wind speed

A meteorological variable corresponding to the horizontal component of the displacement of air at a given place and instant. Also known as wind intensity, it is measured with the anemometer and it is most common to express it in km/h, although m/s (International System of Units) and the knot (in maritime and air navigation) are also used. The above definition corresponds to the so-called "instantaneous speed," which, as a first approximation, we can identify with a gust. At observatories, wind speed values corresponding to a given time interval are also measured, apart from this. Each of those data points represents an "average speed," although this fact is usually not specified. At most observatories and weather stations, wind speed data is usually recorded in ten-minute averages.