Example video title will go here for this video

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Wind can make or break a day. A gentle light breeze can make a beautiful sunny day even better, or wind gusts up to 30 mph can ruin a picnic or an outdoor plan.

There are a lot of words to describe the level of wind, so let's learn what they technically mean in another installment of Weather IQ.

  🌩️ If you like weather, watch Brad Panovich and the WCNC Charlotte First Warn Weather Team on their YouTube channel, Weather IQ.  🎥

Let's start with windy and breezy. These two common weather words match with actual wind speeds.

According to NOAA's Weather Glossary, breezy means 15 to 25 mph sustained winds. Windy means sustained winds will be 20 to 30 mph. The keyword here is sustained, which means the average wind speed is over two minutes.

Blustery is another term meteorologists use. This has the same definition as breezy: Winds at 15 to 25 mph, but this term is used more commonly during the colder months to describe the wind. 

Wind gusts are rapid bursts of winds. A wind gust varies by 10 mph between the peak and lull of the wind. So when it is gusty, it means there are a lot of fluctuations in the wind for the day.

RELATED: Severe Weather Preparedness Week: Tornadoes and straight-line winds

There is a scale to estimate wind speeds and their effects. The Beaufort Wind Scale was created by Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort in the early 1800s to help sailors estimate the winds via what they see. 

This zero-to-12 scale is still used in modern day to estimate wind strengths.

RELATED: Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale: How to measure a tropical cyclone's strength

  🌩️ If you like weather, watch Brad Panovich and the WCNC Charlotte First Warn Weather Team on their YouTube channel, Weather IQ.  🎥

Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings.