FORCE 8 (9, 10, ETC.)

n.a numerical designation for the various pressures exerted by wind. Force here means a measure of wind intensity and the figures following are numbers of a wind scale that express and record the force or velocity of the wind. Various scales exist to measure such; for example, in the Beaufort scale (created by British Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort in the early 1800s) a force 8 would be a fresh gale (a wind of approximately 39-46 miles per hour), and a force 12 would be a hurricane (a wind of approximately 75 or more miles per hour). This term can also be used figuratively to express something similar with varying degrees of intensity.