An ill wind

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the advantages of living in the temperate zone and suppose I would eventually tire of playing golf in warm sunshine of Spain or Florida, but how can you plan your weekend when the weather forecasts are so … er … My particular bug-bear is that the BBC 24 hour forecast (that’s the one on your T.V. red button) does not include wind speed. They have it on the web, so why not here?
The other question is, how strong is a 12 or 20 mph wind in golfing terms? For this I have resorted to the Beaufort Scale. For those who don’t know it, Beaufort equates wind speeds to the evidence around you, but Mr. Beaufort was no golfer, so here are my suggested additions for the golf course (in bold).
Tree in Wind photo from General Wesc on Fickr

Force 3 (8 – 12 mph) ‘Gentle breeze’ - Leaves and smaller twigs in constant motion
- KitKat wrapper blows away (fag packet probably stays put)

Force 4 (13 -18 mph) - ‘Moderate breeze’ - Small branches begin to move.
- Eyes water, noses run

Force 5 (19-24 mph) - ‘Fresh breeze’ - Smaller trees sway
- Smaller ladies sway

Force 6 ( 25-31 mph) - ‘Strong breeze’ - Large branches in motion
- Hold on to the brolley, say goodbye to the hat

Force 7 (32-38 mph) - ‘Near Gale’ - Effort to walk across the wind
- This is just stupid. Let's go home

I’m still not sure exactly where on the scale to put those favoured golfing terms of a one, two or three club wind. Suggestions are welcome, or maybe I could enlist local weatherman Richard Angwin for some empirical research. Stand by for developments (or just more hot air?)