200 mph Winds In North Carolina!

UPDATE: According to USA Today, the 200 mph reading will not be verified by the National Weather Service because their anemometer is not mounted properly.

Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina (see also webcam) broke its all-time wind record when their anemometer was pegged atover 200 mph Wednesday morning. Thanks Kim for the tip!

This article has additional information:

Grandfather's summit Visitors Center suffered extensive damage when the wind blew out three double-strength, steel-wire-reinforced windows, ripped up floor tiles, blew open a locked door, tore a wooden mantel off a wall and upended a 300-pound boulder that was cemented into the parking area, officials said. Metal frames from two of the windows were also ripped from the wall and found more than 200 yards away.

At 5,684 feet above sea-level, strong winds are not unusual there. Their previous record of 195 mph was set in 1997. We don't even know how far over 200 mph this gust was because the instrumentation doesn't measure past 200. I'm surprised they don't invest in the type of anemometer that measured the 231 mph gust at Mount Washington.

I'm sorry to hear about the damage there because, as I've said before, Grandfather Mountain is one of my old stomping grounds. Apparently the Mile-High Swinging Bridge, which I am pictured with below, was not damaged.

Me @ Grandfather
In July 2004