This Massachusetts City Is The Windiest City In The Country

If you thought Chicago was the nation's windiest city ... Wrong!

According to TheTech.com, "Boston is considered to be the windiest major metropolitan area with an average wind speed of 12.5 mph (20.1 kph) while Chicago is much further down the list at 10.4 mph (16.7 kph).

The site cites the National Climatic Data Center, which says the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, Massachusetts, has an average wind speed of 15.4 mph (24.8 kph).

So, how did Chicago get the nickname "Windy City?" Good question.

"The origins of Chicago's famous nickname are not entirely clear," History.com reports. "The most obvious explanation is that it comes from frigid breezes that blow off Lake Michigan and sweep through the city's streets."

There is another school of thought.

"Another popular theory holds that it was coined in reference to Chicago's bloviating residents and politicians, who were deemed to be 'full of hot air," History.com says.

Climate&Weather.net doesn't take sides in the debate over how Chicago became known as the "Windy City," but it does corroborate the National Climatic Data Center's assertion that Chicago is far from the windiest city in America.

The site's list of the "10 Windiest Cities in the U.S." doesn't even include Chicago.

According to the list, Boston is windiest, followed by Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Buffalo, New York; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Dallas, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; San Francisco, California; Cleveland, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Now, about that theory that the origin of the nickname "Windy City" comes from "bloviating residents and politicians" that are "full of hot air," I suppose it could apply to the real winner of the title windiest city.

Just kidding.