🌬️ Converters

Beaufort to km/h Converter

Convert wind force on the Beaufort scale (0 to 12) to the equivalent speed in km/h, with a description of each level. Useful for sailing, fishing and weather.

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The Beaufort scale and its matching speeds

Francis Beaufort created the scale in 1805 for naval use, and the detail that makes it special is that it was defined not by speed but by observable effect: how much sail a warship could carry, how the sea behaved. Only much later did the matching speed ranges arrive, which is why the scale remains useful with no instrument at all.

Enter a force from 0 to 12 and the page returns the name and the range in kilometres per hour. The reference points are worth knowing: 6 is a strong breeze, where an umbrella already becomes hard to hold; 8 is a gale, with branches breaking; 10 is a storm, with trees uprooted; and 12 is hurricane force, from 118 km/h upwards.

The forces are not evenly spaced in speed, and that is deliberate: the scale was built on effects, and wind effect grows with the square of the speed. Between force 1 and 2 there are a few kilometres per hour; between 11 and 12, fifteen. Extensions up to force 17 exist, created in Taiwan and China for typhoons, but they are not part of the international scale.

Frequently asked questions

Is the scale still used?

It is, chiefly in sailing and marine meteorology, where describing the state of the sea is more useful than a number. Navigation forecasts routinely quote the force, and someone on a boat can check it by looking at the waves, with no anemometer.

How does it differ from the hurricane scale?

The Saffir-Simpson scale begins where Beaufort ends: it grades hurricanes into five categories by sustained speed, all above force 12. Beaufort describes everyday wind up to the hurricane threshold; Saffir-Simpson describes what happens beyond it.

At what height is the speed measured?

Ten metres above the surface in open terrain, which is the meteorological convention. That matters because wind is much weaker near the ground due to friction: the same weather gives different readings depending on height and on the obstacles around the sensor.

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