DES MOINES, Iowa — We’ve had a couple of very windy days in a row here in central Iowa. The first image below shows peak wind gusts from Thursday, and the second peak gusts from today (Friday).

Wind is created by differences in atmospheric pressure caused by the uneven heating of Earth’s surface. You can see the lines of equal pressure, called isobars (tan lines), in the image from the National Weather Service above. Here’s how it works:

1. Uneven Heating: The sun heats the Earth’s surface unevenly — land heats faster than water, and equatorial regions get more direct sunlight than polar areas. This creates temperature variations.
2. Pressure Gradients: Warm air rises, creating low-pressure areas, while cooler, denser air sinks, forming high-pressure areas. Air flows from high-pressure to low-pressure zones to equalize the difference, and this movement is wind.
3. Coriolis Effect: Earth’s rotation deflects moving air, shaping wind patterns. This helps create jet streams in the upper atmosphere.
4. Terrain and Friction: Features like mountains, valleys, or flat plains (like Iowa’s prairies) influence wind speed and direction. Open areas allow stronger, unimpeded winds.
5. Weather Systems: Low-pressure systems (e.g., storms) and fronts amplify winds as air rushes toward areas of lower pressure. You can see the powerful low to our north that’s been creating our windy conditions in the surface map from Friday morning below:

Iowa’s windiness is affected by its geography and weather patterns. Flat, open prairies offer little resistance to air movement, allowing winds to blow freely across the state. Its central U.S. location places it in a zone where contrasting air masses — warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold, dry air from Canada — frequently collide, creating strong pressure gradients that drive high winds and weather systems. The jet stream, sometimes positioned over or near Iowa, can also affect wind speeds, especially in spring and fall. Weather systems like thunderstorms and frontal boundaries also contribute, as gusty conditions can be created by these phenomena.

Data backs this up: Iowa’s average wind speed is among the highest in the U.S., with stations like Des Moines recording annual averages around 10-12 mph, and gusts often exceeding 30 mph during storms. The state’s wind resource is so significant that it ranks third nationally in wind energy production, with over 12,000 wind turbines harnessing the consistent airflow, so the windiness isn’t all bad!