Scott Truesdell's

Beaufort Scale Weather Page

The Beaufort Scale was originally developed as a system for estimating wind strengths without the use of instruments. It is currently still in use for this same purpose as well as to tie together various components of weather (wind strength, sea state, observable effects) into a unified picture. I use it for estimating wind strength when I'm out sailing on my boat because my boat does not have wind instruments. Jim Croft's Beaufort page has a more complete introduction on the establishment and utility of the Beaufort system.

Code No.	Description	Pressure lbs per square foot	Wind Speed miles per hour	Wind Speed knots	Observable Effects on the Environment

0	Calm	0	less than 1	less than 1	Smoke will rise vertically.
1	Light Air	0.01	1-3	1-3	Rising smoke drifts, weather vane is inactive.
2	Light Breeze	0.02	4-7	4-6	Leaves rustle, can feel wind on your face, weather vane is inactive.
3	Gentle Breeze	0.28	8-12	7-10	Leaves and twigs move around. Light weight flags extend.
4	Moderate Breeze	0.67	13-18	11-16	Moves thin branches, raises dust and paper.
5	Fresh Breeze	1.31	19-24	17-21	Trees sway.
6	Strong Breeze	2.30	25-31	22-27	Large tree branches move, open wires (such as telegraph wires) begin to "whistle", umbrellas are difficult to keep under control.
7	Moderate Gale	3.60	32-38	28-33	Large trees begin to sway, noticeably difficult to walk.
8	Fresh Gale	5.40	39-46	34-40	Twigs and small branches are broken from trees, walking into the wind is very difficult.
9	Strong Gale	7.70	47-54	41-47	Slight damage occurs to buildings, shingles are blown off of roofs.
10	Whole Gale	10.50	55-63	48-55	Large trees are uprooted, building damage is considerable.
11	Storm	14.00	64-75	55-65	Extensive widespread damage. These typically occur only at sea, and rarely inland.
12	Hurricane	above 17	above 75	above 65	Extreme destruction.

Other Weather-related Web Sites:

National Weather Service, Los Angeles/Oxnard.
Hypertext Beaufort descriptions lead you to detailed explanations based on conditions that you know. For example, if you know the wave height, you can enter the tables with that information.
Wind Speed Conversion Calculator does units conversions.
~~Young America's Beaufort page~~ ~~has fun graphics and a quiz too!~~ This site has gone off-line.
Jim's Weather Links: a great "list of weather sites for the casual weather observer or the hardened storm chaser." Very complete.
Weather Stuff Online by Charles Boley. Another good starting point for weather information on the internet.

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