Gale Warning
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A ''gale warning'' is an alert issued by national
weather forecasting Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather info ...
agencies around the world in an event that maritime locations currently or imminently experiencing winds of gale force on the Beaufort scale. Gale warnings (and gale watches) allow mariners to take precautionary actions to ensure their safety at sea or to seek safe anchorage and ride out the storm on land. Though usually associated with deep low-pressure areas, winds strong enough to catalyze a gale warning can occur in other conditions too, including from anticyclones, or high-pressure systems, in the continental interior. The winds are not directly associated with a tropical cyclone.


Usage in the United States


Maritime

In the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the
National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
issues gale warnings for marine areas (oceans, sounds, estuaries, and the
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
) experiencing, or about to experience, winds within the range of to . In United States maritime warning flag systems, two red pennants indicate a gale warning; the use of one such flag denotes a small craft advisory. The National Weather Service issues a storm warning for higher winds of to at sea. In the event of a tropical cyclone, however, a tropical storm warning replaces both the gale warning and the storm warning. In this type of situation, the storm warning maritime flag is also used in lieu of the gale warning pennants, regardless of the intensity of the tropical storm.


Land

The
National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
issues a similar high wind warning (
Specific Area Message Encoding Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) is a Communications protocol, protocol used for framing and classification of broadcasting Emergency population warning, emergency warning messages. It was developed by the United States National Weather Serv ...
code: HWW) for high winds on land. The criteria vary from place to place; however, in most cases, the warning applies to winds of to for at least 1 hour; ''or'' any gusts of to on land. It is more severe than a ''wind advisory'', but not as severe as an '' extreme wind warning'', which is generally issued if major hurricane winds are expected from a
tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...
. The high wind warning is not issued if a tropical storm warning, blizzard warning, winter storm warning, severe thunderstorm warning, dust storm warning, or tornado warning covers the phenomenon. This should not be confused with the extreme wind warning tag, which denotes wind speeds of 115 mph or greater, and is most often seen in powerful hurricanes.


Usage in the United Kingdom

In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, the Met Office issues gale warnings, and radio broadcasts them four times a day at fixed times on 198 kHz in the Shipping Forecast, part of the broadcast output of
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
. If a considerable time will intervene before the next Shipping Forecast, forecasters may issue an extra gale warning, read between programmes. The Meteorological Office issues warnings for sea areas surrounding the United Kingdom for all predictions of winds of Beaufort scale Force 8 or greater, the forecasts extending as far north as
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
and as far south as southern
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. Robert FitzRoy developed the first weather forecasting and storm warning system. On 1 September 1860 weather reports began to be collected at the Meteorological Office in London via electric telegraph and on 5 February 1861 the first storm warning was issued. After his death in 1865 the storm warning service was discontinued due to the ongoing debate about its scientific accuracy but the increased loss of life caused a public outcry and a campaign in press and in parliament saw the restoration of storm warnings in 1867. The service continues to this day and is now known as the iconic Shipping Forecast.


Usage in Ireland

Met Éireann Met Éireann (; meaning "Meteorology, Met of Ireland") is the state meteorology, meteorological service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, part of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. History The history of modern meteorolog ...
, the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
meteorological office, issues an area forecast for the
Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
and warnings for sea areas around Ireland with headlands of Ireland (e.g. Fair Head, Malin Head, Mizen Head, Carnsore Point) defining stretches of coast.


Usage in Canada

In
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, the Meteorological Service of Canada branch of the Environment and Climate Change Canada issues a gale warning for lakes, oceans, and other marine areas within the country.


Usage in the Philippines

In the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) branch of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) issues gale warnings during weather disturbances (including
typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...
s) within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).


Example

The following is an example of a Gale Warning issued by the National Weather Service office in North Webster, Indiana.
URGENT - MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
901 PM EDT WED OCT 29 2014

LMZ043-046-300915-
/O.CON.KIWX.GL.W.0014.141031T1200Z-141101T0900Z/
NEW BUFFALO MI TO ST JOSEPH MI-MICHIGAN CITY IN TO NEW BUFFALO MI-
901 PM EDT WED OCT 29 2014

...GALE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM FRIDAY TO 5 AM EDT
SATURDAY...

* WINDS...NORTHWEST 15 TO 25 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 30 KNOTS BY
  DAYBREAK FRIDAY...VEERING NORTH TO 35 KNOT GALES WITH GUSTS TO
  45 KNOT GALES FRIDAY. NORTH WINDS DIMINISHING TO 20 TO 30
  KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 35 KNOT GALES LATE FRIDAY NIGHT.

* WAVES..5 TO 8 FEET LATE THURSDAY NIGHT...BUILDING TO 14 TO 20
  FEET FRIDAY...SUBSIDING TO 8 TO 12 FEET LATE FRIDAY NIGHT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A GALE WARNING MEANS WINDS OF 34 TO 47 KNOTS ARE IMMINENT OR
OCCURRING. OPERATING A VESSEL IN GALE CONDITIONS REQUIRES
EXPERIENCE AND PROPERLY EQUIPPED VESSELS. IT IS HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED THAT MARINERS WITHOUT THE PROPER EXPERIENCE SEEK SAFE
HARBOR PRIOR TO THE ONSET OF GALE CONDITIONS.

&&

$$

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR
UPDATES...OR CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/IWX/?N=MARINE


See also

* Severe weather terminology (United States) * Small craft advisory * Storm warning * Tropical cyclone warnings and watches


References


External links


Meteorological Service of Canada
{{SevWea nav Weather warnings and advisories Seas Winds