Gale
A gale is a strong wind, typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots (, or ) of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are expected. In the United States, a gale warning is specifically a maritime warning; the land-based equivalent in National Weather Service warning products is a wind advisory. Other sources use minima as low as , and maxima as high as . Through 1986, the National Hurricane Center used the term gale to refer to winds of tropical force for coastal  areas, between and . The definition is very non-standard. A common alternative definition of the maximum is . The most common way of measuring wind force is with the Beaufort scale which defines a gale as wind from to . It is an empirical measure for describing wind speed based mainly on observed sea conditions. On the original 1810 Beaufort wind force scale, there were four different "gale" designations whereas generally today there are two gale forces, 8 and 9, and a near gale 7: Etymology. The word "gale" is derived from the Middle English "gale", a general word for wind of  any strength, even a breeze. This word is probably of North Germanic origin, related to Icelandic "gola" (breeze) and Danish "gal" (furious, mad), which are both from Old Norse "gala" (to sing), from Proto-Germanic *"galaną" (to roop, sing, charm), from Proto-Indo-European *"gʰel"- (to shout, scream, charm away). One online etymology website suggests that the word "gale" is derived from an earlier spelling, "gail", which it claims is of uncertain origin. Frequency. Gales are common in Great Britain, but injuries are uncommon. The number of gales in West Germany declined between 1956 and 1989.