Grandfather Mountain experiences hurricane-force winds, sets new wind speed record

The park's weather recording station at the Mile High Swinging Bridge registered a three-second gust of 124 mph at around midnight Monday, breaking the previous record of 121.3 mph, recorded on Feb. 13.

In addition, at around 2 a.m., the station detected a gust of 122.3 mph.

In all, starting late Sunday evening, the mountain saw 16 consecutive hours with gusts higher than 100 mph. In comparison, Mount Mitchell's highest three-second gust during the same time frame came in at 68.3 mph, according to data from the North Carolina Climate Office.