http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sabl/2005/August/02-lube-the-wind.html

According to their flow model, droplets of water, sucked up into the vortex of a building storm, act as a lubricant to substantially accelerate wind speeds. Without the lubrication of the spray, wind speeds would not progress beyond those of a tropical depression.

by A. Chorin, V.M. Prostokishin, and G.I. Barenblatt

Read their paper “The turbulent wall jet: a triple-layered structure and incomplete similarity” [PDF] in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.