Unbelievable 181 MPH Wind Gust Recorded on Chair 6 at Kirkwood Resort, CA

Luckily no one was on the chair. 

In the early hours of Thursday, March 14, Kirkwood Mountain Resort in Lake Tahoe experienced an unprecedented 181mph wind gust on Chair 6, with sustained winds reaching 141mph. The resort clocked in the extreme wind speeds last night at 12:45 on an anemometer that provides weather data for the National Weather Service. The hourly graph shows 100 mph winds persisting throughout the night. Nearby Palisades Tahoe also experienced extreme winds at the same time with its anemometers reporting 75-90 mph sustained winds with gusts up to 130 mph.

Wind speeds like these—which are uncommon but not unheard of in Lake Tahoe—show the type of beating that ski resort infrastructure can take without batting an eye. It also shows the raw power of nature in the Sierra Nevada, and that Mother Nature is the one who is in charge at the end of the day.