Determining Wind Speed
Understanding wind speed, direction is one of the first things you must master before you can begin to kite. Not knowing these important pieces of information can be unsafe and will make understanding how to fly your kite difficult. This article will show you effective ways to determine wind speed and direction with objects you would commonly find at any kiting location.
Direction is the easier of the two to figure out and should be quite clear by just standing outside in the location you wish to launch. You can figure out the exact wind direction easily by picking up a light object off the ground such as sand or grass and tossing it straight up or dropping it to the ground. The wind will carry the object in a straight line directly down wind. If the sand of grass falls straight to the ground chances are you aren’t going to have a very successful kite outingJ.
It is also important to understand that the wind doesn’t always blow in the same direction all day. Depending on weather conditions the wind could change drastically throughout the day.
Finding wind direction isn’t all that difficult either. You can figure it out by looking at the objects you would commonly find around you. Below is a chart called the Beaufort scale it shows the effect of different wind speeds of trees, flags, water, and other objects.
knots |
kilometers/hour |
miles/hour |
Conditions on water |
Conditions on land |
1~3 |
1~5 |
1~4 |
slight ripples |
smoke drifts slightly leaves rustle |
4~6 |
6~11 |
5~7 |
very small ripples |
Wind felt on face |
7~10 |
12~19 |
8~11 |
large ripples (cats feet) |
flags flap leaves move |
11~16 |
20~29 |
12~18 |
small waves |
dust and small branches move |
17~21 |
30~39 |
19~24 |
medium waves and whitecaps |
small trees sway |
22~27 |
40~50 |
25~31 |
large waves with some spray |
large branches move lines whistle |
28~33 |
51~61 |
32~38 |
mounting sea with foam blown in streaks |
Whole trees sway |
34~40 |
62~74 |
39~46 |
high waves crests break |
difficult to walk against wind |
As you gain more experience kiting you will begin to automatically recognize wind speed without needing to rely on a chart. You will also begin to develop a wind speed at which you prefer to ride at depending on your kite size. If you what to know the exact wind speed a scientific tool called an anemometer is highly accurate and can display speeds in all different forms of measurement.
