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Incorporating La Herradura, Almuñeca, Motril, Carchuna, Castel de Ferro and the Alpujarra region from the Costa Tropical to Granada
0 Chimney smoke rises vertically
1 Direction of wind just visible by smoke drift
2 Wind felt on the face; wind vanes begin to move
3 Leaves and small twigs move and flags begin to flutter.
4 Dust and loose paper begin to blow about.
5 Small trees in leaf begin to move.
6 Larger trees begin to show movement - umbrellas difficult to use.
7 A little difficult to walk against the wind.
8 Breaks small twigs off trees
9 Slates may blow off roofs
10 trees may be uprooted; some structural damage occurs.
11 Unusual event but may be accompanied by wide-spread damage.
12 Hurricane force winds cause much damage.
We owe the existence of the Beaufort Wind Scale to the 18th century seaman Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort. (1774 - 1857)
The "Wind Force Scale" as it was originally known was first adopted by the British naval fleet in the year 1838, although it had actually been devised in 1805.
The original scale consisted of 12 graduations, which by and large we continue to use today. In 1946 due to the need to add classifications to deal with extraordinary weather conditions such as Hurricanes, the scale was amended. With the USA as prime movers an additional 5 grades were added to the scale bringing it to 17 in total.
In Europe we still tend to use the 12 graduations and these are detailed below.
1 nautical mile (Knot) = 1.85200 kilometers
The Beaufort Wind Scale
0. 0 - 1
1. 1 - 3
2. 4 - 6
3. 7 - 10
4. 11 - 16
5. 17 - 21
6. 22 - 27
7. 28 - 33
8. 34 - 40
9. 41 - 47
10. 48 - 55
11. 56 - 63
12. 64 - 71
12 to 17
Force
Speed
in Knots
Sea state
Calm - Mirror like
Light air - Ripples - wave height about 7 - 10 cm.
Light breeze - Small wavelets height about 10 to 12 cm.
Gentle breeze - Large wavelets with some occasional white horses height about 60 - 70 cm
Moderate breeze - Slightly longer waves and frequent white horses height about 1mtr 20cm
Fresh breeze - Longer moderate waves with white horses and some foam height about 1mtr 80 cm.
Strong breeze - Large waves forming with white crests and some white foam height about 3 mtrs.
Near gale force - Sea piling up and sea blown in white streaks along the direction of the wind height about 4 mtrs
Gale force - Longer high waves breaking and white foam blowing in direction of wind height about 8 mtrs.
Strong gale - High waves and dense streaks of foam crests tumbling and visibility affected height about 10 mtrs
Storm force - Very high waves about 12 - 14 mtrs sea tumbling and visibility poor.
Violent Storm - Violent and dangerous seas with waves breaking and white foam all round height about 14 mtrs.
Hurricane - Air is full of foam and spray, sea all white and visibility badly affected height about 15mtrs.
Above force 12 it is not possible to identify the sea conditions but wind speeds may be up to 120 knots and seas most violent.
The Beaufort scale is intended for use on the seas but the information below will give an indication of how these conditions may be interpreted on the land.
The Beaufort Wind Scale - on land
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