The strongest wind gust recorded by an anemometer was 408 kilometres per hour during Cyclone Olivia in 1996.
The measurement was made on Barrow Island, off the coast of Western Australia, on 10 April 1996. Cyclone Olivia crossed the island while producing exceptionally intense winds. The gust was recorded by an automated weather station and is widely cited as the world record for a surface wind gust measured by an instrument.
This record concerns a brief gust, not the cyclone's sustained wind speed. Gusts are short-lived peaks that can be much stronger than the average wind over one or ten minutes. That distinction matters when comparing tropical cyclones and other windstorms.
Earlier claims, including a 1934 measurement on New Hampshire's Mount Washington, were later exceeded or treated differently under modern recording standards. Tornado winds can be stronger, but they are difficult to measure directly with conventional instruments.