Windiest spring ever? Not quite, but here's why it's been so windy

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Many of you are reaching out to our weather team asking about the wind, with some swearing this is the windiest spring they've ever experienced after decades of living along the Gulf Coast.

It turns out this is not our windiest spring on record, but your intuition is on the right track.

Chief meteorologist Travis Herzog dug through the data and found that this is the windiest spring we've encountered since 2011. This past April, in particular, is the fourth windiest April on record for Houston.

But why has it been so windy? The answer has two parts.

First, the spring months are, on average, the windiest months of the year, with March and April virtually tied at 9.0 mph and 9.1 mph, respectively. Every spring, it gets windy, but some years stand out above the rest.

RELATED: Houston weather in May: What's normal and what's extreme?

As it turns out, when a La Nina ocean pattern is ongoing over the Pacific, the northward shift in the jet stream pattern favors stronger-than-normal winds over Texas. When you look at the top five windiest Aprils on record, four of the five occurred during a La Nina, including this past April.

With the summer heat already upon us, we'll soon wish for that breeze to stick around to help cool us off.

Unfortunately, the summer months are the least windy time of year, with average wind speeds bottoming out in August at just 6.1 mph.

Follow Travis Herzog on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.