This study explores long-term deviations from wind averages, specifically near the surface across central North America and adjoining oceans (258-508N, 608-1308W) for 1979-2012 (408 months) by utilizing the North American Regional Reanalysis 10-m wind climate datasets. Regions where periods of anomalous wind speeds were observed (i.e., 1 standard deviation below/above both the long-term mean annual and mean monthly wind speeds at each grid point) were identified. These two climatic extremes were classified as wind lulls (WLs; below) or wind blows (WBs; above

Thus, the findings of this research can assist in informing drought preparedness strategies to mitigate significant losses due to drought.

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