what are "Wind Char. Gusts" on a climatological weather report?

Question

Also, for the time I am interested in it says "G" under the wind char. gusts category. I am guessing that means it was gusting at that time. Also, what is the "Val. for Wind Char." category. It has a number of 17. I assume the value of the wind gust was 17 knots but I'm a lawyer not a weather man. What does all this mean?

I ordered the weather report for Chicago Midway Airport. I am looking at the unedited local climatological data hourly observations table and one of the many categories of information is called "Wind Char. Gusts (KT)". For every single hour of this particular day I ma looking at there is one of two things entered in this category: (1) - or (2) G. I assume that for each hour, under this category there was either Gusts of wind or no Gusts of wind. The next category of information is called "Val. for wind Char." and for each hour that a "G" was entered in the previous category, there is a number entered in this category. The numbers are either 17, 18, 19 or 20. I assume that for every hour that there were Gusts ofg wind, those Gusts measured 17-20 Knots.

Answer 1

You are correct. The gust recorded is reported in knots. I am not sure what "Wind Char. Gusts" means. If I knew the source of your climo data I am sure I could be of more help.

Answer 2

Try having a look at the data from here:

http://www.met.utah.edu/cgi-bin/roman/meso_base.cgi?&unit=0&time=CST&stn=KMDW

You should be able to interpret the data for every hour there without too much trouble. Then, compare that to what you see from your other site, and you may be able to solve your riddles. Click on the links for "2 Days" or "5 Days" if need be.

If you had given us the link to the site you've been visiting, we could have had a look ourselves and possibly figured out, too.