That Wind Tunnel on Locust Walk? Here’s Why It Happens.

Ever wondered why there’s a gusting wind tunnel that knocks your carefully positioned, tilted-back beanie off your head right around the footbridge at 38th and Locust. Basically every single day past the month of September until the month of April? The Daily Pennsylvanian is on it.

The three hi-rises east of the Locust Street footbridge east of 40th street on Locust walk, Rodin, Harrison and Harnwell, channel the west-east flow of air and package it nicely into a vicious, swirling, stream of wind. “The air, like water, needs to have a channel to flow through … so you need to have tall buildings lined up to experience strong flow,” Engineering professor Howard Hu told the DP. “Usually, for tall buildings, the architect will evaluate what kind of winds the building will experience.” EXCEPT THIS TIME THE ARCHITECT DIDN’T.

Here’s a map of badly-designed culprits.

[DP]