We had a rainy nor'easter a few weeks ago with very strong winds. I remember walking to work in the city the next day and encountering half a dozen broken umbrellas along the way, all fallen victim to the gusty wind.

Indeed, cities are infamous for their speedy and swirling winds. But actually, on average cities tend to be less windy than surrounding areas simply because the tall buildings in a city add roughness to the surface. This tends to slow down the wind in the same way that it's harder to push a large object across a rough floor than a smooth one. However, with the narrow openings between buildings, there is a funneling effect in cities that can, in places, accelerate the air to street-sign-rattling speeds. The buildings also induce swirls of wind called eddies, which on a small scale often make their presence known as piles of spinning leaves in the corner of a building.

I often carry this hand-held wind-speed-measuring device called an anemometer with me - we meteorologists do things like that. Anyway, even on days when there's really very little wind overall, I can almost always find places downtown where the wind in between buildings catches me off-guard.