🔍 Key Concepts

• Beaufort wind scale and how it categorizes strong winds and storms • Difference between gale, storm, and hurricane force winds • How tropical systems are classified by sustained wind speed in knots

💭 Think About

• Think about the wind-speed range typically used to define a tropical storm versus a hurricane. • Ask yourself: at what wind speed do warnings change from ‘gale’ or ‘storm’ to ‘hurricane’ in marine forecasts? • Compare each option to what you remember about the cutoff between a strong storm and a major, named hurricane.

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify the minimum sustained wind speed (in knots) that officially defines a hurricane on weather charts and forecasts. • Check how many knots correspond to about 74 mph, which is the commonly quoted minimum for a hurricane—convert or recall the knot value. • Eliminate any ranges that are clearly associated with gale (around 34–47 knots) and storm (around 48–63 knots) rather than hurricane force.