One of the most damaging atmospheric phenomena that can have a direct impact on the safety of flight, transportation, urban planning, energy, etc. is the occurrence of wind gusts. Identifying the areas where frequent wind gust have been reported, as well as the timely review of these reports, can lead to a reduction in the accidents and risks associated with this atmospheric phenomena.
The main objective of this study is to explore temporal and spatial distribution of wind gusts’ speeds that have been occurred during 2013 and 2017 in Iran. To do so, METAR reports of 31 aviation weather stations in Iran were studied for wind gust speeds higher than or equal to 15 ms-1. Ardabil Airport had the highest number of reports with 1019 out of 3441 reports. The results indicate that the number of convective wind gust reports in north-west, west, north-east and central parts of Iran were significantly higher than the other regions. Most convective wind gusts had been occurred in spring when the thunderstorm activities are at their peak in Iran. About 42% of non-convective wind gusts had been occurred in March, April and May (late winter and early spring). Most of the wind gusts were reported between 12:00 and 18:00 local standard time (0800 to 1400 UTC). The highest wind gust speed reported during the study period was 89 ms-1 at the Hamadan station on 11 June 2015 and was non-convective. The highest reported convective wind gust speed was 78 ms-1 at the Kish Island station on 11 November 2015.