A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots (63–87 km/h, 17.5–24.2 m/s or 39–54 miles/hour) of sustained surface winds.^[1] Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are expected.

Other sources use minimums as low as 28 knots (52 km/h) and maximums as high as 90 knots (170 km/h). Through 1986, the National Hurricane Center used the term gale to refer to winds of tropical force for coastal areas, between 33 knots (61 km/h) and 63 knots (117 km/h). The 90-knot (170 km/h) definition is very non-standard. A common alternative definition of the maximum is 55 knots (102 km/h).^[2]

The most common way of measuring winds is with the Beaufort scale /ˈboʊfərt/.^[3] It is an empirical measure for describing wind speed based mainly on observed sea conditions. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale.

On the Beaufort Wind Scale, a Gale is classified as: Moderate Gale(32-38 miles per hour), Fresh Gale(39-46 mph), Strong Gale(47-54 mph) and Whole Gale(55-63 mph). A Gale is a type of Wind Description preceded by Calm, Light Air, Slight Breeze, Gentle Breeze, Moderate Breeze, Fresh Breeze, Strong Breeze and succeeded by Storm and Hurricane on a Beaufort Wind Scale. There is a unique Beaufort Scale number and a unique Arrow Indication for each type of Wind Description mentioned above.

References[link]

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Elizabeth Banks
Banks at the 2012 premiere of What to Expect When You're Expecting
Born	Elizabeth Irene Mitchell (1974-02-10) February 10, 1974 (age 38) Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	Max Handelman (2003–present)
Children	1 son

Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell;^[1][2] February 10, 1974) is an American actress. Banks made her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy. She is best known for her roles in the films Definitely, Maybe, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, W., Role Models, Wet Hot American Summer, The Uninvited, and The Hunger Games.

On television, Banks had a recurring role of Avery Jessup on the sitcom 30 Rock, which gained her a nomination for an Emmy Award. Previously, Banks had starred in the recurring role of Dr. Kim Briggs on Scrubs from 2006 to 2009.

Early life and education[link]

Banks was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the eldest of four children of Ann (née Wallace) and Mark P. Mitchell.^[3] Her father was a factory worker for General Electric and her mother worked in a bank.^[4]

As a girl, she loved playing baseball and riding horses. She played little league until she broke her leg sliding into third at a game. Looking for something else, she tried the school play. After that, acting became her passion.^{[citation needed]} . She graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1992 and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority. Banks graduated magna cum laude in 1996. In 1998, she completed schooling at the American Conservatory Theater and earned an MFA.

Career[link]

Banks at the 2007 Spider-Man 3 premiere.

Banks at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival

Banks changed her name to avoid confusion with actress Elizabeth Mitchell.^[5] She debuted in the 1998 independent film Surrender Dorothy, as Elizabeth Casey, appeared in various films over the next seven years before gaining more prominent widespread exposure through the 2005 comedy film The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

In August 2005, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Banks starred in William Inge's Bus Stop as Cherie, the sexy, blond, aspiring nightclub singer.^[6] Jeffrey Borak wrote that Banks' portrayal was acted "with poise, clarity and a shrewd feel for Cherie's complexities. Her performance is all of a piece and in harmony, stylistically, with the performances around her...."^[7] In 2005, she appeared on the show Stella, and in May 2006, she had a role in the season five finale of the NBC comedy Scrubs as Dr. Kim Briggs, the love interest of J.D. (Zach Braff). The character appeared throughout seasons six, seven and eight as a recurring guest star.

In 2006, Banks appeared in the American football drama film Invincible, in which she played Mark Wahlberg's love interest. Later, she and co-star Wahlberg were nominated for the "Best Kiss" award at the MTV Movie Award. Also that year, she landed the starring role in the comedy-horror Slither.

In 2007, she played the female lead in the comedy Meet Bill, alongside Aaron Eckhart and Jessica Alba. Also that year, Banks had a small role in the Christmas comedy film Fred Claus, co-starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti. In 2008, she played a love interest in the comedy Definitely, Maybe, alongside Isla Fisher and Ryan Reynolds, starred with Seth Rogen as the eponymous female lead in the Kevin Smith comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and played United States First Lady Laura Bush in W., Oliver Stone's biopic of George W. Bush.^[8]

In 2009, Banks appeared in the thriller The Uninvited, a remake of the Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters.^[9] The film was about an intrusive stepmother who makes life miserable for the teen daughters of her new husband. Banks based her character, Rachel, on Rebecca De Mornay's character in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle".^[10] "It was very important to me that every line reading I gave could be interpreted two ways," says Banks of her role, "So that when you go back through the movie you can see that".^[10]

Banks is a frequent co-star of actor Paul Rudd, the two having appeared in five films together to date (Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Role Models and Our Idiot Brother).^[11]

Banks was cast as a love interest for Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) in the fourth season of the Emmy-winning sitcom 30 Rock.^[12] Intended to appear in four episodes in 2010, Banks went on to become a recurring character with thirteen appearances by the end of the fifth season, including her marriage in the episode Mrs. Donaghy. Her performance in season five earned her a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards.

Banks appeared in the movie The Hunger Games, playing Effie Trinket, a woman from "The Capitol" who escorts the District 12 tributes to the Hunger Games.

Personal life[link]

Banks met her future husband, sportswriter and producer Max Handelman,^[13] on her first day at college, September 6, 1992; they married on July 5, 2003.^[14] She was raised in a family of both Irish Catholic and Anglo-Saxon Protestant background,^[15] and has converted to Judaism, her husband's faith.^[16][17] She and her husband welcomed their first child, Felix, who was born via a surrogate in March 2011.^[18][19]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Elizabeth Banks

• Official website
• Elizabeth Banks at the Internet Movie Database
• Elizabeth Banks at AllRovi
• Elizabeth Banks on Twitter

Liam Hemsworth
Hemsworth on 5 June 2009, while on break from filming The Last Song
Born	(1990-01-13) 13 January 1990 (age 22) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2007–present
Relatives	Chris Hemsworth Luke Hemsworth
Website
www.LiamHemsworth.com

Liam Hemsworth (born 13 January 1990)^[1] is an Australian actor. He took the role of Josh Taylor in the soap opera Neighbours and as "Marcus" on the children's television series The Elephant Princess and appeared in the American film The Last Song, released on March 31, 2010. Hemsworth's elder brothers, Luke and Chris, are also actors and provided a path for Hemsworth to emulate.^[2]

Early life[link]

Hemsworth was born in Melbourne, Australia. He is the son of Leonie, an English teacher, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counselor.^[3][4] He has two older brothers, Chris and Luke Hemsworth, who also work as actors.^[2] Hemsworth has said that though there is competition for jobs among them, it is friendly: "We are brothers and we are always competitive, but it is a good thing, it pushes us and we are always happy whenever someone books something."^[5]

When Hemsworth was in year 8, he and his family relocated to Phillip Island,^[6] a small island. Hemsworth says he spent much of his time there surfing with his brothers.^[7] In March 2009, Hemsworth moved to the United States to pursue his career there.^[8] He and his brother Chris first stayed in the guest house of Chris's agent William Ward^[9] before renting their own Los Angeles apartment in which they currently reside.^[5]

Career[link]

Prior to becoming an actor, Hemsworth laid floors for six months.^[5] He began to seriously consider following his elder brothers' footsteps and become an actor in high school, when he took on an agent.^[7] He attended his first audition at the age of sixteen^[10] and began his career in 2007 with guest spots on the shows Home and Away and McLeod's Daughters.^[11] The week of 8 July 2007, Hemsworth began filming episodes for Neighbours, an Australian soap opera his brother Luke had previously starred in.^[12] Hemsworth's character, Josh Taylor, was a recurring character from 2007 to 2008. In the show, Josh was an athletic parapalegic who supported and began a relationship with character Bridget Parker after she was paralyzed down one side of her body in a car crash.^[13] In 2008, Hemsworth began acting on the children's television show The Elephant Princess, playing "Marcus", the attractive lead guitarist of the protagonist's band.^[11][14] Hemsworth later had roles in the television series Satisfaction and starred in the British film Triangle.^[11] He also made a brief appearance as an MIT student in the film Knowing.^[15]

In 2009, Hemsworth was selected to act opposite Sylvester Stallone in Stallone's 2010 film, The Expendables, but his character was written out of the script.^[2] Hemsworth's brother, Chris, told Movieline that just a few hours after Hemsworth learned he would not appear in The Expendables, director Kenneth Branagh called to ask him to test for the lead role in the 2011 film Thor.^[2] Hemsworth moved to the States in March 2009 for screen tests.^[8] Though he eventually lost the part to Chris in May,^[9] Disney announced later the same week that Hemsworth had landed the part of Will Blakelee in the 2010 drama The Last Song, based on the Nicholas Sparks novel by the same name. Hemsworth plays the love interest of Miley Cyrus's character in the film.^[16] Nikki Finke reported that Hemsworth had been in Los Angeles for just three weeks and had not yet found an agent when he was cast.^[9] Hemsworth next appeared in the music video for Cyrus' "When I Look at You"^[17] which was recorded on 16 August 2009.^[18]

In September 2009, Hemsworth appeared at a dinner event to promote Foxtel, an Australian pay television company.^[19] In March 2010, Details magazine selected Hemsworth as one of their predictions for "The Next Generation of Hollywood's Leading Men".^[15] Later that month, it was announced that Hemsworth was in negotiations to star in Arabian Nights, a 3D action film that will be directed by Chuck Russell for Inferno Entertainment.^[20] It was later confirmed that he will be starring in the movie.^[21] He has also reportedly been offered the lead role in "Northern Lights" after "Twilight" star Taylor Lautner withdrew from the David Ellison-financed project.^[21]

It was announced in August 2010, that Hemsworth had been offered the role as Isaac Gildea in the movie "The Throwback" a sports drama with Dennis Quaid.^[21]

Hemsworth was the Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards 2010 host.^[21] He and Miley Cyrus won the "Fave Kiss" category.^[21]

Hemsworth stars in the music video Colder Weather for the Zac Brown Band. The music video premiered on 14 February 2011.^[22]

On 4 April 2011, Lionsgate announced Hemsworth to be one of the leads, Gale Hawthorne, in The Hunger Games film adaptation, which was released in 2012.^[23] In June 2011, he became attached to war drama Love and Honor which also stars Aimee Teegarden and Teresa Palmer.^[24]

Personal life[link]

While filming The Last Song, Hemsworth began dating his co-star Miley Cyrus.^[25] In August 2010, it was confirmed that his relationship with Cyrus had ended.^[26][27] Cyrus and Hemsworth were seen together a month later, and had reportedly reconciled.^[28] It was announced in early November that the couple had split again.^[29], but reconciled their relationship a second time.^[30]

Philanthropy[link]

Hemsworth is the ambassador of the Australian Childhood Foundation. Hemsworth talked about his association with the foundation, "I have the best parents you can have. They have worked in child protection for twenty years and have only ever given me encouragement and support. The world is a scary enough place as it is for children. It is important that home should always be a safe place for them." When asked if he believed he was a hero to children, Liam modestly responded, "I don't know if I'm a hero to children, but I'd like to be. I'd like to be a good role model."^[31]

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Liam Hemsworth

• Liam Hemsworth at the Internet Movie Database

Katrina Kaif
Katrina Kaif in 2012
Born	(1984-07-16) 16 July 1984 (age 27) Hong Kong
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	British[1]
Ethnicity	British Indian
Occupation	Model, Actress
Years active	2003 – present

Katrina Kaif (born 16 July 1984^[2]) is a British Indian actress and former model who appears in Indian films, mainly in the Hindi-language film industry.^[3][4] She has also appeared in Telugu and Malayalam films. She was voted the sexiest Asian woman in the world by Eastern Eye in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010.^[5][6] Being a British citizen, she works in India on an employment visa.^[1]

Kaif made her acting debut with Kaizad Gustad's box office bomb Boom (2003). She tasted success in 2007 with Vipul Shah's Namastey London and followed with such films as Anees Bazmee's Welcome (2007), Abbas-Mustan's Race (2008) and Kabir Khan's New York (2009).^[7] She has since appeared in critically and commercially successful films like Prakash Jha's political thriller Rajneeti (2010) and Zoya Akhtar's dramedy Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011).^[8]

Early years and personal life[link]

Kaif was born in Hong Kong,^[9] to an Indian Kashmiri father,^[10][11][12] Mohammed Kaif, and an English mother, Susanna Turquotte,^[13] both of whom are British citizens. Her parents divorced when she was very young. Kaif once stated, "My dad, unfortunately, and not out of choice, has had no influence on our upbringing, on our religious or social or moral bearings."^[14] When she came to India, she changed her surname to Kaif, because it was Indian in origin.^[15] Furthermore, Ayesha Shroff has maintained that the actress' original name is Katrina Turquotte.^[15] Kaif has seven siblings; a brother and six sisters.^[16] From Hong Kong, she and her family moved to China, then to Japan. From there she went to France when she was 8, and thereafter lived for a few months at a time in Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Belgium, and other European countries.^[17] Then she moved with her family to Hawaii, and eventually to her mother's home country of England. Although it is often assumed that Kaif is from London, she lived there only for three years before finally moving to Mumbai.^[17]

Religious views[link]

Kaif is known to have secular religious views, and has been to various religious places in India,^[18] including Hindu, Sikh and Islamic places of worship.^[19] She has been seen worshipping at Siddhivinayak temple, Hindu temples in Haridwar, Shirdi, Amritsar's Golden temple and Ajmer Sharif dargah.^[19][20][21]

Career[link]

Modeling and early film career (1998–2004)[link]

Kaif began her modeling career at age fourteen; her first assignment was for a jewelry campaign. She continued modeling in London under a contract with the Models 1 Agency and did campaigns for houses such as La Senza and Arcadius, and even walked on the London Fashion Week.^[22]

Kaif's modeling work led to her discovery by London-based filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who gave her a part in his film Boom (2003). The film, which starred Amitabh Bachchan and Gulshan Grover, failed to make an impact. She then moved to Mumbai and was offered a number of modeling assignments, but filmmakers were hesitant to cast Kaif due to her poor command of Hindi.^[23][24]

Breakthrough (2005–2006)[link]

In 2005, Kaif made a cameo in Ram Gopal Verma's drama Sarkar, as Abhishek Bachchan's girlfriend. The same year, she landed her first major role in David Dhawan's adaptation of Cactus Flower, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya, where she was paired opposite Salman Khan. The film also featured Sushmita Sen, Arshad Warsi, Isha Koppikar and Sohail Khan in leading roles. Upon release, the film became a moderate success with Taran Adarsh, a prominent film critic, mentioning Kaif as a "complete revelation".^[25] The following year, she was paired opposite Akshay Kumar for the first time in Raj Kanwar's box-office flop Humko Deewana Kar Gaye. However, for her portrayal of Jia A. Yashvardhan, Adarsh wrote, "Taking giant strides as an actor, Katrina is, without doubt, the star of the show. It's her magnetic presence and dependable performance that you carry home once the show has ended." ^[26]

Success (2007– present)[link]

Katrina Kaif at Book launch of 'Raajneeti - The Film & Beyond, 2012

In 2007, Kaif appeared in four films, all of which were successful at the box office. Her first release was Vipul Shah's romantic-comedy Namastey London. Kaif portrayed the character of a British Indian girl named Jasmeet "Jazz" Malhotra, alongside Rishi Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Clive Standen. Upon its release, the film became a major hit, with Nikhat Kazmi, of the The Times Of India praising the chemistry between the leading couple.^[27] She next played a supporting role in Anil Sharma's melodrama Apne. Featuring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Kirron Kher and Shilpa Shetty, the film was a box-office hit.^[28] Her next release was David Dhawan's unofficial remake of Hitch, Partner, where she starred alongside Salman Khan, Govinda, and Lara Dutta. Her final film of 2007, Welcome, directed by Anees Bazmee and co-starring Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Anil Kapoor, was declared a blockbuster in India,^[28] despite negative reviews from critics.

Her first release of 2008 was Abbas-Mustan's action-thriller Race; she played Saif Ali Khan's secretary, Sophia, who is secretly in love with his hostile stepbrother (played by Akshay Khanna). The film also featured Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy in leading roles. Despite its success, Kazmi wrote, "Katrina is too pale as the blousy secretary who comes into her own only when she gets seductive with a Touch me, kiss me tenor. " ^[29]

Kaif was next seen in Anees Bazmee's action comedy Singh Is Kinng, portraying Akshay Kumar's love interest and Ranvir Shorey's fiancée. After its release, the film was declared a blockbuster, making it Kaif's sixth consecutive success at the box office. The movie also emerged as the third highest grossing film of 2008.^[30] Kaif's final release of the year, Subhash Ghai's Yuvvraaj, was a commercial failure,^[31] but its script made its way into the Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for artistic merit, original screenplay with a substance, and the film as a whole.^[32][33]

In 2009, she featured in Kabir Khan's terrorism drama New York, with John Abraham and Neil Nitin Mukesh. It was a critical and commercial success in both India and overseas.^[34] Kaif's performance was highly praised: Taran Adarsh wrote, "Katrina gives you the biggest surprise. Known for her glamour roles, Katrina proves that she can deliver if the director and writer offer her a role of substance. She's outstanding. In fact, people will see a new, different Katrina this time."^[35] For her performance, Kaif received her first Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category.^[7] She next had a cameo in the star-studded action-thriller Blue, popularly known as India's first underwater thriller, with Akshay Kumar and Zayed Khan.^[36] However, it was declared a flop. In November 2009, she appeared along with Ranbir Kapoor, in Rajkumar Santoshi's blockbuster comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, as Jennifer Pinto. Critics mostly praised her fresh chemistry with Kapoor rather than her performance as a whole.^[37] Her final release that year was Priyadarshan's star-studded De Dana Dan with Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal and Neha Dhupia. Despite a good opening, the film failed to do well at the box office.^[38]

Kaif's first release of 2010 was Prakash Jha's political thriller Raajneeti, where she appeared opposite Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal. The film was a modern-day adaptation of The Mahabharata set against the political backdrop of Delhi. Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpai and Shruti Seth also played starring roles. Upon release, the film performed extremely well at the box office, and earned Kaif favourable reviews for her portrayal of the dynamic Indu Sakseria.^[39] Her final release that year was Farah Khan's brainless comedy Tees Maar Khan with Akshay Kumar.^[40] The film received unanimous negative reviews from critics and was declared a flop. However, Kaif's item number Sheila Ki Jawani became a major chartbuster.^[41]

Kaif (second from left) promoting ZNMD in Chandigarh with the cast of the film

In 2011, she was seen alongside Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin in Zoya Akhtar's dramedy Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,^[42] which emerged as a major critical and commercial success. Kaif was praised for her portrayal of a fun-loving diving instructor Laila. Taran Adarsh wrote, "Katrina is a revelation...the actress continues to surprise you with her performances in film after film."^[43] She next featured in Yash Raj Films' comedy Mere Brother Ki Dulhan opposite Imran Khan and Ali Zafar.^[44] The film was successful at the box office, and earned Kaif positive notice for her portrayal of vivacious punk-rock girl Dimple Dixit, with Rahul Gangwani saying "the film ultimately belongs to Katrina Kaif. She sparkles, sizzles and infuses energy into the film."^[45] Consequently, she received her second Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category.

As of January 2012, Kaif is set to appear in three high-profile productions under the Yash Raj Films banner such as Kabir Khan's spy thriller Ek Tha Tiger opposite Salman Khan, Yash Chopra's Untitled Project alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma and Vijay Krishna Acharya's adventure film Dhoom 3 alongside Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra and Rimi Sen.

Voice dubbing[link]

It should be noted that due to her poor knowledge of Hindi (and other Indian languages), Kaif's voice was often dubbed by another actress. However, with the exception of De Dana Dan she has used her own voice for all of her films since New York. Earlier, she had dubbed for films like Namastey London and Singh Is Kinng.^[46]

Brand endorsements[link]

In the year 2002, Katrina Kaif was chosen as Coca-Cola's brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu along with Tamil leading actor Vijay. The Coca-Cola advertisement was popular in Tamil Nadu, with Katrina Kaif and Vijay dancing to a Tamil song called "Gullu Gullu".^[47] She has also worked for several skin products companies, particularly Veet, as well as several multi-national brands, such as Panasonic.^[48] Katrina is now the brand ambassador of the national airline of the United Arab Emirates – Etihad Airways.^[49]

Awards[link]

She has won 14 awards including Filmfare awards and also nominated for 13 awards till now.

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

Bollywood portal

• British Indian

References[link]