squall


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squall

a sudden strong wind or brief turbulent storm
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

squall

[skwȯl]
(meteorology)
A strong wind with sudden onset and more gradual decline, lasting for several minutes; in the United States observational practice, a squall is reported only if a wind speed of 16 knots (8.23 meters per second) or higher is sustained for at least 2 minutes.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

squall

A sudden and rapid increase in wind speed by at least two units on Beaufort's scale, which lasts for at least one minute. It is normally associated with cumulonimbus clouds. A squall is indicated by the symbol image on weather charts.
An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Squall

a sudden, brief increase in wind force that is accompanied by changes in wind direction. Wind velocity in a squall often exceeds 20–30 m/sec. A squall lasts several minutes, sometimes with a succession of gusts. Squalls may occur with the approach of storm clouds or clouds preceding atmospheric cold fronts and are often attended by showers, hail, or thunderstorms. Violent squalls can cause great destruction.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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light flutter more like the squall we had in April, sudden.
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I put mine out listening to their Come On, Die Young album many moons ago, leaping up from the sofa to turn the stereo down just as one particular lilting passage morphed into a teeth-curdled squall of industrial feedback.
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