Afterglowscreensavers

Where The Wind Is Screensaver

The Where The Wind Is screensaver ranks Sweden's weather stations by current wind speed in metres per second, with the corresponding Beaufort description beside each reading. It runs in the browser with nothing to install; press ESC to exit.

Live preview

Where The Wind Is screensaver — Means, not gusts.

Press ESC to leave fullscreen. Settings are saved in your browser only.

How the Where The Wind Is screensaver works

The saver reads SMHI, the Swedish meteorological and hydrological institute, key-free.

No account and no key: the request goes straight from your browser, or from this site's own refreshed copy of the feed where the source does not permit browser access.

Values are drawn on a canvas that resizes with the window, so it works on a laptop or a wall display.

If the source is unreachable the saver says so on screen rather than showing stale numbers as though they were current.

A worked example

Fifteen stations ranked windiest first, each with its speed and the Beaufort term — light breeze, fresh breeze, near gale. These are ten-minute mean speeds, not gusts, which matters: a station reading 12 m/s as a mean is a genuinely windy day, and its gusts will be considerably higher.

Settings & tips

Frequently asked questions

Why means rather than gusts?
Because means are what the standard observation reports and what wind power output follows. Gusts are peaks lasting seconds; the mean is what actually determines how much a turbine generates.
What is the Beaufort scale?
A descriptive scale from calm to hurricane, defined by observable effects rather than instruments — the wording predates anemometers. It survives because it translates a number into something a person can picture.
Is this real data?
Yes. It comes from SMHI, the Swedish meteorological and hydrological institute, key-free. Nothing is invented or simulated, and if the source cannot be reached the saver reports that instead of drawing something plausible.
Does it cost anything or need an account?
No. Every screensaver here is free, runs in the browser and needs no sign-up. This one uses a public API that requires no key.

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