Roaring Forties

roaring forties, name applied, especially by sailors, to the latitudes between 40°S and 50°S, where the prevailing westerly winds are strong and steady. Unlike the winds in the Northern Hemisphere, those in the roaring forties are not impeded by large land areas.

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roaring forties [′rȯr·iŋ ′fȯr·dēz]

(meteorology)

A popular nautical term for the stormy ocean regions between 40° and 50° latitude; it usually refers to the Southern Hemisphere, where there is an almost completely uninterrupted belt of ocean with strong prevailing westerly winds.

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Roaring Forties 

the traditional name for the tracts of ocean in the 40th degrees of latitude in the southern hemisphere, where strong and steady west winds and frequent storms are common. Similar climatic conditions are observed over the oceans in the 50th degrees of latitude in the southern hemisphere.