How much wind (MPH) does it take to break windows?

Question

I'm curious as to what the average Miles Per Hour wind force will cause a window to break, just from the force of the wind alone?

Answer 1

At my house we have wind gusts over 80 MPH when we get storms from November - April. None of my windows have ever broken. However, in a The Patriots Day storm of 2007 A trailer in my town had it's roof blown off, and many houses experienced siding and shingles being torn off by the wind, we had max winds sustained at 60 mph during the storm, and a ma gust of 94 mph. I guess my house is just in the wrong place :P. Usually wids 85 + can break windows if they're straight on to the window, and there aren't any sheltered parts of the home, like if am upstairs window in a vast open field got winds going 80 mph straight toward it, depending on it's age it would probably break.  

Answer 2

In general, at sea level or close to it, wind speeds need to approach about 75 to 80 mph for windows to start breaking, with the speeds higher as elevation increases, since the air is less dense at higher altitudes.  Of course a large window will break before a small one, so the size of the window is a factor as well.