| Beaufort scale | Mean speed (knots) | Description term | State of Sea | Wave height (feet) |
|---|
| 0 | 0 | Calm | Like a mirror | – |
| 1 | 2 | Light airs | Slight ripple | (1/3) |
| 2 | 5 | Light breeze | Small wavelets | (1/2) |
| 3 | 9 | Gentle breeze | Large wavelets; Crests begin to break; a few white horses | 2 |
| 4 | 13 | Mod. breeze | Small waves; becoming longer; more frequent white horses | 3 |
| 5 | 19 | Fresh breeze | Moderate waves; longer form; some spray | 6 |
| 6 | 24 | Strong breeze | Large waves; White foam crests; extensive spray | 10 |
| 7 | 30 | Near gale | Sea heaps up; foam from breaking waves streaks along wind direction | 13 |
| 8 | 37 | Gale | Moderately high waves; foam in well marked streaks | 18 |
| 9 | 44 | Strong gale | High waves; crests of waves tumble over; spray affects visibility | 23 |
| 10 | 52 | Storm | Very high waves; great patches of white foam in wind; tumbling sea becomes heavy and shock-like. Visibility more affected | 29 |
| 11 | 60 | Violent storm | Exceptionally high waves (medium sized ships lost from view behind waves) Sea covered with long white foam patches; bad visibility | 37 |
| 12 | oh shit | Hurricane | Air filled with foam and spray; sea completely white with driving spray; visibility very seriously affected. | 50 + |