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Wind speeds

ByGarf created updated

Mankind has never been able to standardise on how to measure wind speeds. As ever, the sensible way to do it is to use the SI method: metres per second (m/s). But there are many others. So here is an approximate table of equivalents…

Beaufort
Min Speed m/s
Max Speed m/s
Min Speed km/h
Max Speed km/h
Min Speed MPH
Max Speed MPH
Min Speed knots
Min Speed knots
Comment
0
0
0.2
0
1.8
0
1.2
0
1
Calm
1
0.3
1.5
1.8
5
1.2
3
1
3
Light air
2
1.6
3.3
6
11
4
7
4
6
Light breeze
3
3.4
5.4
12
19
8
12
7
10
Gentle breeze
4
5.5
7.9
20
28
13
17
11
15
Moderate breeze
5
8
10.7
29
38
18
24
16
21
Fresh breeze
6
10.8
13.8
39
49
25
30
22
27
Strong breeze
7
13.9
17.1
50
61
31
38
28
33
Near gale
8
17.2
20.7
62
74
39
46
34
40
Gale
9
20.8
24.4
75
88
47
54
41
47
Severe gale
10
24.5
28.4
89
102
55
63
48
55
Storm
11
28.5
32.6
103
107
64
73
56
63
Violent storm
12
32.7
10000
118
10000
74
10000
64
10000
Hurricane

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