The National Center for Atmospheric Research has confirmed that a 252-mph wind gust was measured in Hurricane Melissa, setting a new record for the highest wind speed reported by a dropsonde — a weather instrument released by Hurricane Hunter aircraft. #dropsonde #hurricane #melissa #hurricanemelissa #wind #record #shorts Because the reading wasn't taken at the Earth's surface, it does not count officially in the World Meteorological Organization's world wind records. The official world wind record remains 253 mph, clocked by an automated weather station during Tropical Cyclone Olivia on April 10, 1996, at Barrow Island, Australia. The wind record for the Northern Hemisphere is 231 mph at Mount Washington, New Hampshire. While a wind speed of 302 mph was recorded by a Doppler radar in 1999 during a tornado in Oklahoma, that measurement also occurred above the Earth's surface and is not recognized in the official WMO records.