Determine presence of certain wave/signal within larger signal?

I would like to use cross-correlation applied to a main signal (time vs wind speed), to find out whether there are certain wind gusts present (eg a gust with amplitude 2ms and period 5s). So far I have made the 'test' gusts as variables and used the xcorr function to compare the two signals, however the maximum value of the cross-correlation is always located at the same position (where the maximum wind speed is in the 'main' signal) and I cant figure out how to improve the accuracy?