From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Strong wind
A
gale
is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in
nautical
contexts. The U.S.
National Weather Service
defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between 34 and 47
knots
(63.0 and 87.0
km/h
; 17.5 and 24.2
m/s
; 39.1 and 54.1
mph
).
[1]
Forecasters typically issue
gale warnings
when winds of this strength are expected. In the
United States
, a gale warning is specifically a maritime warning; the land-based equivalent in National Weather Service warning products is a
wind advisory
.
Other sources use minima as low as 28 knots (52 km/h; 14 m/s; 32 mph), and maxima as high as 90 knots (170 km/h; 46 m/s; 100 mph). Through 1986, the
National Hurricane Center
used the term “gale” to refer to winds of
tropical
force
[
clarify
]
for coastal areas, between 33 knots (61 km/h; 17 m/s; 38 mph) and 63 knots (117 km/h; 32 m/s; 72 mph). The 90 knots (170 km/h; 46 m/s; 100 mph) definition is very non-standard. A common alternative definition of the maximum is 55 knots (102 km/h; 63 mph; 28 m/s).
[2]
The most common way of describing wind force is with the
Beaufort scale
[3]
which defines a gale as wind from 50 kilometres per hour (14 m/s) to 102 kilometres per hour (28 m/s). It is an empirical measure for describing wind speed based mainly on observed sea conditions. On the original 1810 Beaufort wind force scale, there were four different "gale" designations whereas generally today there are two gale forces, 8 and 9, and a near gale 7:
Wind force
|
Original name
|
Current name
|
km/h
|
m/s
|
mph
|
knots
|
Mean knots
|
Sea state
|
7
|
Moderate gale
|
Near gale
|
50?61
|
14?17
|
32?38
|
28?33
|
30
|
Rough
|
8
|
Fresh gale
|
Gale
|
62?74
|
17?20
|
39?46
|
34?40
|
37
|
Very Rough
|
9
|
Strong gale
|
Severe Gale/ Strong Gale (
UK
)
|
75?88
|
21?24
|
47?54
|
41?47
|
44
|
High
|
10
|
Whole gale
|
Storm
|
89?102
|
25?28
|
55?63
|
48?55
|
52
|
Very High
|
Etymology
[
edit
]
The word
gale
is derived from the
Middle English
gale
, a general word for wind of any strength, even a breeze. This word is probably of
North Germanic
origin, related to
Icelandic
gola
(breeze) and
Danish
gal
(furious, mad),
[4]
which are both from
Old Norse
gala
(to sing), from
Proto-Germanic
*
galan?
(to roop, sing, charm), from
Proto-Indo-European
*
g?el
- (to shout, scream, charm away).
References
[
edit
]