You know it's windy when....
Your plane's tail comes off the ground with a touch of throttle above idle.
Your plane takes off in under 2 feet at 1/3rd throttle.
Your plane goes backwards at idle into the wind without dropping a wing, nose or anything.
Your plane gets tossed around during a high speed cross wind flyby.
Your plane flies by on a high speed pass at 1/3rd throttle as if it were wide open throttle.
Landing becomes one of the most difficult things ever done.
Flying in winds of 15-18 with 20 MPH gusts today, cross winds, turbulence. What a blast! Landing was extremely tough as the place I fly has a two level pole barn, and the wind was coming over it from the southwest, which made the wind unpredictable at that end of the landing strip, which is right where you come in. So keeping it between the tall corn on the left, and the real warbird parts on the right was a challenge.
I met that challenge, and got the plane down without hitting anything. Just as it touched down though a gust blew over the barn, and caused it to ground loop just as the wheels touched, caught the prop and snapped it, but other than that, I think I did pretty damned good. Flying in this kind of wind is the most challenging where I fly. Any other direction, taking off and landing is easy, but from the south, or south west, it is a real challenge. I think it make a better pilot of one as you really need to focus and stay ahead of the plane, especially when the wings are wagging with each gust. When it was down, it was rocking from the wind.
What a blast! I flew my modified LT40 in this today, but there was no way at all I woud even attempt it with the 4*120. Last time I flew in winds like this, but under 12 MPH, I could not keep it lined up, I had to crab it just to get it close and as soon as I tried to straighten it up to land it would drift over the corn on the left, and I wound up landing it down wind instead. Today there would be no way to land it without some damage to it, I feel it would literally be coming in sideways, I was seeing it in good profile last time, in stronger winds, no doubt is would do worse.