Historical/Current: Strong winds are related to tropical cyclone, thunderstorms, tornadoes, frontal winds, downslope winds, and dust storms and other desert winds. Through the Country Adaptation and Risk Profiles in the CCKP, the cyclone hazard mapping tool can be used to identify project locations that are exposed to strong winds from tropical cyclones. However, high quality local information about damaging winds that are not due to tropical cyclones is difficult to obtain. This information may be available from other sources, such as the project country’s National Meteorological Service (see
www.wmo.int/pages/members/members_en.html for a country listing).
Future: Average tropical cyclone maximum wind speed is likely to increase over the 21st century, although increases may not occur in all ocean basins. The details of these changes are highly uncertain. The frequency of future tropical cyclones is even more uncertain. It is likely that the global frequency of tropical cyclones will either decrease or remain essentially unchanged. The most authoritative source of information on future regional and global changes in extreme events currently is the IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX).