The Beaufort scale is a scale for measuring wind speeds. It is based on observation rather than accurate measurement.

It is the most widely used system to measure wind speed today. The
scale was developed in 1805 by Francis Beaufort, an officer of the Royal Navy and first officially used by HMS Beagle.

There are twelve levels, plus 0 for "no wind". From 1946 to 1970, there were also beaufort levels 13 to 17. All of them were labelled as Hurricane. Because they were only used in special cases,
they are no longer in use internationally. China, and Taiwan still use them, because they often have typhoons.

The wave heights given are for waves on the open ocean, not near the shore.

The Douglas Sea Scale and Douglas Wind Scale are similar, but they separate the sea from the wind.

The scale
Wave
Beaufort Wind speed Sea state
Description height What the sea looks like What it looks like on land
number photo
km/h mph kts m/s m ft

0 <1 <1 <1 <0.3 Calm 0 0 Flat. Calm. Smoke rises vertically.

1 1-5 1-3 1-3 0.3-1.5 Light air 0.1 0.33 Ripples without crests. Wind motion visible in smoke.

Small wavelets. Crests of glassy

2 6-11 3-7 4-6 1.5-3.3 Light breeze 0.2 0.66 Wind felt on exposed skin. Leaves rustle.
appearance, not breaking

Large wavelets. Crests begin to Leaves and smaller twigs in constant

3 12-19 8-12 7-10 3.3-5.5 Gentle breeze 0.6 2
break; scattered whitecaps motion.

Moderate Dust and loose paper raised. Small

4 20-28 13-17 11-16 5.5-8.0 1 3.3 Small waves.
breeze branches begin to move.

Moderate (1.2 m) longer waves. Branches of a moderate size move. Small

5 29-38 18-24 17-21 8.0-10.8 Fresh breeze 2 6.6
Some foam and spray. trees begin to sway.

Large branches in motion. Whistling heard

Large waves with foam crests and in overhead wires. Umbrella use becomes
6 39-49 25-30 22-27 10.8-13.9 Strong breeze 3 9.9
some spray. difficult. Empty plastic garbage cans tip
over.

Whole trees in motion. Effort needed to

High wind,
Sea heaps up and foam begins to walk against the wind. Swaying of
7 50-61 31-38 28-33 13.9-17.2 Moderate Gale, 4 13.1
streak. skyscrapers may be felt, especially by
Near Gale
people on upper floors.

Moderately high waves with

8 62-74 39-46 34-40 17.2-20.7 Fresh Gale 5.5 18 breaking crests forming spindrift. Twigs broken from trees. Cars veer on road.
Streaks of foam.

Larger branches break off trees, and some

High waves (6-7 m) with dense small trees blow over.
9 75-88 47-54 41-47 20.7-24.5 Strong Gale 7 23 foam. Wave crests start to roll over. Construction/temporary signs and
Considerable spray. barricades blow over. Damage to circus
tents and canopies.

Very high waves. Large patches of

foam from wave crests give the sea Trees are broken off or uprooted, saplings
Whole a white appearance. Considerable bent and deformed, poorly attached asphalt
10 89-102 55-63 48-55 24.5-28.4 9 29.5
Gale/Storm tumbling of waves with heavy shingles and shingles in poor condition peel
impact. Large amounts of airborne off roofs.
spray reduce visibility.

Exceptionally high waves. Very

large patches of foam, driven before Widespread vegetation damage. More
the wind, cover much of the sea damage to most roofing surfaces, asphalt
11 103-117 64-72 56-63 28.4-32.6 Violent storm 11.5 37.7
surface. Very large amounts of tiles that have curled up and/or fractured
airborne spray severely reduce due to age may break away completely.
visibility.

Considerable and widespread damage to

Huge waves. Sea is completely
vegetation, a few windows broken,
white with foam and spray. Air is
12 ≥118 ≥73 ≥64 ≥32.6 Hurricane-force ≥14 ≥46 structural damage to mobile homes and
filled with driving spray, greatly
poorly constructed sheds and barns. Debris
reducing visibility.
may be hurled about.

Images
 1 Beaufort 2 Beaufort 3 Beaufort 4 Beaufort 5 Beaufort 6 Beaufort

7 Beaufort 8 Beaufort 9 Beaufort 10 Beaufort 11 Beaufort 12 Beaufort

Other websites
UK Meteorological Office: The Beaufort Scale (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/guide/weather/marine/beaufort-scale)
Investigating Clouds (http://avc.comm.nsdlib.org/cgi-bin/wiki_grade_interface.pl?Investigating_Clouds) a lesson plan from the National Science Digital Library that uses the Beaufort
Scale.
Radio interview (https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4794209) with Scott Huler.
OceanWeather.com (http://www.oceanweather.com/data/) gives current graphics for wind, waves and temperature
Open Source Textbook at Oceanworld.tamu.edu (http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/ocng_textbook/contents.html) [broken link] cites the original definition formula in chapter 4
(http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/ocng_textbook/chapter04/chapter04_04.htm)
Howtoon Poster (http://www.howtoons.com/toon/the-beaufort-scale) showing effects on land/sea effects at each step.

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This page was last changed on 25 March 2019, at 20:00.

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