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FARGO — Wind is usually forecast as a range. Examples might include northwest at 5-15 mph or south-southeast at 15-25 mph. These ranges are really meant to be a generalized range of what the wind speed will be for much of the time during the forecast period. It is not meant to convey the absolute range. Wind is too variable an element to make an absolute range useful to most forecast users.
A National Weather Service wind report is measured by an anemometer at a location free of obstructions at 10 meters (about 33 feet) above the ground. This height gets above much of the local ground turbulence. The wind speed and direction reported are actually a two-minute average and not a representation of a specific point in time. A wind gust is reported if, during those two minutes, there is a variance of at least 10 mph at a speed of at least 18 mph.
