How fast would the wind have to be to kill someone?

Question

Pure wind speed flying in one direction without any debris, etc...

How fast would it have to be to kill a man, at what speed would it rip his arms off or crush his inner organs ?

Answer 1

I'd hate to quote someone that was on the Blue Collar comedy tour, but.... "It's not that the wind is blowing, its what the wind is blowing".

But without any debris, like in a wind tunnel...The poor guy who they choose as a test subject would have to have his back against something first otherwise he would just go flying. Then maybe 250 mph before it just started crushing him? Either way, this sounds like a good question for mythbusters on discovery channel. Definitely write them.

Answer 2

I can only tell you that I stood up in a wind at the time our anemometer broke. It was reading 152 mph,

At speeds much above that a person would be blown away, rather than blown apart.

Answer 3

some where between 400 and 500 MPH should do it. I don't think you could breath properly at that speed

Answer 4

A lot. Look up information on nuclear detonations using key phrases such as "lethal overpressure".