Wind gust World Meteorological Organization. Any significant variation at this mean wind during the ten minutes preceding the observation are noted as gusts in messages such as METAR. It is generally reported in METAR when the peak wind speed reaches at least 16 knots and the variation in wind speed between the peaks and average wind is at least 9 to 10 knots. In marine meteorology, the top speed of a burst is expressed in meters per second (m/s) or in knots, while the Beaufort scale is used for reporting the mean speed. When the maximum speed exceeds the average speed by
USA 17 velocity made good was about , or about 1.8 times wind speed. "USA 17" took 63 minutes to reach the downwind mark, so her velocity made good downwind was about , or about 2.5 times wind speed. The measured wind velocity is taken at near sea level, and does not account for effects of wind gradient with reported true wind speed of at mast head height of over . The measured sea-level wind direction shifted away from 180 degrees between the time of setting of the course and commencement of sailing of the downwind leg, by which time wind direction