A utility pole is a post used to support various utilities such as electrical cables, fiber optic cables, and related equipment. These poles are usually tapered, circular wood columns. Current design methods do not consider the effect of High Intensity Wind (HIW) events, such as downbursts and tornadoes, on these structures. The aim of the current study is to develop a simplified design method for these poles under downbursts and tornadoes. The effect of downbursts and tornadoes on the stress profile of 73 different utility poles is considered. The uniform profile that leads to the same maximum stress is calculated. Another important effect that needs to be taken into consideration is the secondary moment effect. Therefore, the uniform profile that leads to the same maximum deflection of the pole is also calculated for all these 73 case study poles. It is revealed that the pole’s height is the main pole parameter that causes a change in the equivalent uniform velocity profile value.