The Beaufort wind force scale was created in the early 19th century for mariners and later expanded for land use. It has 12 grades, ranging from still air to hurricane-force winds, and became popular with the invention of the telegraph and cup anemometer. The scale became the mandatory standard for measuring wind speed in the Royal Navy in 1906 and is still in use today.
The Beaufort wind force scale, or simply the Beaufort scale, was devised in the early 19th century (around the 19th century) to provide a standard measure of wind speed for mariners. It was later expanded for land use about a century later in 1805 by George Simpson. The Beaufort scale is one wind scale among many that had been developed at the time, but after becoming the mandatory standard for measuring wind speed in the Royal Navy in 1906, the scale has continued to remain, as it still does today.
The Beaufort scale has 12 grades, ranging from still air to hurricane-force winds. In 1969, stages 13-17 were added for special cases such as particularly severe storms and hurricanes, although this scale is usually referred to separately as the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
Starting at 0 corresponding to calm, the Beaufort scale climbs briskly to 1, light breeze to 2, light breeze to 3, moderate breeze to 4, cool breeze to 5, strong breeze to 6, almost windy at 7, gale at 8, heavy storm at 9, storm at 10, severe storm at 11 and hurricane at 12.
The Beaufort scale became popular in part with the invention of the telegraph in 1837 by Samuel Morse and the cup anemometer in 1846 by TR Robinson. The cup anemometer is a hollowed hemisphere that rotates at a certain number of revolutions per minute depending on the strength of the wind. These two inventions made it possible to measure wind speed empirically and communicate it over long distances, allowing for storm warnings. This became particularly desirable after a naval war between the French and the British in 1854 in which many ships were lost to severe storms.
Although the Beaufort scale continued to be used throughout the 19th century, there was no standard way of relating cup anemometer revolutions to a given degree of wind force, with more than 19 disagreeing scales being used around the world . Only in 30 was a uniform scale established, with minor changes in 1926. The Beaufort scale is still in use today, but many sailors simply measure wind speed in knots.
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