Product Code Database
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 wind moving at a speed between . National Weather Service Glossary , s.v. "gale" . Forecasters typically issue 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 used the term “gale” to refer to winds of for coastal areas between and . The definition is very non-standard. A common alternative definition of the maximum is .
The most common way of describing wind force is with the Beaufort scale that 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 "gale" designations whereas generally today there are two gale forces, 8 and 9, and a near gale 7:
| Rough |
| Very Rough |
| High |
| Very High |
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