Beaufort Scale

I once heard the Beaufort Scale rendered as epic poetry. The reader started in a quiet conversational tone, speaking fairly quickly. As he ascended the scale, the voice grew louder and the pace slowed. The word ‘HURRICANE’ was bellowed at considerable volume.

The table below was copied from a notebook entry made one foul day in Whitby, and is placed here in honour of the Mersey Ferry – the Liverpool floating stage has sunk owing to unusually low tides and bad weather. I can remember a storm in the late 70s that sunk a newly constructed landing stage on the Liverpool side. At the time reports suggested that the heavy concrete structure retained by hinged booms had a resonant frequency close to the swell encountered in the storm.

ScaleKnotsDescription
0Calm
Under 1
Smooth glassy sea
1Light
2
Small scale-like ripples without crests
2Light
5
Small waves, still short and smooth but more pronounced
3Light
8
Whitecaps forming but still mostly smooth. Occasional white foam appearing
4Moderate
13
Waves still small but longer whitecaps fairly general
5Fresh
18
Moderate sized waves now long and more pronounced. Whitecaps everywhere, occasional foaming spray
6Strong
24
Formation of larger waves. Crests break and leave areas of white foam, some spray
7Strong
30
Sea heaps up. Long streaks of foam begin to form along wind direction. More spray (difficulty walking against wind)
8Gale
37
Large waves with very long crests, spray blown off wave crests. Long thick streaks of foam (walking progress considerably impeded)
9Severe gale
44
Mountainous seas. Dens streaks of foam along direction of wind. Wave crests begin to topple and roll over. Spray may affect visibility
10Storm
52
Towering, tumbling waves with long overhanging crests. Sea white with foam. Visibility restricted by spray
11Violent storm
60
Extremely mountainous sea, white and foaming. Drastically reduced visibility
12Hurricane
68+
Air filled with driving foam and spray as wave crests are torn off by wind. Sea completely white and frothy. Visibility very difficult

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