---
title: "Beaufort Wind Scale 0–12 with Speeds | Hilltop Cove"
description: "The Beaufort wind force scale from 0 to 12 in knots, km/h, mph and m/s, with sea and land descriptions. Type a wind speed to find its force."
url: https://hilltopcove.top/beaufort-scale/
---

# Beaufort wind scale

Type a wind speed, or slide through the forces, to see the Beaufort number, its name and what that wind does to the sea and the land around you. The full table is below.

## Reading the scale

Francis Beaufort devised the scale in 1805 for sailors, who judged the wind by its effect on the sea. Each force covers a band of mean wind speeds, set in whole knots: force 4, a moderate breeze, runs from 11 to 16 knots. The knot limits, the speeds in metres per second, the names and the wave heights here follow the Met Office table. The Met Office calls force 9 a severe gale, though the official term is strong gale.

The calculator rounds your speed to the nearest whole knot before matching it, as the table is written. The km/h and mph columns are converted from the knot limits, counting each band from half a knot below its lower limit to half a knot above its upper one, then rounded.

## Sea and land descriptions

The descriptions are written for this page and checked against the Met Office and NOAA tables. The wave heights are for well-developed waves on the open sea; the Met Office notes that the sea takes time to build after the wind gets up, so early in a blow the waves are smaller.

## Sources

- Met Office. [Beaufort wind force scale](https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/guides/coast-and-sea/beaufort-scale).
- NOAA Storm Prediction Center. [Beaufort Wind Scale](https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/beaufort.html) (effects on water and land).
- NIST Special Publication 811, [Appendix B.9: conversion factors](https://www.nist.gov/pml/special-publication-811/nist-guide-si-appendix-b-conversion-factors/nist-guide-si-appendix-b9).

## Questions

**Is a gale the same as force 8?**

Yes. Force 8, a gale, is 34 to 40 knots, about 39 to 47 mph or 62 to 75 km/h in the table above. Force 9 is a strong (or severe) gale.

**What is hurricane force?**

Force 12, the top of the scale: a mean wind of 64 knots or more, which is about 74 mph or 119 km/h.

**Do forecasts use the Beaufort scale?**

The Met Office uses it in its marine forecasts. Most land forecasts give speeds in mph, km/h or m/s, which you can turn into a force here or on the [wind speed converter](https://hilltopcove.top/wind-speed-converter/).