strong south winds. Also, intense storms sometimes stalled near the Canadian Maritimes, especially in January, so we'd endure gusty northwest winds.

LOOKING AHEAD

Even if it stays windier than average, the gusts start to diminish in the spring as we head into a summer lull. 

Storm systems get weaker as we head into the warm season. That's because the contrast between the chilly air up north and the sultry air to the south isn't as great as it is in the winter and early spring. 

Almost always, the only time we have strong or even damaging winds in the spring and summer is during severe thunderstorms. Usually those thunderstorm winds cover a relatively small area, so most of the state stays relatively calm even though a few towns are picking their way through a mess of fallen trees after a summer storm. 

Every once in awhile, a tropical storm or former tropical storm will cause strong winds in Vermont, but that doesn't happen too often. But when it does, we know it. 

The remnants of Tropical Storm Debby last August 9 brought wind gusts to 62 mph in Burlington and up to similar speeds elsewhere in Vermont. That wind storm damaged some houses, blocked roads with fallen trees and cut power to 49,000 homes and businesses across the state.

In the short term, we don't expect much win over the next few days, so you can fix your hairdo and look fabulous now, without fear of gusts ruining it.