Why is chicago called the windy city?

Question

my sister is watching the weather channel and asked i didn't know so i decided to ask u people.

i have been there i liv eonly 30 minutes away.i just really never notice the wind and was woundering why.

Answer 1

Chicago's location on the great lakes [actually more like an inland sea] makes for a lot of wind coming in off the water. The tall building funnel the wind along the open areas [streets and rivers], thus...The Windy City.

In reading other peoples answers regarding the name being part of the Columbia Exposition hype I had to double check. Turns out those of us who gave the lake breeze explination look to be right.

"Mr Popik has suggested that the name actually originated in a scheme by the Chicago Tribune about that date to promote the city as a summer resort, using the cool breeze off the lake as the basis of its attraction. Before then, Chicago was usually nicknamed Garden City (its Latin motto was and is Urbs in Horto, “city in a garden”). There seems to have been a shift from the old name to the new in the middle 1880s."

Answer 2

According to the National Climatic Data Center's list of annual average wind speeds, the windiest U.S. city is Dodge City, Kansas, with an average speed of 13.9 mph. Other windy cities include Amarillo, Texas (13.5 mph) and Rochester, Minn. (13.1 mph.). The windiest "big" cities are New York City (LaGuardia Airport) and Oklahoma City, which both have an average annual wind speed of 12.2 mph.

So the term has nothing to do with the weather here. We are NOT one of the windiest cities in the country! Many California cities are a lot windier than us - i.e, the Santa Ana winds.

It comes from a term coined when many Chicago politicians, especially from the 60's and 70's, were labeled "windbags". I got this information off the HIstory channel many years ago, and I have also heard it said on other television programs and from many other Chicago natives..

It is meant to be a jab towards the Chicago Democratic Machine, which for the most part has been led by the Daley family for the past 50 years. Although machine politics has mostly fallen out of style elsewhere in the United States, it is for the most part alive and well in Chicago.

Answer 3

As a couple of previous answers have noted, the nickname has nothing to do with the weather.

The origin of Chicago's nickname as "The Windy City": The most common explanation had been that the phrase was created by New York newspapers in the 1880s during a national debate over which city would host the 1893 World's Fair, making reference to the long-windedness of the city's supporters. However, "Windy City" was used as early as 1876 by Cincinnati papers.

Answer 4

'Windy' used to be a term for people who were very boasty or total braggarts. With the Sears Tower, Hancock Building, the Subs and White Sox, wonderful political leaders, and numerous museums; Chicago is definitely a place to boast about.

However, if you visit Chicago it's easy to think 'windy' is because of the brutal winter weather, so it's mostly a huge coincidence!

Answer 5

This is the true story of the origin of the nickname.
The 1860 Democratic convention was held in Chicago. All of the politicians "hot air" was blowing all around town. That is how it became known as the "windy city".

Answer 6

This goes ack to the late 1800's

When the world exposition location was being decided upon, Chicago politicians touted their location. NY politicians thought they were full of hot air. They dubbed the term "windy city". It developed from there.

Answer 7

Contrary to what some people think it has nothing to do with windy weather; it has to do with the "wind" the politicians generate with all their empty talk.

Answer 8

That is something of a misnomer. There is usually a lake breeze in the Loop - but the velocity is way down the list of the strongest winds ... like 6th or 7th on average.

Answer 9

You've never been there huh? LOL

The wind howls through the city. The buildings sway from the wind! It's an great city though.

Answer 10

Probably because that's what the 'pioneers' who first came there 'noticed' most. In fact, Seattle is called 'the rainy city' but in REALITY, Chicago gets more rain than Seattle, and Seattle gets more wind that Seattle ... so try to explain THAT.