Why is it usually so windy in our area?

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – In our region, we are no strangers to windy conditions.

The big question we’d like to know is why is it almost always windy in our area?

“We are very flat, and there is very little terrain and trees across that area. For our area in the Red River Valley, if we have a straight north or south wind, there are long fetches, where there is nothing to stop the wind from blowing. Where if the wind is blowing from the east or the west, there’s trees across Minnesota which tend to block the wind,” Grand Forks National Weather Service Meteorologist Vince Godon said.

One of the main causes of wind blowing may surprise you. It’s actually due to differences in temperatures.

“How the wind blows basically comes down to the sun, how the sun heats the earth, it’s basically called differential heating. The equator warms a lot faster in the north and south pole, so where air warms faster it tends to rise, and cold air comes and moves into those areas,” Godon said.

Godon studied wind patterns in Fargo, Grand Forks, Baudette, and Park Rapids and the results are not shocking.

“What I found is that Fargo tends to be the windiest location of those four. Grand Forks and Fargo are definitely a lot windier than Park Rapids and Baudette because both of those locations are in the trees and the hills of Minnesota, where Grand Forks and Fargo are in the Red River Valley,” Godon said.

Godon adds the fall and spring tend to be the windiest since there is a strong temperature gradient.