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roaring forties

 
Sci-Tech Dictionary: roaring forties
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(′rör·iŋ ′för·dēz)

(meteorology) A popular nautical term for the stormy ocean regions between 40° and 50° latitude; it usually refers to the Southern Hemisphere, where there is an almost completely uninterrupted belt of ocean with strong prevailing westerly winds.

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Columbia Encyclopedia: roaring forties
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roaring forties, name applied, especially by sailors, to the latitudes between 40°S and 50°S, where the prevailing westerly winds are strong and steady. Unlike the winds in the Northern Hemisphere, those in the roaring forties are not impeded by large land areas.

Wikipedia: Roaring Forties
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For the electric company, see Roaring 40s.
The Clipper Route followed by ships sailing between England and Australia/New Zealand

The Roaring Forties is a name given, especially by sailors, to the latitudes between 40°S and 50°S, so called because of the boisterous and prevailing westerly winds. Because there is less landmass to slow them down, the winds are especially strong in the Southern Hemisphere, notably in the South Indian Ocean.

The winds of the Roaring Forties played a significant part in the clipper route. The winds were probably first identified by Dutch sailor Henderik Brouwer in 1610[citation needed] as a means to rapidly transit across the Indian Ocean en route to Batavia (Dutch East India Company). See Winds in the Age of Sail.

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Sci-Tech Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Roaring Forties".  Read more