The term for a gentle wind, often described as a light breeze, is breeze. In ordinary language, a breeze is a mild movement of air, usually pleasant and far weaker than a gale, squall, or strong gust. The word can describe either a steady light wind or a short-lived flow of moving air.
Breezes are often produced by local temperature differences. During the day, land heats faster than nearby water, causing air over the land to rise and drawing cooler air inland; this is a sea breeze. At night, land cools faster, reversing the pattern and creating a land breeze. Similar local circulations occur around mountains and valleys.
The Beaufort scale gives “light breeze” a more specific meteorological meaning. Beaufort force 2 corresponds to a light breeze, with wind speeds of about 4–6 knots, or 7–11 km/h. A gust is a brief increase in wind speed, while a squall is a sudden, sharp increase that usually lasts minutes and may accompany showers.