Where has the wind been coming from, and how hard? This rose is built from the last 60 minutes of one-minute readings at our West Lethbridge station.
Each spoke points to the direction the wind came from. A longer spoke means more minutes from that direction.
Each of the 16 spokes is a compass direction. The length of a spoke shows how much of the time the wind blew from that way. The colours inside show how strong it was: light colours for gentle wind, dark for strong.
A rose with one long spoke means a steady wind from one direction. A round, even rose means the wind kept shifting.
The prevailing winds across southern Alberta come from the west and south-west. Air pours over the Rockies and funnels down onto the prairie, which is why Lethbridge is one of the windiest cities in Canada.
East winds usually mean something different is happening, such as cool, moist upslope air that can bring cloud, drizzle or snow.