From many years of recording weather data I have always struggled to
identify, statistically that is "days of gale" or "near gale etc etc.
Obviously the definition of a gale is mean wind speeds over a 10 minute
period reaching 34kt or equivalent. Gust speeds satistically do not count in
the "official" recognition of a gale.

How do people on this newsgroup show days of gale force winds.

It is very easy to achieve gusts to 43kt which again is classified as gale
force winds, but would this qualify officially - I think not.

Rob, you have answered your own question. People (should) follow the
official definition, otherwise nobody knows what they are talking about. And
you are correct, gusts do not count. It is just the 10 minute mean speed of
Beaufort force 8, 34-40 knots at 10 metres above the ground that qualifies
as a gale.

--
Bernard Burton
Wokingham, Berkshire, UK.

Satellite images at:
www.btinternet.com/~wokingham.weather/wwp.html
"Rob Brooks" wrote in message
...
From many years of recording weather data I have always struggled to
identify, statistically that is "days of gale" or "near gale etc etc.
Obviously the definition of a gale is mean wind speeds over a 10 minute
period reaching 34kt or equivalent. Gust speeds satistically do not count
in
the "official" recognition of a gale.

How do people on this newsgroup show days of gale force winds.

It is very easy to achieve gusts to 43kt which again is classified as gale
force winds, but would this qualify officially - I think not.

In message , Rob Brooks
writes
From many years of recording weather data I have always struggled to
identify, statistically that is "days of gale" or "near gale etc etc.
Obviously the definition of a gale is mean wind speeds over a 10 minute
period reaching 34kt or equivalent. Gust speeds satistically do not count in
the "official" recognition of a gale.

How do people on this newsgroup show days of gale force winds.

It is very easy to achieve gusts to 43kt which again is classified as gale
force winds, but would this qualify officially - I think not.


By definition, terms such as 'gale', 'storm' etc refer only to the mean
wind speed. Gusts do not come into it.

To muddy the waters a bit, I believe that gale warnings are issued by
the Met Office when the mean wind speed is expected to reach 34 knots or
more OR if gusts are expected to reach 43 knots or more. Therefore,
expected gusts of 43 knots trigger a gale warning but the occurrence of
43 knot gusts does not mean that a gale has occurred. That requires a
mean speed of 34 knots or more over a 10-minute period. (I may not have
got that completely correct so if anyone knows better please say so).

Norman.
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles 85m a.s.l.
England

"Norman Lynagh" wrote in
message ...
By definition, terms such as 'gale', 'storm' etc refer only to the mean
wind speed. Gusts do not come into it.

To muddy the waters a bit, I believe that gale warnings are issued by
the Met Office when the mean wind speed is expected to reach 34 knots or
more OR if gusts are expected to reach 43 knots or more. Therefore,
expected gusts of 43 knots trigger a gale warning but the occurrence of
43 knot gusts does not mean that a gale has occurred. That requires a
mean speed of 34 knots or more over a 10-minute period. (I may not have
got that completely correct so if anyone knows better please say so).

Norman.
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles 85m a.s.l.
England

Norman.
Yes, you are correct, but only in terms of the shipping forecast/warnings
for shipping sea areas, and this is only a local 'CFO' (as it used to be,
don't know what it is called now) definition, and as such is only applicable
to shipping forecasts and the associated gale warnings. The sole definition
of a gale is given in terms of the mean speed at a height of 10 metres.

--
Bernard Burton
Wokingham, Berkshire, UK.

Satellite images at:
www.btinternet.com/~wokingham.weather/wwp.html

"Bernard Burton" wrote in message
...
"Norman Lynagh" wrote in
message ...
By definition, terms such as 'gale', 'storm' etc refer only to the mean
wind speed. Gusts do not come into it.

To muddy the waters a bit, I believe that gale warnings are issued by
the Met Office when the mean wind speed is expected to reach 34 knots or
more OR if gusts are expected to reach 43 knots or more. Therefore,
expected gusts of 43 knots trigger a gale warning but the occurrence of
43 knot gusts does not mean that a gale has occurred. That requires a
mean speed of 34 knots or more over a 10-minute period. (I may not have
got that completely correct so if anyone knows better please say so).

Norman.
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles 85m a.s.l.
England

Norman.
Yes, you are correct, but only in terms of the shipping forecast/warnings
for shipping sea areas, and this is only a local 'CFO' (as it used to be,
don't know what it is called now) definition, and as such is only applicable
to shipping forecasts and the associated gale warnings. The sole definition
of a gale is given in terms of the mean speed at a height of 10 metres.


CFO is now affectionately known as the "OPS Centre" .

CFO is a very old acronym and was superceeded in the 1990s by the NMC (National
Meteorological Centre), which was superceeded again after the Met Office moved
to Exeter.

People show their age without realizing on here :-)

Will.
--

"Bernard Burton" wrote in message
Norman.
Yes, you are correct, but only in terms of the shipping forecast/warnings
for shipping sea areas, and this is only a local 'CFO' (as it used to be,
don't know what it is called now) definition, and as such is only
applicable
to shipping forecasts and the associated gale warnings. The sole
definition
of a gale is given in terms of the mean speed at a height of 10 metres.

--
Bernard Burton
Wokingham, Berkshire, UK.

Satellite images at:
www.btinternet.com/~wokingham.weather/wwp.html


from uk.sci.weather FAQ
Gale: The word 'gale' is used in everyday speech in a rather loose way to
describe any strong wind, for example ..." it's blowing a gale outside",
when it may be just a 'strong blow' in inland areas of the southern Britain.
Meteorologists must work to a strict definition of a gale. For operational
forecasting (UK Met Office practice) both for land and sea use, a gale [
Force 8 on the Beaufort scale ] is defined as a mean wind (over 10 minutes)
of 34 knots (39mph, 63 km/hr, 17 m/s ) or more, or gusts of 43 knots (49
mph, 79 km/hr, 22 m/s) or more. This definition is also used for verifying
Shipping Forecasts and Gale Warnings. Isolated gusts accompanying squalls or
thunderstorms are not counted. However, for climatological purposes (i.e.
post-event analysis), only the mean wind is considered, i.e. a mean wind of
34 knots or more, as specified in the Beaufort wind scale (q.v.). [ see also
definitions for Severe Gale, Storm, Violent Storm and Hurricane Force. ]

Stuart

In message , Stuart
Brooks writes

"Bernard Burton" wrote in message
Norman.
Yes, you are correct, but only in terms of the shipping forecast/warnings
for shipping sea areas, and this is only a local 'CFO' (as it used to be,
don't know what it is called now) definition, and as such is only
applicable
to shipping forecasts and the associated gale warnings. The sole
definition
of a gale is given in terms of the mean speed at a height of 10 metres.

--
Bernard Burton
Wokingham, Berkshire, UK.

Satellite images at:
www.btinternet.com/~wokingham.weather/wwp.html


from uk.sci.weather FAQ
Gale: The word 'gale' is used in everyday speech in a rather loose way to
describe any strong wind, for example ..." it's blowing a gale outside",
when it may be just a 'strong blow' in inland areas of the southern Britain.
Meteorologists must work to a strict definition of a gale. For operational
forecasting (UK Met Office practice) both for land and sea use, a gale [
Force 8 on the Beaufort scale ] is defined as a mean wind (over 10 minutes)
of 34 knots (39mph, 63 km/hr, 17 m/s ) or more, or gusts of 43 knots (49
mph, 79 km/hr, 22 m/s) or more. This definition is also used for verifying
Shipping Forecasts and Gale Warnings. Isolated gusts accompanying squalls or
thunderstorms are not counted. However, for climatological purposes (i.e.
post-event analysis), only the mean wind is considered, i.e. a mean wind of
34 knots or more, as specified in the Beaufort wind scale (q.v.). [ see also
definitions for Severe Gale, Storm, Violent Storm and Hurricane Force. ]

Stuart

From Met Office document titled "Terms used for describing mean
(average) surface wind speed (Beaufort Scale)":

"Beaufort Forces apply ONLY to mean wind speeds and MUST NOT be
used in reference to gusts".

The words in capitals are as shown in the original document.

Norman.
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles 85m a.s.l.
England