PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS OF EXTREME WIND SPEEDS

An automated technique is presented for determining an appropriate distributional model for the largest yearly wind speeds. With a view to assessing the validity of current probabailistic approaches to the definition of design wind speeds, this technique was used in a study of extreme wind speeds based on records taken at 20 U.S. weather stations. The following results were obtained: (1) At 83% of the stations not susceptible to experiencing hurricane-force winds, the series of the largest annual wind speeds were well fit by Type 1 probability distributions of the largest values; (2) the assumption that Type II distributions with Y=9 are generally representative of such stations was not confirmed; (3) Type I probability distributions do not appear to describe correctly the behavior of extreme winds in regions subjected to special winds, e.g., hurricanes; and (4) in such regions, 20-yr data samples may provide a misleading picture of extreme wind behavior. /ASCE/

  • Corporate Authors:

    American Society of Civil Engineers

    345 East 47th Street
    New York, NY  United States  10017-2398
  • Authors:
    • Simiu, E
    • Filliben, J J
  • Publication Date: 1976-9

Media Info

  • Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: p. 1861-77
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00141797
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: SCE #12381
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Dec 22 1976 12:00AM