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:
  • Journal of the Structural Division
  • Volume: 102
  • Issue Number: ST9A
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Building; Distributions (Statistics); Hazards; Hurricanes; Mathematical models; Risk assessment; Velocity; Wind
• Uncontrolled Terms: Models
• Old TRIS Terms: Wind velocity
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

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