calmas de viento

English translation: wind lulls

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:calmas de viento
English translation:wind lulls
Entered by: Yaotl Altan

16:41 Dec 7, 2011
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Meteorology
Spanish term or phrase: calmas de viento
Las direcciones predominantes del viento son oeste (O) y oeste-suroeste (OSO) con una componente menor en dirección oeste-noroeste (ONO), tal como se puede apreciar en la Rosa de Vientos.

El porcentaje de flujos de viento entre 3,5 – 6,5 m/s, corresponde a un 27,3%. Por otro lado, un 22,6% corresponde a *calmas de viento*.
BDT
wind lulls
Explanation:
Dicc. Politécnico de lsa lenguas española e inglesa.
Selected response from:

Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 17:43
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5wind lulls
Yaotl Altan
4 +1periods of (dead) calm
Charles Davis
4calm winds
Wendy Streitparth


  

Answers


14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
wind lulls


Explanation:
Dicc. Politécnico de lsa lenguas española e inglesa.

Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 17:43
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish, Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Andres Fekete: or lulls in the wind
59 mins
  -> Thankyou!

agree  Alistair Ian Spearing Ortiz
1 hr
  -> Grazie!

agree  Richard Hill: 22,6% seems to suggest some wind. Agree with lulls in the wind
2 hrs
  -> Merci

agree  Christine Walsh
9 hrs
  -> Gracias, colega :)

agree  3ADE shadab
12 hrs
  -> Shuukran!
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
periods of (dead) calm


Explanation:
"Calma" here means a virtual or complete absence of wind, as in its first definition in the DRAE:

"calma
1. f. Estado de la atmósfera cuando no hay viento."

It is the official term for 0 (zero) on the Beaufort Scale (less than 1 knot, 0-1 or 2 kmh).
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escala_de_Beaufort
In English, this is called "calm":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale

Since "calm" in this sense is a non-count noun, the plural has be rendered by "periods of".

"Periods of calm" is quite correct, but they are often called "periods of dead calm":

"The combination of shallow draft and large top hamper meant that navigation of open water was restricted to periods of dead calm."
http://www.nwtresearch.com/canoe/boat.htm

A wind lull is "A marked decrease in the wind speed".
American Meteorological Society, Glossary of Meteorology
http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?p=1&query=...

This is not quite the same thing; firstly, it is implicitly of fairly short duration, whereas a "calma de viento" or period of calm can last for a whole day or more, and secondly, a reduction of wind speed is not necessarily a complete absence of wind.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2011-12-07 19:07:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Calma de viento" can sometimes refer to when the wind drops (a lull), but that is not the case here; in this context, it means a period of undefined duration without wind.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2011-12-07 19:14:46 GMT)
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22.6% refers not to a wind speed but to a percentage of the "flujos de viento": in other words, a proportion of the time recorded corresponding to calm. "Calmas de viento" quite definitely means a virtual or complete absence of wind here, not a reduction in wind speed.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 00:43
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  James A. Walsh
46 mins
  -> Many thanks, James ;)
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
calm winds


Explanation:
The Doldrums is the region of calm winds, centered slightly north of the equator and between the two belts of trade winds
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/in-the-doldrums.html

Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Local time: 00:43
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
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