A Memoir on the Equinoctial Storms of March - April, 1850: And Inquiry Into the Extent to which the Rotary Theory May be Applies |
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A Memoir on the Equinoctial Storms of March - April, 1850: And Inquiry Into ... F P B Martin No preview available - 2016 |
A Memoir on the Equinoctial Storms of March - April, 1850: And Inquiry Into ... F. P. B. Martin No preview available - 2016 |
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Acct appearance April 13th April 4th Barometer Bermuda blowing breeze and cloudy Calm centre clear clear weather cloudy weather Coast Commander Communicated by Messrs continued Course Cyclone direction distance East Eastward England falling Force fore Fresh breeze Fresh gales Friday hazy weather heavily heavy gale heavy rain heavy sea heavy squalls high sea Increasing Increasing breeze Island land less Light breeze Light winds London Long March Midnight Midnt Midt miles Moderate breeze Monday night Noon North Northward Obsd observations Ocean passing position quadrants rain reefed rising Rotatory running sail ship ship labouring showers South Southampton Southward Steady Storm Strong breeze Strong gale Strong winds Sunday swell Thursday topsails travelling Tuesday variable Vble vessel Wednesday West Westerly Westward York
Popular passages
Page 54 - The noise about this time of the shifting of the wind was terrific, and arose (as is conjectured respecting similar tropical phenomena) from the confused conflict of hail in the air. The size of the hailstones, as well as the vehemence of the gale, appeared to be greater during the second phase of the storm than the first.
Page 72 - Snow, t „ Thunder. u .. Ugly threatening appearance in the weather. V „ Visibility of distant objects, whether the sky be cloudy or not. W „ Wet dew. „ Under any letter denotes an extraordinary degree. By the combination of these letters, all the ordinary phenomena of the weather may be recorded with certainty and brevity. EXAMPLES. bcm — Blue sky, with detached opening clouds, but hazy round the horizon. gv — Gloomy dark weather, but distant objects remarkably visible.
Page 55 - ... the others, as if there had been a shifting of the whole vortex in that direction. There are, however, two large trees in the garden lying side by side, but in directions diametrically opposed. " It has been already stated, that in the College Park the shifting of the wind amounted to 1 80 degrees ; and it has been inferred that the centre of the vortex passed over that spot. From what has been said as to the nature of the phenomenon, it will follow that in other localities, over which the vortex...
Page 54 - ... retrograde, or in an opposite direction to that of the hands of a watch. It is deserving of notice also, that this is the invariable direction in the northern hemisphere of the cyclones, or great revolving storms, to which the attention of meteorologists has been directed by Colonel Reid and Mr. Redfield. The late storm was, however, different from a cyclone, both in the dimensions of the vortex and the causes from which it originated. The horizontal section of the cyclone where it meets the...
Page clxix - I cannot from my memory be certain, we were to have an eclipse of the moon at Philadelphia, on a Friday evening, about nine o'clock. I intended to observe it, but was prevented by a northeast storm, which came on about seven, with thick clouds as usual, that quite obscured the whole hemisphere. Yet when the post brought us the Boston newspaper, giving...
Page 55 - NW, than in those which have been blown down from the opposite quarter. This may have arisen partly from the greater violence of the gale in the former direction ; but it is partly also due to the circumstance that the trees which fell from the NW are generally larger and in a less enclosed portion of the ground. It may be mentioned also, that the trees which fell from the NW generally lie to the southward of the others, as if there had been a shifting of the whole vortex in that direction. There...
Page clxix - Boston ; and he informed me the storm did not begin with them till near eleven o'clock, so that they had a good observation of the eclipse ; and upon comparing all the other accounts I received from the several colonies, of the time of beginning of the same storm, and, since that, of other storms of the same kind, I found the beginning to be always later the farther northeastward.
Page 55 - E, and that of the northwest gale N 53 W. I believe that these results are even more accurate than those furnished by the anemometer; and they prove that in this locality, the direction of the wind was exactly reversed, and therefore the centre of the vortex passed over the college. "A remarkable circumstance connected with the direction of the fallen trees, is their great uniformity, the individual direction seldom differing more than ten degrees from the mean. This is an indirect evidence of the...
Page 54 - ... motion was retrograde, or in an opposite direction to that of the hands of a watch. It is deserving of notice also, that this is the invariable direction in the northern hemisphere of the cyclones, or great revolving storms, to which the attention of meteorologists has been directed by Colonel Reid and Mr. Redfield. The late storm was, however, different from a cyclone, both in the...
Page 55 - JK storm belonged, the vortex is of much smaller dimensions, and is produced by rapidly ascending currents of air, caused by the heating of a limited portion of the earth's surface under the action of the sun's rays. In the temperate zones, accordingly, it is never produced in •winter. These ascending currents are loaded with...