Why is it much more windy the higher up you go?

Question

Like, there might not be a strong wind at ground level but go up 5 floors and it feels like you’re being buffeted. Why is that?

In: 5

Answer 1

Couple of reasons:

There is less stuff to slow down the air the higher up you go. At the surface you have all of the objects on the surface (and the surface of the Earth itself) which slows air down.

Second, as you go up, air gets less dense. Basically a given volume of air is “lighter” and therefore easier to move faster.