WIND AND MAXIMUM WAVE HEIGHT

Abstract

The height of waves depends on the strength of the wind it is necessary to know the maximum wind speed in order to know the wave pattern. The data on winds are given by scale (Beaufort's scale), by speed (in nautical miles, or kilometers per hour and meters per second, and the maximum wind speed, typhoons excluded, seems to be 110 miles (nautical). In typhoons the wind speed exceeds these values very much; on the other hand, in the mid-Atlantic zone between the United States and Europe, there are often speeds of 55 miles per hour but greater speeds are exceptional. The experiments on the pressure due to the wind against a body give results which confirm the usual rules of calculations as used in public works, bridges, etc.