Wind Speed Information

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By Andy Kirmayer
eHow Contributing Writer

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When the weather is calm, it is not necessary to worry about the wind, but wind is a very powerful force that can cause massive destruction. Meteorologists have devised tools to measure the wind speed and indicate it on a map. Scales have been created to categorize both the speed of the wind and its effects to rate the power of storms as they move into populated areas and/or affect those at sea.

Function

Wind speed is categorized according to the Beaufort Scale, which starts at 0, denoting a calm wind, all the way up to force 12, which is a 74 mile per hour hurricane force wind.

Effects

According to the Beaufort Scale, a force 0 wind leaves the sea like a mirror and smoke to rise vertically, while a force 12 wind will cause 14 meter waves at sea and structural damage on land.

Identification

On a weather map, wind barbs point from the direction which the wind is coming from and feature short barbs representing 5 knots, long barbs 10 knots and high speeds with shaded triangles.

Potential

The fastest wind speed ever recorded was 318 miles per hour, in a tornado near Oklahoma City on May 3rd, 1999, measured by mobile radar from the Doppler On Wheels project.

Size

The power of wind increases at the cube of the wind speed, so a 25 mile per hour wind, being about 1½ times a 15 mile per hour wind, actually has over 4½ times the power.