Is it getting windier?

Short Wave

NPR

News, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Daily News, Nature, Science

4.7 • 6.5K Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2026

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Is it getting windier? Long-time listener Barry Zalph thinks it is, at least in Louisville. And he’s not the only one. Redditors and local reporters have noticed a recent uptick in the region’s windstorms, too. But does that point to any larger trends in windiness? And if so, what could be causing it? We talked to meteorologist and extreme weather specialist Scott Gunter to find out. Plus, we dig into whether Tornado Alley is shifting into Kentucky as the climate warms.

This episode is part of Nature Quest, our monthly listener-driven segment about climate and the environment. Have a question for us? Send a voice memo to shortwave@npr.org with your name, location and what you’re noticing in the environment around you… it could be our next Nature Quest!

Interested in more weather and wind science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:05.6	Hi, Shortwaver's Emily Kwong here with producer Hannah Chin.
0:09.1	Hey.
0:10.1	Hey. And we have been working on an episode for a listener who has been with us from the very beginning.
0:14.3	I think back to episode one.
0:16.4	This is Barry Zalf. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
0:19.4	Though I don't remember what the episode was.
0:22.8	That's because these days, Barry's thoughts are much more consumed by a shift in his daily life.
0:28.8	Namely, the wind.
0:31.8	I just have a personal perception that it has gotten considerably windier in Louisville over the 35 years
0:39.3	that I've lived here. We're getting lots of wind on dry, clear, or partly cloudy days that we
0:47.3	would have never seen before when there wasn't a thunderstorm happening.
0:51.3	Which really bothers Barry because he likes to bike.
0:55.0	And, well, wind isn't great for bikers.
0:58.1	But to truly figure out whether it was getting windier,
1:01.9	Barry did what any good science journalist would do.
1:03.9	He went digging for data.
1:05.2	And over Zoom, he showed me over 20 years of NOAA data about Louisville's wind patterns.
1:10.0	Share. Can I share a screen?
1:11.8	I love that our listeners make graphs for their questions.
1:14.6	Yeah, it's so good because you wanted to make sure this wasn't a recency bias, because
1:18.1	Louisville has seen a few windstorms in recent years.
	...

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