Cirrus
Cirrus are wispy clouds. These clouds are made of ice crystals and sit at the top of the layer of the atmosphere called the Troposphere where all the weather takes place. Cirrus is usually a sign that a frontal system containing strong winds is on the way or they can be found in the anvil of a Cumulonimbus. These clouds are known also as ‘Mares’ Tales’ and are found around 4-10 miles up from sea level.

Cirrostratus
Cirrostratus are sheets of stratus like formation high in the sky. These are not particularly a sign of bad weather to follow. The sheet is made mostly of ice and is often seen in winter following on from periods of snow where the sun is visible through the cloud. Sometimes these can produce isolated snow flurries in winter. Again these clouds are 4-10 miles up from sea level.

Cirrocumulus
Cirrocumulus are uniformed sheets of cumulo-form cloud usually made of ice. These clouds indicate higher level instability particularly in summer and can be a sign of a coming thunderstorm. In winter these clouds often precede snow showers and can again give their own flurries if it is cold enough. These clouds are usually made of ice. The clouds are also known as ‘Mackerel Sky’ due to the fish-scale appearance they take on. These clouds are usually found around 4-5 miles up from sea level.

Altocumulus
Altocumulus are patches of cloud usually found in a uniformed formation and these clouds are usually made of ice or water droplets. These are very good sign of mid-high level instability and can sometimes tell of a thunderstorm or heavy shower on its way. In the winter these clouds can tell of storms and snow following but these clouds do not give any precipitation. These cloud are usually found 2-6 miles above sea level.

Altostratus
A sign that a front is on the way, these clouds can tell whether there will be periods of rain or snow and are often the cloud that precedes Nimbostratus on a warm front. These clouds are thick and they take on a sheet formation of water droplets or ice crystals. These clouds can even produce hours of snow themselves under the right conditions. These cloud again are found about 2-6 miles above sea level

Cumulonimbus
These clouds can tower as high as mount Everest and are famous for their thunderstorms. A Cumulonimbus consists of a Towering Cumulus and an anvil of cirruson the top. Although the bases of these clouds are less than 2.5 miles above sea level they can extend about 10 miles into the higher reaches of the Troposphere. The clouds are made of ice crystals and water droplets and give heavy rainfall and hail and sometimes snow associated with a cold front.

Cumulus
These clouds are usually fluffy fair-weather clouds built up by convection but enough sunlight can transform them into Towering Cumulus which can give torrential afternoon downpours. These clouds are made of water droplets though a Towering Cumulus can have ice crystals as the main feature at the top. These are mainly a shower cloud and can give showers of rain or snow. These clouds again form less than 2 miles above sea level.

Nimbostratus
These are deep layers of stratususually associated with warm or occluded fronts. These clouds give precipitation of rain or snow and sometimes even hail and have been known to produce lightning. These clouds are slow moving and have a shallow temperature gradient associated with the warm front and usually indicate stable air is on the way. These clouds are made of water droplets and are found around about 2 miles above dea level.

Stratus
These clouds are low level, uniformed sheets of thick grey cloud. These clouds often appear with weak fronts and are usually a sign of stable air. Such clouds produce drizzle or light rain and when they hit ground level they are known as fog. These clouds are particularly associated with High Pressure areas of the Atlantic in the winter and summer where the land is cool and the sea is warm. These clouds are made from water droplets and form below 2 miles above sea level.

Other Clouds

They are the cloud types that are the mechanics of our atmosphere but there are other clouds including Mammatus which are found under Cumulonimbus anvils during a death of a severe thunderstorm. Also Pileus clouds which are a good indication of a strong shear these are wispy clouds that over ride Towering Cumulus clouds. Of course the noctilucent clouds that produce eerie shape and colours that are crafted by split colours from the sun or other sources of light.

Abroholos – A violent squall, particularly prevalent in summer, that occurs off the south-eastern coast of Brazil.

Andhi – A violent squall or dust storm occuring in late spring in north-western India.

Barat – A squally west or north-west wind that occurs between December and February on the northern coast of the Phioippine island of Celebes.

Berg Wind – A hot, dry fohn wind originating over the South African Plateau. It is particularly common during the winter season, and especially affects the western coastal region.

Bise – A cold north or north-easterly wind, blowing from the mountains, that affects western Switzerland and eastern France. Although normally relatively dry, in winter it may bring heavy snow or hail.

Bora – A cold, dry down slope wind (often violent with squalls) that affects the Dalmation coast when there is low pressure over the Mediterranean and high pressure over central Europe and the Balkans. Strongest in winter, it may be accompanied heavy cloud, rain or snow when a depression lies over the Adriatic. The term is sometimes applied to similar fall winds in other parts of the world.

Brickfielder – A strong, hot, dry, and dusty wind in southern Australia (particularly in New South Wales) which precedes the passage of a depression.

Buran – A strong north-easterly wind in Siberia and Central Asia,particularly in the extreme blizzard conditions that occur in winter. Over the tundra which is also known as purga.

Burga – A severe north-easterly wind in Alaska that brings snow or ice pellets.

Chinook – A strong, warm and exceptionally dry fohn wind that descends the eastern slope of the Rockies , and may bring an abrupt temperature rise, the disappearance of lying snow, and a risk of desiccation and consequent fire hazard. Often heralded by a line of low cloud (the chinook arch) parallel to the Rockies. A chinook was responsible for the most rapid temperature rise ever recorded: 27C in 2 minutes at Spearfish, South Dakot, on 23 January 1943. The term is occasionally applied to a warm, moist wind from the sea that affects the coasts of Washington and Oregon.

Cierzo – A dry, cold, north-westerly wind that flows down the Ebro Valley in Spain during the winter months.

Doctor – A name used in various parts of the world for a wind that is invigorating or brings relief from uncomfortably hot (or hot and humid) conditions. Specifically applied to the harmattan on the Guinea coast of north-wast Africa, various sea-breezes (especially the very strong Cape Doctor around Cape Town in South Africa), and to certain fall winds, as in Jamaica.

Etesian Winds – Generally Northerly winds (between north-west and north-east) that blow in the summer season (between May and September) over the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean. They are known as meltemi in Turkey.

Fall Wind -A strong down slope wind that remains cold, despite adiabatic heating 9and thus differs from a fohn). It is a katabatic wind that has its origins in a pool of cold air over high ground. The most extreme examples are the violent winds that sweep down from the Antarctic ice sheet,reaching a record of around 320 km/h, and which may maintain hurricane-force winds for days or weeks on end. Fall winds are largely responsible for the annual mean wind speed of 67 km/h recorded at Cape Dennison, Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica.

Fohn (foehn) – A warm and often extremely dry wind that descends in the lee of a mountain barrier, Fohn winds occur under stable conditions that are conducive to the formation of large-amplitude lee waves. Air from very high levels (well above mountain-tops) may be brought down to the surface and undergo considerable adiabatic heating. Fohn winds such as the chinook) are noted for there rapid temperature rise, their desiccating effect, and rapif disappearance of snow cover. Although originally applied to winds in the Alpine region, the term is now used for all similar winds.

Galera – A cold north-westerly wind that affects the narrow coastal strip north of the Cantabrian Mountains, in Spain, and which is particularly frequent in winter.

Ghibli – A hot, dry and dusty southerly wind that occurs in Libya in spring and early summer. A local name for the sirocco , and known as the khamsin farther east in Egypt.

Greco – A north-east wind over the Golfe du Lion in the western Mediterranean.

Gregale – A strong north-east wind over the western and central Mediterranean, most frequent in Winter.It occurs when there is high pressure over Central Europe and low pressure over North Africa.

Haboob – 1. A severe dust storm or sandstorm in northern and central Sudan which transports and deposits large quantities of material. Haboobsare strongest in April and May, but occur in every month except November. The wind direction may be north (in winter) or east, south-east, or south (in summer). The storm front is extremely dense and turbulent and may be up to 1000 m high. 2. A local Canadian term for a prairie dust storm.

Harmattan – A dry, dust-laden, but relatively cool north-easterly or easterly wind in north-west Africa, part of the trade-wind system. In the wet (summer) season it tends to give way to monsoon winds from the gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Helm wind – A strong, blustery wind that descends the western side of the Cross Fell range in Cumbria. It is a lee wave produced by a prevailing north-easterly flow and exhibits a fohn effect. A bank of cloud, the helm, lies along the mountain-tops or just above them. At times, a further narrow, stationary, but rotating roll cloud forms roughly parallel to the first and a few kilometres downwind. The helm bar is a rotor cloud and the surface wind dies away beneath it. Farther away from the fells there may be a gentle westerly flow towards the mountains.

KatabaticWind – A wind consisting of dense air that has cooled by radiative cooling over upland areas or contact with snow and ice fields and which then drains down into the valleys. Also known as a drainage wind and a mountain breeze. Examples of strong katabatic winds are the bora, mistral and the extreme winds that drain from the antarctic ice cap.

Khamsin – A hot, dry dusty wind occurring in ;ate spring and summer around the eastern Mediterranean. A counterpart of the sirocco, it is a southerly wind over Egypt , and an easterly wind over the Negev Desert and parts of Saudi Arabia. Like the sirocco, it is drawn northwards or westwards ahead of an approaching depression.

Kona storm – A severe south-westerly wind in the Hawaiian Islands which is associated with the passage of a secondar depression to the north. It brings heavy rain to the dry, south-western side of the islands normally in the lee of the prevailing north-easterly trade winds.

Kosava – A ravine wind in the valley of the Dunabe, where it cuts through the Carpathian Mountains to the east of Belgrade.

Leste – A hot, dry, dusty easterly or south-easterly wind from Morocco that reaches the Canary Islands and Madiera. It is closely related to the sirocco.

Levanter – A humid easterly wind that affects the Straits of Gibraltar and the eastern coasts of Spain, most frequent in summer and early autumn. It generally occurs in stable air under an inversion and may produce a banner cloud behind the Rock of Gibraltar.

Leveche – A hot, dry wind on the narrow coastal strip of south-eastern Spain. It brings dusty continental tropical air from the Sahara, and is particularly frequent in summer. Sometimes known as the lebeche.

Libeccio – The local name for a blustery south-westerly or westerly wind that occurs over Corsica and the Central Mediterranean. It is particularly strong in winter, and may bring heavy rain or thunderstorms in summer.

Maestro – A north-westerly wind that occurs in summer over the western part of the Adriatic. The name is also given to a similar wind on the coast of Corsica and Sardinia.

Meltemi – The Turkish name for the estian winds.

Mistral – A strong, cold, dry and squally northerly wind that blows down the Rhone valley in south-eastern France and extends some way into the Golfe du Lion in the Mediterranean. It may be a purely katabatic wind, but also arises when a low-pressure centre lies over the Ligurian or TyrrenianSeas. Its strength is increased by the funnelling effect of the Rhone valley. It is most violent in winter and spring, and may reach 130 km/h over the Rhone delta.

Nor’easter – A strong or gale-force north-easterly, particularly the cyclonic storms that affect the northern portion of the East Coast of the United States during the winter and which bring the greatest snowfalls.

Norther – A cold, northerly wind that often brings a drastic drop in temperature, especially the wind experienced over the southern region of the Great Plains in North America. Such a sudden outbreak of polar air often crosses the Gulf of Mexico and reaches Central America, where it is known as the norte.

Pampero – A severe line squall that occurs over the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay. It is followed by by a cold, blustery, southerly or south-westerly wind and often brings heavy rain and thunderstorms, together with a considerable drop in temperature.

Ponete – A westerly wind along the coasts of the north-western Mediterranean. It tends to be a land-breeze around the Golfe du Lion, and a weakened flow from the mistral on the Cote d’Azur and over the Ligurian Sea, where it often precedes the tramontana.

Poniente – A westerly wind in the straits of Gibraltar.

Santa Ana – A hot, dry easterly wind that affects Los Angeles region of southern California, named after the valley through which the main flow occurs, and which acts to intensify it as a mountain-gap wind. The wind originates over the dry interior plateau, and its temperaturand desiccating effects are increased by adiabatic heating during its decent, as with a fohn wind.

Seistan – A strong north-westerly wind over eastern Iran and Afghanistan. It is associated with the summer monsoon low-pressure region over north-western India and begins in late May or early June, blowing almost continually until the end of September. It transports considerable quantities of sand and dust, which it deposits as large dunes.

Shamal – A hot, dry north-westerly wind that occurs over Iraq and the region of the Persian Gulf. It is particularly strong and persistent during the daytime in summer, but tends to weaken at night. Like the seistan, it is associated with the summer monsoon low over northern India.

Simoom – A hot, dry wind or whirlwind that occurs, particularly in summer, in North Africa and Arabia. It often carries large quantities of suffocating sand and dust, but normally persists for just 10-20 minutes.

Sirocco – A warm, dust laden, southerly wind in the Mediterranean region. Variously known as the ghibli in Libya, khasmin in Egypt, and the south-easterly leveche in Spain. It is particularly prevalent in spring and autumn and is normally drawn northwards ahead of the cold front of a depression. With a long fetch across the Mediterranean it may become very humid and produce extensive stratus cloud.

Solano – An easterly or south-easterly wind on the south-eastern coast of Apain, generally hot and humid, but which may be hot, dry, and dust laden. It normally originates as a sirocco.

Squamish – A strong, often violent north-easterly or easterly wind that blows through certain fjords in British Columbia. It is a katabatic wind, whose strength is increased by the funneling effect of the fjords’ sides.

Tehuantepecer – A violent, squally, northerly or north-easterly wind in the Gulf of Tehuantepec on the Pacific Coast of southern Mexico and crosses isthmus in the gap between the Sierra Mdre del Sur and the Guatemalen mountains.

Tornado – A form of thundery squall encountered in West Africa, particularly around the Gulf of Guinea. It often occurs as a line squall, and is especially frequent at the beginning and end of the rainy season.

Tramontana – A northerly or north-easterly wind over north-eastern Spain, south-eastern France, the Balearic Islands, the western Mediterranean, and Italy, which is normally cold and dry. Also French tramontane.

Vendavales – A strong, blustery south-west wind in the Strait of Gibraltar and on the southern and south-eastern coasts of Spain. It occurs when depressions from late autumn to early spring, and is often accompanied by violent squalls and thunder.

Veranillo – On the Pacific coast of Central America and Mexico.

Verano – “see Veranillo” Verano is a longer lasting than th Veranillo.

Williwaw – A sudden gust of wind thar descends from mountains bordering the sea; the term is particularly applied to conditions in the Strait of Magellan and also the Aleutian Islands.

Zonda – A warm wind in Argentina, either a wintertime westerly from wind that descends the eastern slopes of the Andes, or a moist northerly ahead of a depression.

Beaufort Scale

Beaufort, Rear-Admiral Sir Francis (Born – Navan, Ireland, 1774. Died Greenwich, 17 December 1857).
British naval officer and hydrographer, who in 1806, as Commander, published a method of measuring the wind at sea, initially based on the effects upon a frigate (such as the specific sails that could be carried). The Beaufort scale was eventually adopted by the Royal Navy in 1838. Beaufort became head of the Admiralty’s HydrographicOffice in 1829, and transformed the office into the world’s foremost hydrographic organization.

Force 0 – Calm. Smoke rises vertically. <1km/h

Force 1 – Light air. Direction of wind shown by smoke but not by a wind vane. 1-5km/h

Force 2 – Light Breeze. Wind felt on face, leaves rustle, wind vane turns to wind. 6-11km/h

Force 3 – Gentle Breeze – Leaves and small twigs in motion, wind spreads small flags. 12-19km/h

Force 4 – Moderate Breeze – Wind raises dust and loose paper, small branches. 20-29km/h

Force 5 – Fresh Breeze – Small leafy trees start to sway, wavelets with crests on inland waters. 30-39km/h

Force 6 – Strong Breeze – Large branches in motion, whistling in telephone wires, difficult to use umbrellas. 40-50km/h

Force 7 – Near Gale – Whole trees in motion, difficult to walk against wind. 51-61km/h

Force 8 – Gale – Twigs break off trees, difficult to walk. 62-74km/h

Force 9 – Strong Gale – Slight structual damage to buildings; chimney pots, tiles, and aerials removed. 75-87km/h

Force 10 – Storm – Trees prooted, considerable damage to buildings. 88-101km/h

Force 11 – Violent Storm – Widespread damage to all types of building. 102-117km/h

Force 12 – Hurricane – Widespread destruction, only specially constructed buildings survive. >117km/h

What Makes A Thunderstorm?

Heat and moisture are key to the formation of thunderstorms. In order to produce the thunder and lightning, you need a cloud tall enough to pull moisture up into the sub-freezing level over 5km/3miles high. These clouds are called cumulus they have a cauliflower like appearance. Cumulus clouds can form any time of the year as long as there is warmth below and coolness above. The process is called convection. Once cumulus clouds reach a height where ice crystals form they become cumulonimbus clouds. The upward motion gradually slows. The stronger upper level winds spread the cloud out at the top, and this formation is called an anvil. As the ice crystals form, they collide with each other and with still-unfrozen water droplets. Electrical charges are produced and eventually the cloud becomes an electric field. If the field becomes more intense lightning is produced.

Single-cell Thunderstorm

The single-cell thunderstorm (meaning a single updraught) develop and die quickly on summer afternoons. They do not last very long because lackadaisical upper winds which keep them becalmed. Once the rain begins, it cools the air below and cuts of the storms energy in less than half an hour. More single-cell storms can form along the cool air outflowing from older ones or several cells may form together to create the more developed Multicell.
Multicell Thunderstorm

Multicellular storms consist of a series of evolving cells. At low levels, cooler air diverging from the downdraft intersects the inflowing air along a gust front, creating a region of strong low- level convergence favorable for new updrafts. It is the presence of vertical wind shear that results in the “tilting” of the updraft and downdraft. Because of the tilting, the less buoyant downdraft air will not destroy the updraft and deprive itself up supersaturated updraft air. In any case, the movement of multicell storms systems is determined by combining the new cell development with the mean winds. Each individual cell typically moves with the mean winds, while new cells develop where the inflow meets the outflow in the region of strongest surface, or low-level, convergence. The multicell thunderstorm can drop small hail and produce heavier rain. When a strong cold front is marching through, a squall line may form. This band of connected cells moves through quickly with strong wind, heavy rain, small hail and perhaps even a small tornado.

Supercell Thunderstorm

The supercell is the biggest of the storm world. These powerful beasts only form when instability is quite strong and, typically, when upper-level winds strengthen with height. This keeps the storm moving and keeps the top of the storm ventilated, so that warm, most air is pulled in from below . We define a supercell as a thunderstorm with a deep rotating updraft (mesocyclone). The major difference between supercell and multicell storms is the element of rotation in supercells. The supercell produces many elements of the strongest thunderstorms which include: Torrential rain, large hail, hurricane-force wind and violent tornadoes. The lifespan of a supercell can reach beyond six hours.
Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS)

These are the largest thunderstorm groups on earth. These are a collection of storms – typically organised as a cluster or squall line which can span 100-200 miles and last for more than twelve hours! Partly due to the size of MCSs, they can produce huge amounts of precipitation (250mm/10 inches of rain can fall). MCSs can also generate vast amounts of lightning (Over 10 000 strikes per hour, or about 3 strikes per second). They are more known more known for the spider lightning they produce which stretches from horizon to horizon. MCSS favour the moist heat of the warm season across the mid-latitudes and tropics. In many places, they peak during overnight hours, as smaller storms merge and nocturnal low-level jet streams intensify. If an MCS forms or moves over an ocean, it can serve as the nucleus of a tropical cyclone.

What Is Humidity?

The amount of vapour in the air can be expressed in a variety of ways. Absolute humidity indicates the actual amount of water vapour present in a sample of air, or the vapour concentration, the mass of water vapour in a given quantity of air. 1kg of air might hold up to 25 grams of water vapour in the tropics, but almost nothing in cold polar regions.

Relative humidity is the ratio of the actual mass of vapour in the air to the mass of vapour in saturated air at the same temperature. For example, air at 10?C contains 9.4 g/m3 (grams per cubic metre) of water vapour when saturated. If air at this temperature contains only 4.7 g/m3 of water vapour, then the relative humidity is 50%.

When unsaturated air is cooled, relative humidity increases. Eventually it reaches a temperature at which it is saturated. Relative humidity is 100%. Further cooling leads to condensation of the excess water vapour. The temperature at which condensation sets in is called the dew point. The dew point, and other measures of humidity can be calculated from readings taken by a hygrometer.

Specific humidity is the ratio between the amount of water vapour in air and the total mass of the mixture of air and water vapour.

What Is Windchill?

The skin is our largest organ and is vital in temperature control. When we are hot we sweat, this removes excess heat and cools us down.

When we are cold, the skin warms a thin insulating boundary of air, trapping in body heat and keeping us warm.

There are 2 ways in which wind cools the skin, firstly it disturbs the insulating boundary layer of air, and secondly it increases the evaporation of moisture from the skin – this takes body warmth with it.

When the wind chill is below -50?C on an exposed forehead unconsciousness can occur in minutes, also skin may freeze within 30 seconds when the wind chill is -75?C.

Individual differences

The effects of wind chill affect people differently. Wind chill is based on the average person; however there are a number of factors that can cause differences in how we feel in a cold wind.

Extreme cold can cause both frost bite and hypothermia. Depending on your build, you can be more susceptible to one than the other.
If you are tall and thin you will probably feel cold sooner than shorter stockier people because you have a greater surface area of skin compared to their mass. People with greater insulation are more likely to suffer frost bite but less likely to suffer hypothermia, as they lose body heat to their cooling skin more slowly.

Young and elderly people have less developed and less effective body temperature control systems, so they are at particular risk from the cold. In Canada, where wind chill effects are very important, they have a ‘Cold Weather Policy’ where children are kept indoors when wind chill reaches a certain level.

If you have damaged blood vessels, which carry heat around the body, you are also more likely to feel the cold. This can be the case if your iron levels are low which can happen when taking some medications.

Metabolism rates can also have an impact on how cold you feel, as slow metabolism can result in poorer circulation.

Some medical conditions, or even medications, can also have an effect on how we feel in a cold wind.

If you have diabetes and have peripheral neuropathy (a disorder of the nerves) you may find that you sweat more on your face and neck – from which we lose a large proportion of our body heat. If your blood glucose levels are high this can also damage the nerves in your legs and feet, which means that cold may not be felt as easily – this makes you more likely to suffer frostbite when it is very cold.

If you take Beta-Blockers they can also increase the likelihood of frost-bite because they cause blood vessels to constrict, and this results in colder hands and feet.

Avoid the chill

Apart from staying inside on windy days, there are simple things that you can do to lessen the effects of wind chill.

Drink plenty of water to hydrate your skin inside and outside (dehydration affects your ability to regulate your body temperature) and if you apply moisturiser to wet skin this seals in the moisture and prevents heat loss.

When you go out in the cold make sure you wrap up well – wearing a hat and scarf can help keep in the 40 – 50% of heat that would otherwise be lost through the head and neck, mittens help keep hands warmer than gloves, and by wearing several thin layers of clothes you help create more insulating layers of boundary air.

Before going out if you eat a light snack rather than a big meal you will ensure that less blood goes to your stomach to aid digestion leaving more to circulate to the extremities of your body like fingers and toes.

If you wear waterproof clothes in wet weather they prevent the increase in heat loss from damp skin and clothes – heat loss occurs about 20 times faster from wet clothes than dry clothes.

When the wind is strong the body can react as if it is under attack – this creates the ‘stress hormone’ dopamine. The body can’t sustain stress like this for long, which is why you may feel exhausted at the end of a windy day.

What Is Dew Point

The strict definition for this is:-The temperature to which the air must be cooled in order that it is saturated with respect to a water surface and for this to occur at its existing pressure and humidity content.

Dewpoint may be measured indirectly from wet- bulb and dry-bulb temperatures with the aid of humidity tables. More often now it is produced by some kind of calculator or computer programme taking these basics into consideration.

Dew forms on clear nights when there is little or no wind at the surface. It can occur on summer nights but is most prevalent during the long nights from autumn through to spring. Dew forms on surfaces whose temperature falls to below the dewpoint of the air in contact with it.

From what has already been said it should be clear that the dewpoint is always below the surface temperature. As in many things to do with Meteorology there is a caveat. Remember that the definition is ?become saturated with respect to a water surface?. There are a very small number of occasions when, with temperatures falling, the relationship becomes to that with respect to ice. In these few instances, briefly, the dewpoint may be a fraction higher than the air temperature.

Dewpoint is really a measure of how much water vapour there is at any one time. Obviously the higher the air temperature then the higher the dewpoint can be. Compare the temperature in winter say of 3C with that on a hot summer day, maybe 25C. Obviously much more water vapour is possible with higher temperatures. This is partially responsible for the intensity of thunderstorms in summer compared to those of winter, and to the Tropics having much more intense downpours than in Temperate latitudes.

The frost point is that temperature at which the air is saturated with respect to an ice surface.

Dew point is closely associated with humidity. Thus in warm frontal zones the humidity is high. The arrival of a cold air mass will usually bring a sharp drop in the dewpoint. Dewpoint is an important tool for forecasters to use when forecasting many weather phenomena, be it thunderstorms, human comfort levels, or the likelihood of snow or frost.

As the Boeing flying boat was crossing the Atlantic on the 27th of May 1943, it was struck by lightning. Here is Churchill’s account

The large double bed in the bridal suite of the Boeing was most comfortable and I slept sound for a good many hours. All at once there was a sudden shock and bump. I awoke. Something had happened. There were no consequences, which after all are what is important in air journeys. Nevertheless, being thoroughly awake, I put on my zip suit and went forward down the long central gallery of spacious machine, and climbed the staircase to the navigational controls. I sat in the co-pilot’s seat. It was by now a lovely moonlight night. After a while I asked the pilot what caused the bump. “We were struck by lightning”, he said, “but there’s nothing wrong” This was good news. We had not caught fire or broken up in the air; there was no need to make a force landing a thousand miles from anywhere. I had always wondered why aircraft did not mind being struck by lightning. To a groundsman it would seem quite a dangerous thing. Afterwards I learned that there had been a good deal of anxiety.

Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War, volume 4, London 1951, page 727

Radio Kalundborg broadcast on 2nd January that the temperature was -6c in Thorshavn, Faroes and -13c in Reykjavik, Iceland,so I had in mind that if the wind blew from anywhere near this direction we could well get snow and frost.

On the morning of the 3rd a depression passed eastwards to the south of Shetland causing a backing of the wind. Snow started to fall at 6 am with a light east-south-east wind. Flakes were large, for the temperature was slightly above freezing point. The wind continued to back, increasing to strong when it reached east-north-east at 9-30 a m. At this stage the first drifting commenced; the temperature meantime had fallen so that frost flowers now appeared in the window panes. The wind steadily increased to gale force and backed to North East and later north. A furious blizzard raged throughout with severe drifting reducing visibility at times to about 12 yards. Continuous snow which had started as large flakes had now changed to powder which,together with the drifting snow, even sifted through the edges of closed doors. It changed to showers at 2 pm, but much drifting continued.

Almost all transport on land,sea and in the air was brought to an abrupt halt, and the electricity supply was cut in in many parts of Shetland. One man died when caught out in the blizzard. What seemed to me most outstanding about the blizzard was the extraordinary thickness of the falling and drifting snow. I talked afterwards about it to several men in the prime of life and they all said they had felt difficulty in breathing in it.

The rock pool at Gunglesund, Fair Isle, scene of many a balmy afternoon’s swimming, was frozen over at New Year to a thickness to support people walking on it. Gunglesund is salt water and no one in the island ever remembers it happening before. it was more sheltered than other inlets of the sea around Shetland, and this is why it alone froze to this extent. Nevertheless it has to be exceptionally cold before the sea freezes anywhere in Shetland for in winter the wind is more often strong than not and as a consequence the sea is normally in turmoil.
At 10a m on 8th January the wind was almost calm in Shetland and the sky was nearly cloudless. The minimum air temperature forecast for Shetland by the Meteorological Office for the night of 7th-8th was -4c, and the average sea-surface temperature in shetland at this time of year is 8c. My family and I observed Arctic sea-smoke rising several feet in the air from a patch of the sea near the shore which was more disturbed than the rest. The smoke was not in a continuous sheet; it can best be described in miniature by the steam rising from many cups of hot tea placed near each other. The smoke lasted about half an hour; the wind then freshened a little from the south-east and it disappeared.

As records show that northerly wind frequency has increased over the Norwegian Sea and Shetland, the above events may be of interest to readers. From listening to Norwegian weather broadcasts I note that the temperature in Jan Mayen was more often at -20c and below last winter than in any winter in at least the last 12 years. It is probably the combination of this low Arctic temperature and the quite frequent,very strong, uninterrupted winds from this direction which has made frosts more severe than usual in Shetland.

THE OUTBREAK OF THE SEVERE WINTER IN THE SOVIET UNION AND ITS IMMEDIATE EFFECTS.

Nothing was so profoundly effected by the outbreak of winter than the attempt by the German Army to capture Moscow. Actually, all three winters of the beginning of World War 11 were rather cold but, while in western Europe, e.g. in thr UK, winter (December/January) 1939/40 was the coldest of the three,in the area of northern Europe,winter 41/42 was by far the coldest. The average temperature of winter 41/42 was the lowest of all the winters instrumental observations began at St Petersberg in 1743 and at Stockholm in 1756.

DAILY TEMPERATURES DATA FOR MOSCOW: 15th NOVEMBER TO 15TH DECEMBER 1941.

While the Soviet Meteorological and Hydrological Service published the monthly averages of pressure and temperature,as well as the monthly amounts of precipitation at a selection of stations, no daily data was published for 41/42 until 1966, and even then only the morning temperatures for Moscow for the short period of 31 days, the first 3 weeks of which fall into the Battle of Moscow.

The figures shown between 30th of November and 6 th December(the day the German offensive collapsed) show the temperature dropping 25c, from -1.1c to -26.1c. before discussing the temperature drop,it is essential to point out cities tend to be warmer 6than the rural areas around them, especially in winter, and that the greater the city,the greater is the “heat island” effect.Judging by Oke’s paper on European cities(Oke,1979) , in rural areas, away from the Russian capital,where the fighting went on, the temperatures must have been at least -30c. In fact,the official War Diary of the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces published after the war, mentions temperatures of -35c to -36c on the 5 December and -38c on the 6th,as reported from some areas of the Battle for Moscow.

A drop 0f 25c in 7 days appears to be a rather modest rate of cooling when temperature drops of 20c and more in one day are rather frequent in winters 0f the middle and high latitudes. but the modest looking cold outbreak came after weeks of exposure of the troops to early cold and blizzards,with no protection against the weather even during hours when no fighting took place. After the 6th ,the cooling continued for 2 more days,according to Moscow’s morning data. This was followed by a sharp rise temperature until the 12th when a sharp cold wave lowered the temperature by 20c in one day. According to US Weather Bureau, the monthly mean temperatures 0f the 41/42 winter at Moscow were as follows: December -12.8c(-6.8c),January -20c (-9.9c)and February -11.8c (-9.5c). March was still cold at -9.7c (-4.2). The figures in parentheses give the climatological norms for 1931-60.

FROST CASUALTIES.

One consequence of the winter 41/42 was the increasing number of frost casualties among the troops on the Eastern Front. Again,figures are only known with respect to the German Army,though some information relating to the Soviet Army has recently become available.

The German meteorologist and climatologist Dr Hans von Rudloff studied the data of frost casualtiesof the German Army on the Eastern Front in 41/42. According to information recieved from him (personal communication) the german army lost 100.000 to 110,000 men either through frost or through frost related deaths between 4 th october and 30 April 42′. During the same period,the number killed by by enemy ction and missing came to circa 125,600 killed and 30,000 missing. Thus the frost-bite deaths amounted to as many as two thirds of those killed in action or missing.

As to the effects of the cold on the Soviet Army, it has been the customart policy of the Soviets to be reticent about accidents,failures,losses,difficulties and shortcomings. No figures have been published to date(1992) on frost casualties in World War 11. But according to private information recieved recently from a Soviet military historian,the data are now under study,and it is already clear that the number was high.
The temperatures shown are in centigrade at Moscow 0700 LST,15th November to 15th December.

November 15 -6.7 December 1 -7.8
16 -5.6 2 -11.1 – 3 -7.2
17 -7.8 4 -17.8
18 -10.6 5 -25
19 -8.9 6 -26.1
20 -6.7 7 -28.9
21 -3.3 8 -15
22 -4.4 9 -4.4
10 -0.0
23 -3.9 11 -5.6
12 -2.2
13 –21.7
14 -18.9
24 -8.9 15 -27.2
25 -10.6
26 -8.9
27 -7.8
28 -5.6
29 -1.1
30 -1.1

(1) causing the air to rise

(2) decreasing the density of the air

(3) decreasing the mass of the air (i.e. upper level divergence).

Causing the air to rise counteracts some the downward force created by gravity. This lowers pressure just as if someone started pushing up on you when standing on a scale; your weight would decrease. Fronts force the air to rise. This causes the surface pressure to decrease in the vicinity of the front. Cold fronts have a more defined pressure trough than warm fronts because the average cold front has a steeper slope and stronger temperature gradient than the average warm front. A warm front raises the air gradually while a cold front lifts the air more quickly in the vertical. The faster the air rises, the more pressure will lower. A mid-latitude cyclone and a front will both cause the air to rise and pressure to lower. The stronger the front, the more well defined the pressure trough will be.

Now to shortwaves. A shortwave is an upper level front or a cool pocket aloft. Just as a surface front causes the air to rise, upper level fronts can do the same. First, let’s start with a general description of a shortwave:

(1) It is smaller than a longwave trough (shortwave ranges from 1 degree to about 30 degrees in longitude (the average one is about the size of two U.S. states put together (Iowa and Missouri put together is a good example)

(2) Isotherms cross the height contours (if it is a baroclinic shortwave). This creates an upper level temperature gradient and therefore an upper level front

(3) They are best examined on the 700 and 500 millibar charts

(4) They generate positive vorticity (mainly due to the counterclockwise curvature within the shortwave). This creates positive curvature and positive shear vorticity. If PVA occurs with the shortwave then the shortwave will deepen and strengthen due to lift created by upper level divergence.

(5) They can create an environment conducive to surface based convection or elevated convection due to the cooling aloft.

It is important to see how much moisture is associated with the shortwave. A shortwave moving over a warm and moist lower troposphere has a better chance of producing precipitation and strengthening than one moving over a dry lower troposphere. If the low level dew point depressions are low, the instability and lift associated with the shortwave can enhance cloudiness and precipitation. In summary, a pressure trough is associated with a low-level front while a shortwave is associated with an upper level front or a cool pocket aloft. Both are associated with rising air and can add instability to the atmosphere.

But bear in mind that as the data is worldwide – there will be more data available from different parts of the globe at different times. The net result is probably that each model run has a similar amount of raw data fed into it.

As you can see there is a fair bit of raw data used…

Surface data ? Land
Synoptic – restricted (WMO Resolution 40) manual and automatic
Synoptic – fixed manual and automatic
Synoptic – mobile manual and automatic
Aviation ? METAR

Vertical soundings ? other than Satellite
Rawinsonde – fixed land
Rawinsonde – mobile land
Rawinsonde ? ship
Dropwinsonde
Pibal
NEXRAD Vertical Azimuth Display (VAD) winds

Single Level Upper-air data (other than satellite)
Flight level reconnaissance aircraft data
Automated MDCRS ACARS aircraft data (from ARINC)
Automated MDCRS ACARS aircraft data (from ARINC) via AFWA
Manual AIREP format aircraft data
Manual PIREP format aircraft data
Automated AMDAR format ASDAR/ACARS aircraft data
European ASDAR/ACARS Data Aquisition System (E-ADAS) aircraft data (originally in BUFR)
NOAA Profiler Network (NPN) winds
Profiler winds originating from PILOT (Pibal) bulletins
Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) profiler winds
Cooperative Agency Profiler (CAP) winds
RASS temperatures from NOAA Profiler Network (NPN) and Cooperative Agency Profilers (CAP)

Vertical soundings ? satellite
GOES/NESDIS-processed 5×5 field-of-view soundings/brightness temperatures
GOES/NESDIS-processed 1×1 field-of-view soundings/brightness temperatures

Surface data ? satellite
QuikSCAT products
DMSP/SSM-I – operational products derived at FNMOC
DMSP/SSM-I – Neural Net-3 products derived at NCEP
DMSP/SSM-I – processed brightness temperatures
NASA/Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)/TMI)

Single level upper air data ? satellite
GOES/NESDIS infrared derived cloud motion (from NESDIS server, originally in BUFR)
GOES/NESDIS water vapor imager derived cloud motion (from NESDIS server, originally in BUFR)
GOES/NESDIS visible derived cloud motion (from NESDIS server, originally in BUFR)
INSAT/India infrared derived cloud motion
INSAT/India visible derived cloud motion
INSAT/India water vapor derived cloud motion
GMS/JMA infrared derived cloud motion – low density (originally in SATOB format)
GMS/JMA visible derived cloud motion – low density (originally in SATOB format)
GMS/JMA water vapor imager derived cloud motion – low density (originally in SATOB format)
METEOSAT/EUMETSAT infrared derived cloud motion (originally in BUFR)
AQUA/TERRA MODIS infrared derived cloud motion
AQUA/TERRA MODIS water vapor imager derived cloud motion

Surface data ? sea
Sea level pressure bogus
Ship – manual and automatic
Buoys in FM-18 format (moored or drifting)
Buoys in FM-13 format (moored)
Land-based CMAN station
Tide gauge reports in CREX format

Radiances ? satellite measured[/size]
AQUA/AIRS, AMSU-A, HSB processed brightness temperatures
GOES NESDIS-processed 11×17 field-of-view imager (clear sky) brightness temperatures
NOAA-14/HIRS-2 (High resolution InfraRed Sounder-2) NCEP-processed brightness temperatures
NOAA-14/MSU (Microwave Sounding Unit) NCEP-processed brightness temperatures
NOAA-15,-16,-17,-18/AMSU-A (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A) NCEP-processed brightness temperatures
NOAA-15,-16,-17/AMSU-B (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit- NCEP-processed brightness temperatures
NOAA-15,-16,-17/HIRS-3 (High resolution InfraRed Sounder-3) NCEP-processed brightness temperatures

Physical/chemical constituents
POES/NESDIS Solar backscatter ultraviolet radiances

Definition Of A Thunderstorm:

The WMO (World Meteorological Organisation) definition used by all Met services around the world including the UK.
‘One or more sudden electrical discharges, manifested by a flash of light (lightning) and a sharp or rumbling sound (thunder)’
Ref Geneva, WMO International Cloud Atlas, Vol 1, Geneva WMO 1956, p76

Thunderstorm day
A local calendar day on which thunder is heard.

A thunderstorm does not have to have precipitation, nor does one have to see lightning, just hear the thunder. Its obviously a fairly complex decision but ask any professional observer or consult any official text book.
The meteorological synoptic chart has 99 different weather symbols of which these below show the various types of thunderstorm and their definition.

95 Thunderstorm, slight or moderate, without hail2 but
with rain and or snow at time of observation
96 Thunderstorm, slight or moderate, with hail2
at time of observation
97 Thunderstorm, heavy, without hail2 but with rain and
or snow at time of observation
98 Thunderstorm combined with dust storm or sandstorm
at time of observation
99 Thunderstorm, heavy, with hail2 at time of observation

Another number, 17, is allocated to thunder heard at the reporting station.
17 Thunderstorm, but no precipitation at the time of observation

Its that which can cause some complication. Its unusual for it not to become one of the 95-99 variety but present weather 17, ‘thunder heard’ at the reporting station does constitute an ‘official’ thunderstorm day.

I hope this may help (!) to show how complex is the relationship but also how relatively easy it is, knowing the two heights, to calculate the ‘thickness’. This can be done for any two heights.

The two most referred to, usually on Net Wx to do with the will it or won’t it snow, are the 1000-500mb and the 1000-850mb heights for ‘thicknesses.

Fortunately this has all been done for us by Paul and Karl with the charts shown below!

DAM is what refers to the 1000-500mb thickness chart.

Its rather complex but there are several ways to work out its value.

Below are some of the methods which might help

= height (500 hPa surface) – height (1000 hPa surface) [ for those of you, like me, too old to catch up with all the changes the world brings, millibars = hPa!, so 500 hPa is exactly the same as 500 mb. ]

h(500) = h(1000)+h’(thickness). Or from that

h’(thickness)=h(500)-h(1000) 

Thickness can be calculated from the heights reported on a radio-sonde ascent, or a thermodynamic diagram can be used to add up the partial thicknesses over successive layers to achieve the net (total) thickness.

An example of the former would be
500 hPa height = 5407 m
1000 hPa height = 23 m
Thickness = 5407-23 = 5384 m (or 538 dam)

Careful note must be made when the height of the 1000 hPa surface is below msl thus: 500 hPa height = 5524 m
1000 hPa height = - 13 m
Thickness = 5524 -(-13) = 5537 m (or 554 dam)

Note the example above when surface pressure is BELOW 1000mb.

Roughly it is taken that 8mb is equivalent to 6DM when forecasters are manually drawing the various upper and surface charts.

If we take the actual msl and 500mb chart from GFS/Extra for 06Z this morning, see below

On the left is the surface isobar chart with the 500mb height; to its right is the ‘thickness’ chart

Notice the differences in values between the left and right charts-obviously the surface values are identical but NOT the ‘thickness’ and 500mb values. Click image below:

Or to look at how the 00z ascent for Herstmanceux differs in its 500mb height and its 500mb ‘thickness’. See graph below on the left.

In the basic data format the 500mb height was given as 500.0   5490  -22.9  -50.9; i.e. 5490DM; that of the 1000mb height was 1000.0     87    8.2    5.6

The ‘thickness’ is 1000 hPa to 500 hPa thickness: 5403.00

How is that arrived at, see the formula above

100mb height is 87

500mb height is 5490

Therefore 500mb ‘thickness’=5490-87=5403DM

 I hope this helps a little; I’ve put it into the learning area as well for ready reference.

The European Union has promised another $39m after higher pledges from countries like Australia and Japan. The Islamic Development Bank has pledged around $11.2m. The Uinted Nations has commented it has raised around half of the $460m (£295m) it needs for the start of relief efforts. More warnings have been issued in Pakistan meaning the aid is becoming more and more important.

Local sources have indicted the number of people to have died in Zhouqu now stands at around 1,117, and 627 others still missing. Around three villages in Zhouqu county, were flattened by huge mud slides triggered by heavy rain on Saturday evening.

Rain was falling in Zhouqu, with up to 90mm (3.5in) of rain was forecast for Friday, according to the National Meteorological Centre. The situation in these areas is currently unprecedented with no end in sight.

The cold weather from late January 1996 continued into February as high pressure sat over the UK. On the 6th, an occlusion system approached the west of the UK threatening a change to much milder weather across the UK. However, pressure began to increase to the east of the UK and this prevented the occlusion advancing and the system became stalled over the west of the UK on the evening of the 6th. Heavy snowfalls fell right across western and central parts of the mainland but conditions were particularly severe in SW Scotland and parts of Cumbria, where depths of snow were approaching 50cm. A state of emergency was declared in SW Scotland and many drivers stranded on the A74 had to be rescued. Whitehaven in Cumbria was virtually cut off and workers at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant had to spent the night there as they were stranded. Conditions elsewhere were less severe but the inenvitable travel chaos ensued. By the evening of the 7th, the snow finally died out and it remained cold and snowbound until the 9th with further snowfalls at times before a vigorous depression finally brought a thaw and milder temperatures. The snowfalls turned out to be some of the heaviest in the west since the winter of 1947, whilst the far east largely missed out.

November and December had been rainy and Mild at the end of 1946, as 1947 dawned it was still relatively mild and nothing looked like changing until late in the Evening on Sunday 19th January when the wind swung into the East and the temp dropped to 3c 37f. The next few days saw the wind still in the east quadrant with a few showers speckled around the east facing coasts. The winds swung North-Easterly on Thursday 23rd and plenty of Snow showers fell across the region, by now the temp was not getting above freezing. By Saturday 25th the wind went back into the east and got a lot stronger, by Sunday 26th a local weather observer said the east wind had got “Spiteful” This wind was now blowing at Gale force from the east and the snow was extremely heavy. By now the tidal reaches of the River Blackwater had started to freeze up and many inland rivers were completely iced thick. Drifts from wind blown snow had got up to between 6-10 feet deep around the Clacton area.
By Tuesday 28th the overnight low had fallen to -15c and intense snow showers were depositing 2″ of snow within 15 minutes. At 6pm on Tuesday the temp in Central London was an incredible -9c. By the morning of Wednesday 29th another 5″ had been deposited and Essex received regular dumpings of snow for the next 9 days until 7th February. The sun had nopt appeared for nearly 2 weeks in places and parts of North-East Essex had a foot of level snow (Undrifted). Worse was to come with the bone chilling nights between the 11th and 25th Feb when the Mercury did not get higher than freezing day or night, Halstead reported -16c on Valentines Night. By now the Sea had froze over at Southend. By the time March came the days were cold and sunny but still freezing. During the week of 1-5th March the east wind again got to Gale force with exceptionally heavy snowfall. Then something happened on Saturday 8th March the wind swung to the South-West and by Sunday 9th March 8c was reported widely across Essex and rain fell in the evening. I would have thought much of Essex folk had sighed a huge sigh of relief but winter had a few more stings in her tail. By Tuesday 11th March the temp had gone back to 0c and freezing rain left a varnish of lethal ice over all road surfaces. By Thursday 13th Temps had again recovered to 9c, but the winds were due to turn Northerly and by the time Saturday 15th Dawned another 5-6″ had been deposited from a Northerly Gale. Finally the snow abated but the weather threw one last insult at the people of Essex as an Atlantic storm roared in with winds up to 98mph. What a Winter Eh??

The Following Summer by the way was a Scorcher

By all accounts the summer of 1703 had been unusually wet. May had a ten year record breaking amount of rain, there was also heavy rainfall during July. The Summer was a humid and warm one. both October and November were very warm.
From November 12th the winds picked up and chimneys were reported broken in London along with several ships being lost off the coast. By Thursday the 25th Novemember it is said that everybody agreed that the weather had become unbearable which is when the winds intensified signalling the beginning of the great storm.
It was said that the events over the next 2 days were the worst storms every recorded. The wind was SSW and the storm affected Southern England and Wales, and continued on over France, N. Germany, Denmark, Sweden & Finland. The storm reached it’s peak on Saturday ( 27th ). W Derham from Upminster recorded from Friday ” the wind was SSW and high all day, and so continu’d till I was in Bed and asleep. About 12 that night the storm awaken’d me, which gradully increased till 3 that morning. And from thence till near 7 it continued in the greatest excess: and then began slowly to abate, and the mercury to rise swiftly.”
It is said that hardly anyone slept in London. Nobody ventured outdoors because bicks, tiles debris flew throught the streets with deadly force. many had felt earthquakes, reported thunder & “the air was seen full of meteors and vaporous fires: and in some places both thunderings and unusual flashes of lightning to the great terror of the inhabitants” ( defoe ) . There was signs of whirlwinds / tornados in several places. In Whistable a ship was lifted out of the water and deposited 270yds from the waters edge. Defoe said that when Londoners ventured out they walked round in a daze for the next 2 days gazing at the devastation & destruction to their city.
Some estimates of damage:
between 8000 & 9000 people dead
300,000 trees broken.
400 windmills destroyed
100 churches serverly damaged
Navy ships Newcastle, Lichfields prize, suffolk & Canterbury destroyed, Vesuvius stranded.
15000 sheep lost by the river Severn.
damaged estimate then between 1 & 4 million pounds.
Queen Anne’s response to the storm was to have a day of fasting and humiliation and announced the storm was a “token of divine displeasure”.

Here is an extract about the Great Storm written by Laughton and Heddon in the 1920′s.
THE GREAT STORM OF 1703
BECAUSE the British Islands lie in the direct track of storms coming in from the Atlantic, there have been many great storms in English history, not a few of which have left their mark. But there is one “Great Storm,” and one only, though halfhearted attempts have from time to time been made to fasten this title on other convulsions. As before the nineteenth century there was no scientific way of measuring the fury of a storm, it is only possible to judge the tempests of earlier days by the havoc which they wrought, and by the impression made by them on the minds of the men who experienced them.
Subjected to this test the Great Storm entirely justifies its title. It destroyed more property and caused the death of more people, both on land and sea, than any other known English storm. There can be no doubt that the wind blew with true hurricane force, and that it maintained its strength for an unprecedented time. It is not very uncommon for a severe winter gale-as, for example, that of January 26, 1927-to develop squalls of hurricane force; but, to judge by its results, it would seem tolerably certain that the Great Storm did some thing more than this, that in its continued violence it was a very good imitation of a West Indian hurricane or of a China Seas typhoon
Perhaps the most remarkable testimony to the wide and lasting nature of the impression made by this storm is afforded by the extraordinary success of Addison’s famous comparison of Marlborough to an angel guiding the whirlwind
So when in angel by Divine command
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land
Such as of late o’er pale Britannia pass’d,
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast
And pleas’d th’ Almighty’s orders to perform
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm
“The extraordinary effect,” says Macaulay, -which this simile produced when it first appeared, and which to the following generation seemed inexplicable, is doubtless to be chiefly attributed to a line which most readers now regard as a feeble parenthesis” ‘Such as of late o’er pale Britannia pass’d.’ Addison spoke, not of a storm, but the storm. The great tempest of November 1703, the only tempest which in our latitude has equalled the rage of a tropical hurricane, has left a dreadful recollection in the minds of all men. No other tempest was ever in this country the occasion of a parliamentary address or of a public fast. Whole fleets had been cast away. Large mansions had been blown down. One prelate had been buried beneath the ruins of his palace. London and Bristol had presented the appearance of cities just sacked. Hundreds of families were still in mourning. The prostrate trunks of large trees, and the ruins of houses, still attested, in all the southern counties, the fury of the blast
There can be little doubt that this passage, and particularly the one line in it, was the making of the poem, and, incidentally, of Addison. In the fashion of that age, which seems strange to this, he was rewarded by an under-secretaryship of State; and as it seems unlikely that Addison’s genius would have expanded in poverty as it did beneath the sunshine of fame and fortune, it may be held to be little, if any, exaggeration to say that it is thus to the Great Storm that we owe the Spectator.
It is easy to overestimate the force of a gale which comes after a long spell of fine weather; but the Great Storm enjoyed no such fictitious advantage. On the contrary, the weather in the neighbourhood of the English Channel had been exceptionally bad, with hardly a break, from the middle of November; a series of what we now know as “Atlantic depressions” passed over Southern England, and gale succeeded gale, some of them being so severe that had no Great Storm followed, they would themselves have been remembered from the loss they caused. The Great Storm stood, therefore, to be judged by the most severe standard.
From the few barometric observations of the storm which have been preserved, it appears that its centre must have passed roughly over Liverpool, and have moved across England in an easterly direction. Also, as often happens in such storms, the force of the wind was confined to the area lying south of the centre. Its greatest fury was experienced south of a line from the Bristol Channel to the Thames. It blew a very heavy gale farther north; but a direct comparison of the damage done in the Downs with that on the East Anglian coast seems to show that even fifty miles north of the Thames there was a distinct abatement of its violence, and Spurn Head is the most northerly point at which we hear of an exceptional wind-force.
On land the damage was widespread, and naturally there was a great degree of sameness in the reports which came in from all over the south country. The horror of the storm was increased by the fact that its most destructive period was confined to the hours of darkness, which, as it befell at the time of new moon, was absolute. The several reports, as is to be expected, give slightly discrepant accounts of the time when the greatest fury was reached, and of the wind’s direction, but they confirm each other in the main. Thus we find that in the West Country the storm was at its height at or before midnight of the 26th; in London about 3 a.m. of the 27th; in the Downs perhaps an hour later; and on the coast of Holland about daylight. It would he possible from the observations made, and especially from those made on board ship, to plot the form and course of the storm with very tolerable accuracy, but the results of such a study would have little interest save for meteorologists.
After a slight break in the stormy weather of the foregoing fortnight it began to blow again in the afternoon of the 26th, and by dark was blowing a gale. The gale soon freshened to a storm, blowing with a force approaching seventy miles an hour, and so continued during the early hours of the night. Even this was such a storm as comes but rarely, and everywhere it did damage. Tiles, coping-stones, chimney-pots, and suchlike were flying about in such profusion that it was dangerous to be out of doors, and of the few that ventured some were killed in the streets. But again, the houses were so rocked by the wind that many were afraid to stay indoors, and many more dreaded going to bed. As a choice of evils most stayed within doors, and being there, no doubt most went to their beds, there to sleep or to lie quaking according to the extent of their philosophy. This state of affairs played into the hands of such rogues as were hardy enough to risk the chimney-pots. just as we have records of heartless crime accompanying the Plague and the Fire of London, so, too, it happened in the Great Storm.
‘I cannot but observe here,” says Defoe, “how fearless such people as are addicted to wickedness are, both of God’s judgment and uncommon prodigies; which is visible in this particular, that a gang of hardened rogues assaulted a family at Poplar, in the very height of the storm, broke into the house, and robbed them: it is observable that the people cried Thieves 1 and after that cried Fire 1 in hopes to raise the neighbourhood; but such is the power of self-preservation, and such was the fear the minds of the people were possessed with, that nobody would venture out to the assistance of the distressed family, who were rifled and plundered in all the extremity of the middle of the tempest.”
Perhaps there were also other “hardened rogues” of whom we do not hear, who calculated their chances equally well.
The wind blew furiously for some hours, and then, when a lull might have been expected, the whole might of the hurricane was unloosed. We hear of people everywhere starting from their beds, as though summoned to the Last judgment; and indeed their accounts of the booming of the wind, like thunder aloft, are terrible enough. At St. james’s the Queen rose with her maids of honour, but though part of the palace roof was blown away, no harm befell them. At Wells the bishop’s palace, modernized from an old castle, suffered heavy damage. The bishop, Dr. Kidder, had his bedroom in an old part of the building. Roused by the fall of wreckage, he huddled on his dressing-gown and made for the door; but as he did so a chimney-stack crashed through the ceiling, dashing out his brains, and burying his wife, who remained in bed, in the ruins. Similar accidents were not uncommon; but though in some cases they were fatal, in others there were remarkable, or as it seemed miraculous, escapes.
Another common experience was that the lead on the roofs of churches was either rolled up by the wind or blown away in large sheets. This was reported from all over the south country; that it bulks so largely in the accounts of damage done may be attributed to the fact that a high proportion of the correspondents who answered Defoe’s appeal for information were the parish priests.
In the country, where houses stood singly, and where no doubt the majority were still built of wood, the havoc was even greater. We hear of 800 houses blown down, while barns, corn-ricks, and hay-stacks were demolished by the thousand. Church steeples, too, were blown down, one of them, at Brenchley, being reputed the highest in Kent. “This strong and noble structure by the rage of the winds was levelled with the ground, and made the sport and pastime of boys and girls, who to future ages can boast that they leap’d over such a steeple”.
But the greatest of all the damage in the countryside was to the standing trees. That shallow-rooted trees like elms should be overturned is not remarkable, especially when we remember that the season had been wet and the ground was sodden; but the wind was equal to greater feats than laying flat whole rows of elms. Great oaks and beeches were snapped off through their thick trunks, and whole orchards were destroyed. A plaintive cry came from Somerset that the loss of their apple-trees promised a shortage of cider.
Defne himself made a tour to collect data for his account of the storm, and invited correspondence from. all parts of the country. He says that he himself counted 17,000 trees down in Kent alone, then ceased counting from weariness. He records that there were twenty-five parks which lost above 4,000; and that 450 “parks and groves” lost each from 200 to 1,000 trees. The total clearly must have run into hundreds of thousands. But it may be noticed that this was not all sheer loss; for the vast amount of damage to wooden structures stood to be repaired. Houses had to be roofed or built, barns to be rebuilt, 400 windmills had been “over-set” and needed rebuilding; and then there was a prodigious amount of timber needed to make good the destruction of shipping. It may be doubted if much of the sound timber blown down in the great storm went to waste.
It is a well-known thing that a strong gale blowing in the direction of the flood tide into a narrowing channel will greatly raise the level of the water at the head of that channel. We have frequent experience of this in London, where a northerly gale at the time of spring tides raises the river to the top of its embankments, and even overflows some roads near the waterside. The Great Storm did not veer to the N.W. in time to produce this effect to its full extent in the neighbourhood of the Thames and of the Straits of Dover; but on the other side of England the furious south-west wind caused the most memorable of floods in the Severn valley. Bristol was overflowed, the water rising eight feet above the highest level recorded; at Chepstow they had long memories, and it was a question whether a great flood of 1607 had not been as high or even higher. And in these districts to the loss of house property, of ships and boats, and of other things which could suffer from flood as well as from the wind, has to be added whole crops swept away, and’ many thousands of cattle drowned.
Bristol suffered at least ?100,000 worth of damage. a great part of it from the flooding of cellars in which was stored the rich produce of the West Indies and America: 1,000 hogsheads of sugar, 1,500 of tobacco, are enumerated among the losses. What the whole loss in the Severn valley may have been is probably beyond recovery. “They tell us,” says Defoe, “the damage done by the tide amounts to above ?200,000; 15,000 sheep drown’d in one level, multitudes of cattle on all the sides, and the covering of lands with salt water is a damage cannot well be estimated.” We may well leave it at that.
Some curious results followed. From the great destruction of corn-ricks men might perhaps have foreseen a shortage or dearness of bread in the ensuing winter. It fell out quite differently. By a fortunate change the season, which hitherto had been very wet, turned to dry, and for a month no appreciable rain fell. The scattered corn was therefore gathered up, practically undamaged, and threshing was put in hand at once on a large scale. This was for two reasons: both to save the cost of rebuilding the ricks, and because, owing to the great number of houses which had been unroofed, there was an unprecedented demand for straw for making thatches. Thus in some measure the storm served to repair its own devastation.
The benefit of the destruction of corn-ricks thus fell to the general public; but it was quite otherwise in the case of houses damaged in the towns. There the public suffered as might be expected, and the building trade alone was the gainer. All the tiles made by the next summer were not enough to cover the houses which had been unroofed, and it is not surprising to learn that the price of tiles rose to three or four times the normal figure. And it was a golden time for bricklayers, who-presumably by the threat of striking, though strikes were not encouraged in those days-succeeded in obtaining 5s. a day instead of the 2s. which they usually received. In the circumstances it is not remarkable that many people refused to pay these exorbitant prices, preferring to make shift as best they could, patching their houses with boards or anything else that would serve till prices fell to a more reasonable figure.
As a curious result of the storm, it was noticed in the Isle of Wight that the fine spray of the sea, blown many miles inland, had rendered the grass so salt that cattle would not cat it; and that hedges and trees showed on the ends of their twigs knobs of salt congealed. The same thing appeared in Sussex and in Kent, especially at Cranbrook, the old capital of the Weald; and this implied, when allowance was made for the direction of the wind, that the spray had been blown at least twenty-five miles. This is a regular feature of West Indian hurricanes; but it was unprecedented in England.
Several curious meteorological phenomena were observed either during the storm or at a time so near to it that the storm gained the credit of them. It is disputed whether there was thunder and lightning accompanying the wind, and there is some excuse for the doubt which existed. The booming of the wind aloft, as heard during the lulls, seems to have distinctly simulated thunder; and there was, besides, an undoubted exhibition of a most unusual nature. “Tho’ 1 cannot remember,” says Defoe, “to have heard it thunder, or that I saw any lightning, or heard of any that did in or near London; yet in the countries the air was seen full of meteors and vaporous fires: and in some places both thunderings and unusual flashes of lightning, to the great terror of the inhabitants.” These “unusual flashes” are elsewhere described as not striking down, but running horizontally along or near to the ground. That there may have been local thunder and lightning is probable enough, for an approximate reconstruction of the storm seems to show that it pushed one “secondary”-apparently a very vicious one-in front of it, absorbing it finally somewhere over the eastern channel, and that it may have been followed by another.
The report of a water-spout seen on the afternoon of the 26th in a field in Oxfordshire also suggests the presence of an active “secondary.” The Great Storm, indeed, appears to have been an amalgamation of storms.
But, as would be expected, the greatest mischief caused by the storm was done at sea. There is, for the purpose of comparison between land and sea, no certain record of the loss of life; but it is believed that on land the deaths, other than those caused by the Severn floods, were about 125, or not many more. On the other hand, it was stated that the lives lost at sea amounted to 8,000 a not unlikely figure: we have pretty exact records of the losses of the Navy, and know that they included some 1,500 lives.
There were two reasons why the losses at sea should be so heavy. Had all the ships which felt the storm been in open water the vast majority of them would in the ordinary course have ridden it out with more or less damage. It is hardly to be supposed that it was such a night as this that inspired Dibdin’s mariner:
At night came on a hurricane, the sea was mountains rolling.
As Barney Buntline slued his quid and spake to Billy Bowline
A strong nor’wester’s blowing, Bill: Hark, can’t ye bear it roar now?
Lor’ love me, how I pities them unhappy folks ashore now.
As comfortably you and I upon the deck are lying,
Lord knows what tiles and chimney-pots about their ears are flying.”
The Barney Buntlines and Billy Bowlines who were at sea that night, even in well-found ships in
open water, had enough to do without lying on the deck swapping a yarn.
But when the Great Storm began there were few or no ships in the open sea. Both men-of-war and merchantmen were at home, “in port” as it was called, which might be supposed to mean in a place of security, statio benefida carinir.
Keels could trust to no place that night. Even in the Medway and the Pool of London vast damage was done; and by far the greater part of the ships were in no such land-locked waters as those. The “ports” they were in were the open roadsteads where their journeys ended, preparatory to their removal into harbour. The Spithead anchorage and that at St. Helens were full of ships, so were Yarmouth Roads, and so were the Downs. And the Downs, as often before and since, though never to so high a degree, proved themselves a wild road.
The reason for this great accumulation of shipping was that, as has already been noticed, the weather had been uniformly bad for a fortnight before November 26th. Gale had succeeded gale with hardly a break, and each gale brought ships into the roadsteads; some because they had reached their journey’s end, many more, whether outward or homeward bound, because they needed shelter. Nowadays it takes some little effort to remember that in the days of sail it was dangerous to be caught by a gale in the neighbourhood of land. In the open sea a sailing-ship caught by a severe gale tucks her head under her wing, so to speak, like a sea bird, and drives away slowly before the wind; but in narrow waters, as in the English Channel for instance, she has not room to do this. To attempt it for any length of time is to run a very severe risk of being driven ashore and wrecked. Therefore in former times ships caught by a gale in narrow waters ran for shelter-not into harbour, but into the more or less sheltered bays and roadsteads, whence they could at once get to sea again when the wind came fair. Down to the very end of last, century it was no uncommon thing to see 300 or 400 merchantmen collected in the Downs; and to ace them sail thence all together on a shift of wind was a sight which will always live in the memory of those who were privileged to behold it.

Then we have the men-of-war to consider, and in respect of them, too, there was a very great difference between the present time and the past. Now men-of-war are much smaller than large merchantmen; then they were very much bigger. Now the bigger a ship is, the fitter is she to withstand winds and waves. “Billows and breezes don’t bother big steamers.” Then, when a ship had grown beyond a moderate size, she grew progressively weaker instead of stronger.
Yet for purposes of war it was necessary to build great ships, and because these great ships could ill brook bad weather it was the regular custom to call them into port before the winter. Thus in 1703 the fleet-it was a time of war with France-which had made a summer campaign in the Mediterranean, was recalled in the autumn, and, after a stormy passage, anchored in the Downs on November 17th. This fleet was under the command of Sir Cloudesley Shovell, who four years later lost his life in a gale far less severe than the Great Storm, and, by a curious chance, in that one of his great ships which had had the most terrible experience in 1703.
A fleet of sailing line-of-battle ships then, consisted, in almost equal proportions, of two- and three-decked ships; that is, of ships with two or three complete tiers of guns, one above the other. Obviously the three-decker was much higher out of the water than the two-decker, and was therefore a more dangerous ship in a gale, because the wind, acting on her high side, could more easily drive her out of her course. These three-deckers were known as the “great ships”; and it was an accepted belief of the period that an admiral deserved to be broke who kept the great ships out of port too late in the autumn season. Thus when Shovell brought his fleet into the Downs he immediately received orders how his ships were to be disposed of: some of the two-decked ships, and one three-decker, the Prince George, were to remain in the Downs until they could get a fair wind to take them back to Portsmouth; but Shovell himself was ordered to sail at once for the river with seven three-deckers, one two-decker, and various miscellaneous vessels. These ships wore to be laid up for the winter at Chatham.

Shovell sailed from the Downs on the 24th, and anchored at the Long Sand Head-that is, some fifteen miles at sea off Harwich. It must be remembered then, and for long afterwards, the only known ship channel into the Thames was from the east running along the Essex shore, and that ore ships bound into the river had to go as north as Harwich before turning to the southwest. This very commonly meant delay, for a wind eh was fair to bring a ship up to Harwich from English Channel was foul for her entry into the thames In such cases single ships or fleets often anchored off Harwich to wait for their fair wind. And this is what Shovell with his great ships did. As it was already blowing a gale he “struck lower yards and top-masts”–that is, took down everything removable above deck, the usual foul-weather precaution in an exposed anchorage in winter time.
As these ships were the greatest which were exposed to the storm it will be well to begin with their experience of it. Of the eight great ships, four were driven from their anchors and forced out to sea The wind was W.S.W., the night pitch-dark, and the Galloper sand was some fifteen miles to leeward We have a detailed account of the adventures of the Association, of ninety guns, flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Stafford Fairborne. She passed, entirely helpless, across the tail of the Galloper, in water deep enough for her not to strike, but so shallow as to render the sea marvellously high and uneven. At this point she suffered severe damage, and came within an ace of foundering. The sea beat in the ports of her upper deck, which were almost twenty feet above the water-line, and the mass of water that came aboard caused her to lie down on her side in a most dangerous position. To right the ship holes had to be cut in the decks, so that the water might run down into the hold, and be thence pumped out; but before they had succeeded thus in getting the water down to the bottom of the ship an immense weight of it collected on the lower gun-deck, only some three feet above the water-line had the ship been upright.

But the ship, in the first place, was not upright, and secondly, she was being flung this way and that by huge breaking seas, so that this great body of water went surging back and fore across the deck. It surged with such force that it burst the fastenings of two of the gun-ports-hinged lids opening outwards-and then the doom of the ship seemed certain. But meanwhile she had been driving over the narrow tail of the shoal, and under its lee found the sea easier; a high and dangerous sea, of course, in such a gale, but sufficiently regular to allow men to set to work. The admiral himself took charge, and under his direction the skill and courage of the crew prevailed, the ports were barred in, and almost against hope the ship was saved.

After that she drove over to the Dutch coast, an extremely dangerous one from its outlying sandbanks. But here again fortune favoured her. By daylight the wind was not only less violent, but blew from a more southerly point, which enabled her to steer up along the coast. And so she was driven to the north-eastward, till finally she anchored at the mouth of the Elbe. After setting herself somewhat to rights she weighed her anchor for the journey back to England, but another severe gale took her and drove her still farther north. In fact, so far north was she driven that it was clear that she could not get home without succour. She had lost anchors, cables, and other gear, and having just come home from abroad at the end of the campaign, she had exhausted her victuals and drink. There was thus, nothing left for it but to find a northern port in which she could refresh, and eventually she anchored at Gottenburg. Having got provisions thence, and naval stores from Copenhagen, she sailed again for home, taking with her under convoy those merchantmen which were homeward bound. It was noticed at the time that had, she remained a few days longer she would have been frozen in for the winter. In that case the cold would have killed off a large proportion of her crew, which coming from a warmweather station, and in a very sickly state withal, were as W prepared to meet it as men could well be. After a tedious passage home, delayed by further gales, the Asrodation at last reached the Medway two months after she had left the Downs. There had been great anxiety for her safety.
The other ships which were blown off had similar but less extreme experiences. They had a rough time of it in passing the Galloper; they were driven over to the Dutch coast; but they are not recorded to, have been in such imminent danger, nor were they driven so far to the northward. After some days of beating about in the North Sea in foul weather they all succeeded in returning home. It is not the least remarkable thing about the Great Storm that the three-decked ships should one and all have succeeded in weathering it. The only one which was lost was an old second-rate mooted in the Medway without a crew on board. The force of the wind broke her moorings and forced her ashore, and she was so rotten that she could not be got off again.
To account for the safety of the great ships when so many others, better fitted than they to cope with wind and sea, perished, it should be noticed that there was at their anchorage no dangerous sandbank close to leeward. The Galloper was far off, and though it was feared that the wind would set them on to it, yet it did not do so. Except for the broken water through which they passed, they were really at the mercy of the open sea, which, however furious, is kindlier than sandbanks. It is also probable that even in the fifty miles or so between the Downs and the north end of the Galloper there was an appreciable decrease in the violence of the wind; it is impossible to be certain, but it is not unlikely, that the great ships may have had this advantage also over those which were caught in the Downs.
The flood tide runs up through the Downs from about two hours before to four hours after high water. Its direction is roughly from S.S.W. to N.N.E., and its velocity is naturally increased when the wind blows, as it did on the night of November 26th, in the same direction as the tide runs in the Channel. Being new moon, it was high water in the Downs that night at a little before midnight. The general direction of the wind was south-westerly, but at the time of its greatest force it came a little more from the westward, blowing thus diagonally off the land and towards the Goodwin Sand which encloses the anchorage on the eastern side. These conditions are such as bring a tremendous sea into, the anchorage, and especially into the southern part of it where the larger ships lie. It is necessary to appreciate these local conditions in order to understand what happened in the Downs on the night of November 26th.
The Downs were full of ships that night. There were, to begin with, about 160 merchantmen sheltering there, lying probably in the northern part of the anchorage off Deal. Also there were many men-of-war. There was Rear-Admiral Basil Beaumont in the Mary, of sixty guns, commanding on that station; there were several ships of Vice-Admiral Graydon’s squadron, recently returned from the West Indies; and there was Vice-Admiral John Leake in the Prince George, a three-decker of ninety guns, with the other ships of Shovell’s Mediterranean fleet ordered to return to Portsmouth. The Prince George was the only three-decker in the anchorage that night, and as the night closed down dark and boisterous and the gale freshened, there can be. no doubt that more. anxiety was felt for her safety than for that of any other ship.
Fortunately she had a very good and careful captain, who took every precaution in good time. It is of some interest to notice that there is no mention of the ships in the Downs sending down their yards and top-masts, as those with Shovell did. As the Prince George did not do so, it may be decided that it was not considered advisable in that anchorage; probably because, as the sands to leeward were so close, and the passage, the Gull Stream, through them so narrow, it was thought necessary to be in a position to make sail at once in case of breaking adrift.
Leake’s captain left a record of the storm, which was afterwards edited by his son, then Garter King.. of Arms. He says of it that “as it seems to have been engendered in the Downs, so it spent its utmost fury there.” Of this fury, which came on about one o’clock in the morning, there can be no doubt. `That place, which the evening before appeared like a goodly forest, in two hours was reduced to a desert, hardly an object being left to cheer the sight, had the darkness of the night permitted.”
About three in the morning a great seventy-gun ship, the Restoration, dragging her anchors, came down on the Prince George but by skill the ships were prevented from beating against each other, and by good fortune the anchors of the Restoration did not start those of the Prince George out of the ground, though they. damaged them. The ships rode alongside each other in this manner for half an hour, “‘the longest half-hour that ever they knew, for everyminute seemed to be the last”; but at length “the invisible hand of Providence relieved them (i.e. the Prince George); the Restoration drove away, and soon after was lost with every living creature on board.”

Daylight found the Prince George still riding undamaged at her anchors. Few other ships had held on, and all of those were greatly damaged, most of them having had to cut away their masts. “When it was day,” says Leake, “they saw twelve sail ashore upon the Goodwin, Bunt Head, and Brake Sands, amongst whom was Admiral Beaumont in the Mary, the Stirling Castle, Northumberland, and Restoration, who were all to pieces by ten o’clock, and all the men perished, except one from the Mary and about eighty from the Stirling Castle. It was a melancholy prospect to see between two and three thousand perish in this manner, without a possibility of helping them.” Of the merchantmen a few had sunk at their anchors, a few more had escaped with the loss of their masts, but by far the greater part had been driven out to sea. Of these no doubt some that lay farthest north had succeeded in running out through the Gull; most had been driven, thanks to the height of the tide, clean over the top of the Goodwins. They were small ships, as nearly all merchantmen then were, drawing only eight, ten, or perhaps at most twelve feet of water, so they went safe.

The men-of-war of the third-rate drew about eighteen feet, and there was no escape for them that way, and in such weather a ship which struck was a ship lost. There is little detail on record of the loss of the Mary and of the seventy-gun ships, both because they drove ashore in the dark, and because in the courts-martial-which were always held to inquire into the loss of any of the King’s ships-it was not yet the custom to keep minutes of the evidence. We only know that the one survivor from the Mary saved his life by swimming on board the Stirling Castle, which must therefore have gone ashore close to leeward of her, and that he, doubly fortunate, was one of the eighty. survivors who were taken off from the part of the wreck which remained above water on the following day. The other ships broke up completely and all were drowned. We presumably owe to the one survivor of the Mary the knowledge that Admiral Beaumont, a young man of thirty-four, lashed himself with two other officers to a piece of the wreck. What became of them no one knows: they were never picked up.
Even from the sheltered ports and anchorages to the westward some ships were driven to sea. There was a remarkable yarn of a tin-ship-that is, a ship laden with tin-which was blown out of the Helford River in Cornwall shortly before midnight, and was beached on the Isle of Wight next morning “between two rocks,” with the loss of the ship, but without the loss of a man. The contemporary account is frankly incredible, but can, by a little care, be brought within the bounds of probability. It was stated that the wind, then at N.W., blew the ship out of the river at midnight, and that she grounded on the Isle of Wight at eight the next morning, having therefore run eighty leagues in eight hours, a speed far beyond experience.
Examination of the evidence shows that to go clear of the land the ship must have started with the wind north-westerly, and that to be driven in on the Wight she must have had it, as alleged, about W.S.W. So far so good; but there is reason to believe that in Cornwall the shift of wind from N.W. to W.S.W. came long before midnight, which would mean that the ship was blown to sea probably about ten o’clock. And when she is credited with having grounded at eight the next morning we are equally at liberty to suppose that for eight we may read ten. The wind in the western channel was not as furious as in the Downs, and the tin-ship was able to set a scrap of sail; in such circumstances there can be no doubt that she drove very fast. But the distance from the Helford River to the Isle of Wight, even to St. Catherine’s, is not eighty leagues (240 miles), but barely fifty leagues (150 miles). Thus from 240 miles in eight hours, a speed of thirty knots, our ship’s progress is reduced to 150 miles at most in perhaps twelve hours, corresponding to a speed of about twelve knots or a little more. Even that would be a most exceptional speed in 1703, and rightly to be admired; but it was in every way an exceptional night.
We are told also that the crew of this ship owed their safety to one youngster who had been to the Isle of Wight before, and knew of a tiny creek where he could beach her, which he did “between two rocks.” This part of the story may be dismissed. If the ship had not been out of command she would not have been beached so as to be lost; she would either have gone on running up Channel, till the gale had broken, or would have gone in through the Needles passage and put herself comfortably on the soft mud on the Keyhaven side of the Solent.

The Spithead anchorage, as has been noticed, was full of ships, but few of them were lost. The shelter there is far better than in the Downs, and the fury of the storm was not quite so great. From the outer anchorage at St. Helens, south of Bernbridge, the Resolution, of seventy guns, was blown from her anchors, and the Newcastle, of fifty, from Spithead. These two, driven straight before the wind, passed right over that network of dangerous shoals known as the Owers, which extend ten miles or more to seaward of Selsey Bill.

Again the height of the tide worked for salvation. Had it not been high water, or near it, they would inevitably have stuck fast on the shoals and gone to pieces, without the least prospect of a man of their crews, together amounting to some 600 or 700 men, being saved. As it was, they bumped heavily and often, but drove over into deeper water, leaky it is true, but not so leaky that they could not run in on the coast before sinking. The Newcastle beached herself near Selsey, unfortunately with the loss of near zoo men; the Resolution, being farther to seaward, was driven farther to the eastward, keeping herself afloat by hard pumping and bailing, and eventually went ashore near Pevensey without loss of life.

A very similar story was repeated in Yarmouth Roads, whence a great many merchantmen, colliers probably for the most part, were driven to sea. One man-of-war, the Reserve, of fifty guns, was overwhelmed by the sea and sank, with all her crew, at her anchors. Two more were driven on outlying sands, and were also totally lost, but most rode it out in the open. The loss of the York on the Shipwash Sand is often credited to the Great Storm, but wrongly so. The greater part of her crew was saved, which could hardly have happened had she struck on the night of the 26th, for then probably neither man nor stick of her would have been seen again. She was, in fact, wrecked in moderate but hazy weather two days after the Great Storm.
As is well known, the families of the men of the Navy who. perished, from admiral downwards, were relieved out of the public funds. It is pleasant to be able to place it on record that the initiative came from the Queen, whose proposal was that they should be considered as having lost their lives in action, and their families treated by the established scale, which was, in fact, done.

As far as the Humber the storm was very severe; we hear of many ships anchored near its mouth being blown to sea, some of which in all likelihood came to grief in the open. But there was no such exceptional loss in that quarter as to attract very particular attention in a night of such disasters. It was reported, as striking evidence of the violence of the wind at Spurn Point that night, that it fused the bars of the grate on which the coal-fire burnt which then formed the light, a thing which had never before been known to happen. But even this point was beyond the full fury of the storm, and still farther north there was no wind worth recording. An ordinary gale there may have been, but a mere summer breeze to that which raged in the south.
In the port of London the fact of the tide being high when the storm was at its fiercest did not make for safety. It gave the wind a further fetch, and deprived the ships of the shelter of the banks, with the result that anchors dragged, moorings parted, and the whole mass of ships was driven to leeward in a solid body. Owing to the horseshoe bend made by the river, everything between Ratcliff and Deptford was driven by the south-west wind into the bight of Limehouse, and the space being small and the number of ships very great, near 700 sail, they were driven into and on top of one another in heaps. One would be seen lying heeling from the shore with the bows of one ship over her waist and the stem of another on her forecastle; the bowsprits of some drove into the cabin windows of others; some lay so that the tide flowed into them before they could be righted; some so much on top of others that the undermost sank before the other was floated. Boats everywhere were crushed to pieces between the ships, masts were carried away, and a very pretty general average was made of the external carved works in which all ships of any proper pride then indulged. Such is the picture, and there can be no doubt that in harbour. as at sea, the damage was very severe.

The first lighthouse on the Eddystone was built by Winstanley, the engineer. It was long in hand, and the design was so often altered before completion that it is not very easy to be sure whether one should say that Winstanley built two lighthouses on the rock or only one. If he built two, the first was still incomplete in 1697 when it was visited by a French ship of war which carried Winstanley off a prisoner and destroyed the works. He was soon exchanged, and set to work on a new edition of his lighthouse, which was finished in 1703. It was a curious structure. The base was of masonry, twentyfour feet in diameter and rising twenty feet above the rock, but the whole of the upper structure was of timber, and of so curious an appearance with its galleries, derricks, and overhanging caves, that it has been likened to a Chinese pagoda. Men wagged their heads at it, prophesying that it would not withstand a storm; but Winstanley had complete faith in his creation, and is recorded to have said that he would wish to be in it in a gale. It so far justified his opinion that it stood through the gales of a fortnight before the fatal November 26th. Apparently it had suffered some damage, for on the 26th Winstanley, profiting by the short lull in the weather, went off to the lighthouse with a few workmen to superintend necessary repairs. The gale which sprang up prevented his return to the shore, if indeed he wished to return, and the storm that followed gave him the opportunity he is said to have desired. How or when the lighthouse went can never be known; all that is certain is that on the morning of the 27th no trace of the tower or of its occupants remained, everything above the solid base having been swept away by the storm.
To end with a peculiar consequence of the storm. in November an exchange of prisoners of war had been arranged with France, and at the time of the storm everything was ready for carrying it out. But when the storm had passed, the responsible office wrote to the Secretary of State saying that though the transports were ready, they had stopped them, for the seas were full of ships disabled by the late storm of which the said prisoners might give intelligence. The Secretary of State agreed that the office had done well, adding that the cause for the delay would soon disappear, and that they were to advise him when they thought the cartels might pass. Accordingly on December 11th, a fortnight after the storm, they wrote again, saving “that as most of the ships drove out to sea by the late storm are in port by now, either here or abroad, we think our transports detained at Dover may now go for Calais with prisoners in exchange for about 300 English who are in those parts and in great extremities”; and they added that H.R.H. Prince George, the Lord High Admiral, had ordered them to relieve those prisoners as soon as possible. Leave was given with only two days’ delay, and the prisoners were freed from their uncomfortable quarters. The lot of prisoners of war was decidedly hard in those days.
All through the year of the storm it had been found difficult to find men for the Navy, and the summer campaign had been a sickly one which had cost many hundreds of lives; thus the loss of life in the ships wrecked came as a very severe disaster and caused the Admiralty great anxiety. The official papers of the time reflect this, and show us the authorities stretching an the known methods to the, utmost in order to obtain men.
It cannot be doubted that the prisoners of war whose return from France has been noticed. were not allowed to run free, but were carefully shepherded into the Navy. That was the regular practice then and for long afterwards, for they were seamen , and the State had a right to their services. But a number of other methods existed, which were only put in force in time of great emergency, and in the weeks after the storm they are found in operation. Thus the prisoners of war, especially neutrals, were promised their liberty if they would “volunteer” for the Navy. and they volunteered. In December 1703, four Danish seamen, taken in a French privateer, were entered in this way; so were two French Protestant prisoners who “did not wish to return to France.” It is by no means clear that they wished to enter the English Navy and fight against their own country with halters round their necks; but they did.
As a rule convicted criminals were not entered for the fighting services, though it was common enough to allow men accused of serious offences to escape trial by “volunteering” for the Navy or Army. In this emergency men convicted both by civil and martial courts were sent into the Navy. Thus we have two seamen condemned to death for desertion, and a promising young A.B. whose life was forfeited for burglary; on December Sth we hear of four convicts at Newgate; and on March 8th following, a gaol defivery at Newgate resulted in a crop of thirteen men who, like those already mentioned, were ‘Tsted into the Queen’s service.”
It’s an ill wind that blows no one any good; and the Great Storm certainly saved a handful of rogues a hanging.