BEAUFORT SCALE

WIND FORCE ANDGENERAL DESCRIPTION WIND SPEED

WIND EFFECTS ON THE SEA

WAVES PROBABLE HEIGHT IN

METERS

m/sec knots (open sea) average max

0 Calm CalmaCalmeCalma

0 - 0,2 up to 1 Sea like a mirror - -

1 Light air Bava di ventoTrès légère briseVentolina

0,3 - 1,5 1 - 3 Ripples without foam crests 0,1 0,1

2 Light breeze Brezza leggeraLégére briseFlojito, Brisa muy débil

1,6 - 3,3 4 - 6 Small wavelets. Crests have a glassy appearance and do not break

0,2 0,3

3 Gentle breeze Brezza tesaPetit briseFlojo, Brisa débil

3,4 - 5,4 7 - 10 Large wavelets and crests begin to break. Possible scattered white horses

0,6 1,0

4 Moderate breeze Vento moderatoJolie briseBonancible, Brisa moderada

5,5 - 7,9 11 - 16 Small waves with fairly frequent white horses

1,0 1,5

5 Fresh breeze Vento tesoBonne briseFresquito, Brisa fresca

8,0 - 10,717 - 21 Moderate waves with many white horses

2,0 2,5

6 Strong breeze Vento frescoVent frais

10,8 - 13,8

22 - 27 Large waves white foam crests. Probably some spray

3,0 4,0

Fresco, Brisa fuerte

7 Near gale Vento forteGrand fraisFrescachó, Viento fuerte

13,9 - 17,1

28 - 33 Mounting sea with foam blown in streaks downwind

4,0 5,5

8 Gale BurrascaCoup de ventViento duro

17,2 - 20,7

34 - 40 Moderately high waves with crests beginning to break into spindrift

5,5 7,5

9 Strong gale Burrasca forteFort coup de ventViento muy duro

20,8 - 24,4

41 - 47 High waves with dense foam along the direction of the wind. Crests begin to roll over and spray may affect visibility

7,0 10,0

10 Storm TempestaTempêteTemporal

24,5 - 28,4

48 - 55 Very high waves with long overhanging crests. Heavy sea roll and the surface is generally white. Visibility affected

9,0 12,5

11 Violent storm Tempesta violentaViolent tempêteTemporal duro, Borrasca

28,5 - 32,6

56 - 63 Exceptionally high waves. The sea is completely covered with foam patches lying downwind. Visibility poor

11,5 16,0

12 Hurricane UraganoOuraganHuracán

over 32,7 over 64Huge waves. The air is filled with foam and spray. Sea completely white. Visibility bad

14,0 -