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BEAUFORT WIND SCALE

 

Beaufort*

Avg miles
per hour

Avg km
per hour

Knots

Surroundings

0
(calm)

  0 0 0-1 Smoke rises vertically and the see is mirror smooth

1
(light air)

1.2-3

2-5

1-3

 Smokes moves slightly with breeze and  shows direction of wind

2
(light breeze)

3.7 – 7.5

6 – 12

4-6

 You can feel wind on your face and hear the leaves start to rustle

3
(gentle breeze)

8 – 12.5

13 – 20

 7-10 Smoke will move horizontally and small branches start to sway. Wind extends a light flag

4
(moderate breeze)

13 – 18.6

21 – 30

 11-16 Loose dust or sand on the ground will move and larger branches will sway, loose paper blows around, and fairly frequent whitecaps occur

5
(fresh breeze)

19.3 - 25

31 – 40

 17-21 Surface waves form on water and small trees sway

6
(strong breeze)

25.5 - 31

41 - 50

 22-27 Trees begin to bend with the force of the wind and causes whistling in telephone wires and some spray on the sea surface

7
(moderate gale)

32 - 38

 51-61 28-33 large trees sway

8
(fresh gale)
 

39 - 46

 62-74 34-40 twigs break from trees, and long streaks of foam appear on the ocean

9
(strong gale)

47 - 55

 75-89 41-47 branches break from trees

10
(whole gale) 

56 - 64

 90-103 48-55 trees are uprooted, and the sea takes on a white appearance

11
(storm)

65 - 74

 104-119 56-63 widespread damage

12 (hurricane)

75+

 120+

64 +

 structural damage on land and storm waves at sea