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How to Figure Wind Speed

An anemometer is an instrument for measuring wind speed. Wind speed is the air moving horizontally. The measurement of wind is important for meteorologists in determining the weather conditions. The anemometer is placed outdoors and it rotates or spins at the same speed that the wind moves. The Beaufort Wind Scale measures wind speed on a scale of 0 to 12, with 0 being a calm wind and 12 being a hurricane. Wind speed is measured in miles per hour or mph.

Things You'll Need

Anemometer
Stopwatch or kitchen timer
Pen and paper

Instructions

- 1
  Place the anemometer in an open area that gets wind from all four directions -- north, east, south and west. Hold the anemometer in your hand or mount it on a flat surface about 4 feet off the ground. The simplest anemometer has five cups placed horizontally in a circle. One of the cups is a different color.
- 2
  Set the stopwatch or kitchen timer for 1 minute.
- 3
  Turn on the stopwatch or time and count the number of times the colored cup rotates during that 1 minute. Write down the number.
- 4
  Repeat Step 3 three more times.
- 5
  Add up the number of revolutions for the four 1-minute wind speed observations. Divide the sum by four to get the average.
- 6
  Calculate the wind speed. This is usually 10 revolutions or rotations per minute equaling one mile per hour (mph) of wind speed. For example, if the average number of revolutions per minute is 30, then the wind speed is approximately 3 mph.

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