How To: Interpret a Wind Rose Diagram

A wind rose diagram is a tool which graphically displays wind speed and wind direction at a particular
location over a period of time. The diagrams normally comprises of 8 or 16 radiating spokes, which
represent wind directions in terms of the cardinal wind directions (North East South West) and their
intermediate directions.

Meteorologist use wind rose diagrams to summarise the distribution of wind speed and direction over a
defined observation period. Data is taken from a weather station, which should be a near as possible to
your project /site. Click here to find an appropriate weather station.

What do the Spokes Represent?

Each ‘Spoke’ shows:

How often the wind blows from each direction

How often the wind blows at each pre-defined wind speed bins (shown by the colour bands) for each
wind direction

A wind rose diagram uses a polar coordinate system, whereby data is plotted a certain distance away
from the origin at an angle relative to north. It is possible to create these plots using costly purpose-made
software or, alternatively, very basic wind rose diagrams can be made using Microsoft Excel (see here).
Wind Rose Excel intends to form a half way solution: a means to produce wind rose plots which are
professional and informative, while also ensuring providing excellent value.
Interpreting a Wind Rose
In Diagram the westerly spoke and its colour bands provides the following information:
 The wind blows from the west (a “westerly”) 12% of the time at location x
 Westerly wind speed distribution for location x:
o 1% of total time the wind blows at 0-2 knots from the west
o 1% of total time the wind blows at 2-3 knots from the west
o 1.5% of total time the wind blows at 4-6 knots from the west
o 3.5% of total time the wind blows at 7-10 knots from the west
o 3% of total time the wind blows at 11-66 knots from the west
o 1% of total time the wind blows at 17-22 knots from the west
o 1% of total time the wind blows at >23 knots from the west