High-altitude winds over Washington soared to 265 mph, near record

Propelled by the jet stream, at least two flights departing from hubs in the Mid-Atlantic reached speeds over 800 mph

By Jason Samenow
February 18, 2024 at 11:33 a.m. EST''
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Winds roared to speeds of 265 mph high over Washington late Saturday — at about 35,000 feet above ground, cruising altitude for airplanes — as a powerful jet stream swept over the region.

The National Weather Service office serving the Washington-Baltimore region said the 265-mph wind speed was the second-highest measured since records began in the 1950s. The only higher wind speed recorded at a comparable “For those flying eastbound in this jet [stream], there will be quite a tailwind,” the Weather Service wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Virgin Atlantic flight 22, from Washington Dulles International Airport to London, took off at 10:45 p.m. Saturday and landed 45 minutes ahead of schedule.altitude was 267 mph on Dec. 6, 2002''.

United Airlines flight 64 from Newark to Lisbon, which departed at 8:35 p.m. Saturday, reached a ground speed of 835 mph just off the East Coast, according to Flight Aware, which would rank among the highest on record. The flight reached Lisbon 20 minutes early. It comes less than a month after a China Airlines flight reached a speed of 826 mph over the Pacific Ocean. It was also propelled by a tailwind over 250 mph. [snip]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/02/18/record-jet-stream-winds-dc-flights/ (paywall)