(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.
roaring forties
| Sci-Tech Dictionary: roaring forties |
| 5min Related Video: roaring forties |
| Columbia Encyclopedia: roaring forties |
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 |
For the electric company, see Roaring 40s.
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, which is now incorporated into what is known as the Southern 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.
See also
- Horse latitudes
- Furious Fifties
- Shrieking Sixties
- SkySails
- Wind power in South Australia
- Wind power in New Zealand
References
 |
This article related to a specific weather event is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Learn More
 | A Black Box (1980 Album by Peter Hammill) |
| Albatrosses |
| Broadway (American Theater) |
Help us answer these
 | What did Mahammad do in his forties? |
| What did people do in the forties? |
| What music was in the forties? |
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
 |
 | 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 GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Roaring Forties". Read more |
Related answers
- What are the roaring forties?
- In which ocean is the Roaring Forties?
- What year was the roaring forties discovered?
- Inventions of the forties?
ADVERTISEMENT
Answer these
- What were the roaring forties and why were they both good and bad?
- Were the roaring twenties really roaring?
- What are the raging forties'?
Mentioned in
- A Black Box (1980 Album by Peter Hammill)
- Albatrosses
- Broadway (American Theater)
- X My Heart (1996 Album by Peter Hammill)
- roar
- Past Go: Collected (1997 Album by Peter Hammill)
- Singularity (2006 Album by Peter Hammill)
- Roller-Furling and Roller-Reefing Headsails
- Trade Winds
- Scudding
- Pacific Ocean (oceanography)
- Abel Janszoon Tasman
- wind (in meteorology)
- Avian Migration and Navigation (zoology)
|
