"No doubt, Chicago is windy--it sits on a big body of water, and winds whip across it throughout the year. But other cities are just as windy, if not windier (Oklahoma City and Atlanta, for example, annually average faster winds than Chicago). Although a record 69 mph wind blew through the city on April 14, 1984, the average is a measly 10.2 miles an hour. There are various legends as to why Chicago became known as the 'Windy City,' but the most popular ascribes it to the fact that over the decades it has hosted so many presidential nominating conventions, with all those politicians generating so much hot air that they were referred to as 'windy-mouthed.' That certainly hasn't changed."