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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 winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).National Weather Service Glossary
s.v
"gale"
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 , and maxima as high as . Through 1986, the
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 winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).National Weather Service Glossarys.v
"gale"
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 , and maxima as high as . Through 1986, the
National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 3 ...
used the term “gale” to refer to winds of tropical force for coastal areas, between and . The definition is very non-standard. A common alternative definition of the maximum is .
The most common way of measuring wind force is with the Beaufort scale
The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale.
History
The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort ...
which defines a gale as wind from to . 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:
Etymology
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), which are both from Old Norse ''gala'' (to sing), from Proto-Germanic *''galaną'' (to roop, sing, charm), from Proto-Indo-European *''gʰel''- (to shout, scream, charm away). One online etymology website suggests that the word ''gale'' is derived from an earlier spelling, ''gail'', which it claims is of uncertain origin.References
{{Authority control Wind Seas