You've heard the expression to run like the wind. Well in Melbourne the past month, the wind didn't run - it flew.
But exactly how far did Melbourne's persistent spring winds travel? Put it this way: if you hitched a ride you'd need a passport.
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In October the wind that passed through the Bureau of Meteorology's Tullamarine observation station travelled 18,165 kilometres.
That's the equivalent distance of a return trip to Beijing. Or a one-way jaunt to Europe's most westerly point, Cabo da Roca west of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.
In meteorological circles the way to measure cumulative wind speed is to track "wind run" - the total distance travelled over a period of time from a particular point.
In Melbourne there are three stations from where the Bureau tracks wind run using a device called an anemometer: Tullamarine, Laverton and Moorabbin.
While the Tullamarine base clocked up the most wind run kilometres last month, Moorabbin winds tallied a respectable 15,895 kilometres - which would get you to Sweden's capital Stockholm with a few hundred kilometres to spare.
In Laverton, the wind accumulated 15,056 kilometres - almost precisely the distance between Melbourne and Winnipeg in southern Canada.
![A bridal party posing for wedding photos on a windy St Kilda beach last month.](/web/20161108053811im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/e/3/m/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsjqq7.png/1478567493117.jpg)
In a month which saw 50 severe weather warnings issued and gusts reaching 80-kilometres-an-hour in Melbourne and up to 100-kilometres-an-hour in the state's north, the wind run data for October easily surpassed the figures for the same month last year.
Tullamarine managed 14,399 kilometres in October 2015, Laverton accumulated 12,155 kilometres and Moorabbin 12,068 kilometres. Enough to comfortably get you to Buenos Aires, Salvador and Santiago respectively.
![The wind ruffled hairdos in Port Melbourne.](/web/20161108053811im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/e/4/g/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsjqq7.png/1478567493117.jpg)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20161108053811im_/http://www.smh.com.au/cqstatic/12z7v7/08_Wind_Map_729.jpg)
Bureau of Meteorology climatologist Blair Trewin said these measurements were 20 to 30 per cent up on data from the same month in previous years. The last October with comparable winds was 2007.
![Windy weather in Melbourne brings out the kite boarders and wind surfers at Brighton Beach.](/web/20161108053811im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/j/d/k/m/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsjqq7.png/1478567493117.jpg)
He said this was due to higher than average pressure gradients over southern parts of the continent which produced extended periods of westerly winds over southern Australia.
Dr Trewin did point out however that while wind run is measured in total kilometres, the winds don't actually travel these distances.
Wind run is collected to help determine the evaporation rate or wave height and can also be a tool to calculate the average wind speed for the month.
The average hourly wind speed at Tullamarine in October was 24-kilometres-an-hour, while Moorabbin recorded 21-kilometres-an-hour and Laverton 20-kilometres-an-hour - each up on previous years.