Overview
- Published in Nature Communications, the analysis of hourly ERA5 data from 1940–2023 shows extreme winds have increased across roughly 63% of marine coastal regions, with hotspots in the northeastern Pacific, North Atlantic, and Southern Westerlies.
- More than 40% of commissioned and planned offshore wind farms in Asia and Europe have experienced winds above the Class 3 design threshold of 84 mph (135 kph).
- In the United States, over half of planned offshore capacity—totaling 50.31 gigawatts—is exposed to extreme winds of 84–112 mph (135–180 kph).
- The authors tie rising extremes to intensifying tropical and extratropical cyclones fueled by warmer sea surface temperatures, with Hurricane Melissa’s record-tying landfall cited as a recent example.
- The study calls for updated site selection, stronger turbine engineering, revised design standards, and improved risk modeling to sustain offshore wind reliability.