What does maximum sustained wind mean? How does it relate to gusts in tropical cyclones?
Tropical cyclone forecasts in the United States use a 1 min averaging time for reporting the sustained (i.e. relatively long-lasting) winds. The maximum sustained wind in the advisories and forecasts for tropical storms and hurricanes are the highest 1 min surface winds occurring within the circulation of the system. These surface winds are those observed (or, more often, estimated) to occur at the standard meteorological height of 10 m (33 ft) in an unobstructed exposure (i.e., not blocked by buildings or trees). Since the inauguration of the Automatic Surface Observation System (ASOS) the National Weather Service has adopted a two minute average standard for its sustained wind definition. This is because the ASOS stations average and report their wind data over a two minute period. There is a conversion factor of about 1.04 to change a two minute average wind into a one minute average. Gusts are a few seconds (3-5 s) wind peak. Typically, in a hurricane environment the value for a pe
