Why is Cape Town SO windy? A structural engineer explains...

Have you ever been swept off your feet or felt your car move by a very strong gust of wind while walking or driving through Cape Town?

Goliger says these factors may contribute to heavy winds in Cape Town:

The city is located in a prime spot exposing the City to natural South Easterly and North Westerly winds flowing in from Antarctic and Atlantic Oceans.
The city's prominent features such as mountains also accelerates winds.
Modified winds also contribute to the winds, based on how architects erect buildings in the city.

Regular citygoers may have experienced strong winds as they cascade down the slopes of Devil's Peak and Table Mountain to find their way over the Grand Parade, funneling through the Civic Center, its adjacent buildings and howling past the Artscape Theatre heading towards the harbour.

A reason for the wind impacting this part of the city the way it does could be because of a miscalculation by architects and town planners more than 50 years ago, explains Goliger.

There is also a huge difference in heights of buildings as there are many tall buildings next to smaller ones, aiding wind speed into the area.

To combat this, architects and developers should try to gradually employ the following interventions:

Increase the height of buildings.
Optimise geometrical forms of large buildings.
Avoid building large uniform facades.

But Cape Town is not alone, there are several windy cities in the world such as Melbourne, Chicago and other coastal areas.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.