What is wind tunnel and how much of an impact can it can have?

NEW YORK, NY (WABC) -- One of the things you'll notice walking around the city on a windy day is that it can be windier between the buildings.

**See Jeff Smith's explainer in video player above.**

So why is that? Let's start by looking at normal air flow along a smooth, flat surface. This wind is blowing, unimpeded by any objects.

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As soon as we add two large buildings, the picture changes drastically. The same amount of air now gets squeezed between the high-rises, forcing the wind to accelerate, in some cases even doubling in speed. This is the wind tunnel effect. We went outside to find out.

You may be walking outside to a 20 miles per hour and you get in between two buildings and all of a sudden it's gusting to 40 miles per hour.