Kite glossary
The wind, rain and kite words you'll meet on this site — what they mean and why they matter for flying.
Kite scoreA kite score is a 0–100 number that tells you whether the wind, gusts, rain and temperature are good for flying a kite right now. 80+ is a YES, 50–79 an EH, under 50 a NOPE.Wind gustA wind gust is a sudden, short-lived jump in wind speed above the sustained average. Gusts are what snap kite lines and launch kites into trees.Wind speedWind speed is how fast the air is moving, usually measured in mph, km/h or knots. For kite flying, 8–25 mph is the ideal range.Beaufort scaleThe Beaufort scale estimates wind speed from visible effects on land or sea, from 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane). Kites fly best around Beaufort 3–5.KnotsA knot is a nautical unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour (1.15 mph). Coastal and kitesurfing wind forecasts often use knots.PrecipitationPrecipitation is rain, sleet, snow or hail falling from the sky. Rain soaks a kite sail, makes it heavy, and 2 mm or more in a day usually kills a kite session.Good kite dayA good kite day means wind between 8–25 mph, gusts under 31 mph and less than 2 mm of rain. We count these from 3 years of weather data for 536 cities.Types of kitesThe main types of kite are single-line (diamond, delta, sled), two-line sport kites and multi-line power kites. Each needs a different wind range.