DECEMBER, 1929 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW 525
TABLE 1 .-Averaged, depaitiires, and extremes of atmospheric p r f s -
8ure at sea lciwl at indicated hoiirs, North Pacific Occan and ndjci-
cent waters, December, 1929
Inches Inch Inches Point Barrow 1 2 .............- 30.w ._..._._.. 30.62
Dutch Harbor 1 _._._.......... 29.75 +0. li 30.36
St. Paul I ___....._..._...._.__ ' 3 .7 5 +O. 14 30.44
hodiak 1 .__.._.............___ 39. i 5 +n. 17 30.42
Midway Island 1 4 .........-
~~
SO. 11 +O. Oi 311.34
Honolulu 5 .__._.........._____ 29. $14 -0. os 311. n i Juneau 3.- .. ... . ._._...._. ~. . . 29.89 +0. 10 3lJ.35
Tatoosh Island 6 6 .__________ __ 3. !I; 0. no I an. 44
San Francisco 8 * ______________ 30.12 +0. 01 ' XI. 34
san Diego 3 6 .________________ 80.04 0.00 I 30.39
1 P. m. observations only.
2 For 3s days.
8 And on other dates.
4 For 30 days.
6 A m. and I ). N. ohservatimw.
8 Corrected to 24-hnur mean.
December as a whole was a somewhnt stormier mont,h
than November over most of the uppe,r half of the ocean,
although the number of the more violent gales was le,ss.
High winds this month were more widespread as to area and days of occurrence and were reported from some 10-
cality or other on every day escept the 12t,h. The
greatest number of days with gales reported from any 5'
square was 8, occurring east of Japan. Data a t hand
show that steamships encountered full storm to hurri-
cane velocities on four clays; on the 4th, in the lower part of the Bering Sea and also a few hundred miles north-
west of Midway Island; on the 20th, south of the west,ern
Aleutians; and on the 21st and 25th, east of northern
Japan. I n November there were seven clays wit,h wind
forces of 11 to 12 on the ocean, latest reports for the
month showing that violent gales, not nienbioned in the previous review of North Pacific weather, occurred e.ast
and northeast of Japan on the 23d, 24th, and 27th.
During the current month wind forces of 8 to 10 were
common along the whole length of the northern and murh of the middle routes. From t,he 2d to the Gt'h a cyclone
that prevailed between the Ha.waiian Islands and Cali-
fornia occasioned much rough weather, with fresh to whole gales, and anticyclonic gales occurred in the
same region on the 30th and 31st. On the 13th) 14th,
22d, 24th, and 25th gales were encountered along the Washington, Oregon, and northern California coasts. The
maximum wind velocity a t Tatoosh Tsla.nd was a t the rate of 57 miles an hour-force 10-from the east on the
13th.
To the westward of the coast region as far as the one
hundred and eightieth meridian, north of the parallel of
40, while frequent gales blew early in the month, the greatest number occurred in the last decade during the days when the Aleutian cyclone was most active. West
of the central meridian the frequent gales were due
largely to the presence of a fairly permanent cyclonic
area-the westernmost extension of the Aleutian Low-
south of Kamchatka, and to the activity of a number of cyclones which entered the ocean from Asia. OR the
coast of China gales, usually of moderate force but some-
times becoming fresh, were of the northeast. monsoon
type. These were apparently of greatest severity on the 3d and 4th) when a powerful anticyclone pushed upon
the China and Eastern Seas.
The Gulf of Tehuantepec was the scene this mont'h of frequent strong northers. Gales were reported by sea-
men as occurmg here on a t least 12 days, on four of
which, the 3d, 19th, 22d, and 23d, they attained to whole gale force. Several of these blew over a wide area of sea
to the southward, but ceased rather abruptly to the west-
ward of the gulf, as witness t8he instance of the British motorship Loch Goil, which, in 1st. 16' N., long. 99' W., on t,he 19t8h was esperienc,ing calms and light airs, whde a violent Tehuantepecer was blowing south of the isthmus. At Salina Cruz masiinuni wind velocities from
the north, in miles per hour, occurred as follows: On the 3d, 64 miles; 4t8h mid 26th, 56 miles; 29th) 60 miles, these const8itmut8ing whole gales t,o st80rm winds at t,he head of
t'he hay. The prevailing wind direction at Honolulu was north-
e,nst, whe,reas in December it is usunlly east, and the
inasimum wind veloc.it8y was n t the rate of 28 miles an
hour from the northe,ast8 on tQe 30th.
Over the nort8hwest8ern part of the oce,an scattered fog showed (1.11 increase from two days of occurrence. in
Nove.mhe.r to five days in December. It was most wide-
spre,ad in area 011 bhe 9th, loth, and 19th. Occasional fog
was met with thence eastward to American waters.
Along the Ainerkan coast it was reported on seven days in t,he vicinity of Puget Sound, on 13 days outside of San
Francisco Harbor, and on eight days outside of San
Diego. It decrea'sed southward, but occurred on the 11th
and 12th in the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Here the American steamship Coriii,to e,ncountered it with a west-south-
we.sterly wind, immediately following a strong norther
from west-northwest on the 11th.
TYPHOONS AND DEPRESSIONS IN NOVEMBER, 1929
By Rev. Josfi CORONAE, S. J.
Weather Bureau, Manila. P. I.
One Philippine and China Sea typhoon and one Pacijc
typli.oon.--There were only two well-developed typhoons noticed over the Far East during the month of No- vember, one of them having traversed the Philippines
through the Visayan Islands and the Sulu Sea on the 10th and 11th. This Philippine typhoon was probably formed on the
8th in very low latitude to the southwest of Pelew Is- lands near 132' longitude E. and 5' latitude N. It moved
northwestward on the 8th and inclined to WNW. on the 9th, reaching the Philippines near to the north of Surigao
during the night of the 9th to 10th. In the morning of
the 10th it moved NNW. for a few hours, and then it took
a westward direction in the afternoon of the same day.
This west direction was kept until the 12th when it began to move again to WNW, in the China Sea.
While traversing the Visayan Islands, this typhoon appeared to be only a shallow depression of little Import-
ance; but it began to develop more in the Sulu Sea and became a much developed and severe typhoon rn the China Sea. The steamer Calchas passed through its cen-
ter a t 3:30 p. m. of November 14 in 112' 07' longitude E. and 13' 57' latitude N. The barometric minimum re-
corded a t that time was as low as 28.38 inches (720.84 mm.), the winds blowing from ENE. force 9 before the minimum and from SW. force 9 to 10 after the minimum.
The captain of the steamer describes thus the passing of
the center:
In the central area, we noticed many land birds including a
wild duck. The sun shone clearly for a period of about 20 minutes.
The wind was light and variable, and the sea waE very rough and confused (pyramidal).
The approximate positions of the center a t 6 a. m. of November 8 to 15 were as follows:
November 8, 6 a. m., 132O 16' longitude E. 6' 26' latitude N, November 9, 6 a. m., 129' 45' longitude E., 7' 46' latjtude N, November 10, 6 a. m., 124' 26' longitude E., 10' 30' latitude N.
526 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW DECEMBER, 1929
November 11, 6 a. m., 121' 15' longitude E., 11' 25' latitude N. November 12, G a. m., 118' 10' longitude E., 11' 35' latit,ude N. November 13, G a. m., 115' 50' longitude E., 12' 20' latitude N. November 14, G a. m., 113' 40' longitude E., 13' 10' latitude N. November 15, 6 a. ni., 110' 40' longitude E., 14' 20' latitude N.
The other Pacific typhoon was shown in our weather
maps of the 20th as forming to the sout8h of Guam not, fnr
from 145" longitude E. nnd 9' latitude N. It moved
nort<hwestward until the 23d when it recurred to NNE.
to the west of the southern part of the Ladrone Islands.
The steamer Ramapo was involved in this typhoon near
to the west of the Ladrone. Islands with a fnlling barom-
eter and strong winds and squalls from the southeast -
quadmnt. The approlimate posit,ions of the c,ent,er of this twhoon ... a t 6 a. m. of November 21 to 27 were:
November 21, G a. m., 144' 10' longitude E., 9' 30' latitude N. November 33, G a. ni., 141' 00' longitude E., 11' 50' latitude N.
November 23, 6 a. in., 139" 10' longitude E., 14' 30' latitude N. November 24, G a. in., 140' 20' longitude E., 17" 10' latitude N. November 25, G a. in., 140' 56' longitude E., 1s' 00' latitude N.
November 26, G a. m., 142" 50' longitude E., 21" 05' latitude N. November 27, 6 a. m., 149' 30' longitude E., 35' 25' latitude N.
S G /. k/S ( Y 6 /.I' )
-
THE FIJI HURRICANE OF DECEMBER, 1929
By WILLIS E. HURD
From the 7th to the 14th of December, 1929, a hurricane
raged over and in the general vicinity of the Fiji Jslands. Our present knowledge of this intense storm rests largely
upon the facts contained in a series of reports submitted
to the Weather Bureau by Mr. J. H. Berendsen, second officer of the American steamship Golden Rod, en route
from Sydney, New South Wnles, toward the Hawaiian
Islands and San Francisco, via the Fijis. In addition to his own experiences, Mr. Berendsen kindly furnished radio
messages received from other vessels and from Fijian and
other land stations, including copies of hurricane warnings
and advices transmitted from Suva.
The only additional report of the storm received was
that of the British steamship Waitemata, Captain Jannny, Observer McCarry, Westport, New Zealand, to Van-
couver. This vessel a t midnight of the loth, while at some distance south of the cyclone center, ran into whole south-
easterly gales which persisted with incessant rain until
3 p. m. of the 11th when, to use the words of the observer, "the wind shifted to NE., reaching hurricane force, the
ship being hove to in lat. 21" 45' S., long. 178" W., lowest
barometer 29.26. About 2 a. In. of the 12th the wind shifted to ENE. and remained there throughout the day, the gale radually decreasing in force."
storm zone-which was many hundreds of miles in ex- tent-with a southeasterly gale of force 7, near lat. 22"
23' S., long. 172" 39' E., on the afternoon of the 10th. Thence, though a t no time close to the actual hurricane
center, she had mostly rough seas and strong winds to strong or whole gales until she entered harbor on the 14th,
a t which time the storm had passed her and was central
approximately 300 to 350 miles to the southward and was
moving in the general direction of Norfolk Island. The initial appearance of the storm, as gnthered from
the reports of the Goldm Rod, seems to have been near the
tenth parallel of south latitude to the southeastward of the Ellice Islands, although a radio message of Monday,
December 8, leads one to the suspicion that it may have originated a few days earlier considerably to the north-
eastward of the Ellice Group. Quoting this message:
The Norwich City went on reef and broke up last week at Garden Island in Phoenix Group. Eleven persons were drowned. The steamer Lincoln Ellsworth has 12 survivors aboard; the rest were picked up by some British steamer.
The Go f: den Rod entered the extreme forward rim of the
During its early days the cyclone was evidently traveling in a southwesterly direction, and on the 9th lay north or
somewhnt to the northwest of the Fijis. A report from the Norwegian steamship Tyr, at S p. m. of the 9th in lat.
l G o 56' S., long. 176" 05' E., gave a southeast wind of
force 10 and nn ntmospheric pressure of 29.33 inches. It wns apparent on this date that the storm was curving
into southward, and a report frnm Suva showed a barom-
eter depressed to 29.56 inches, wind ESE., force 6.
On the 10th Suva sent out a report of a pressure of 29.39
inches, wind SE. by E., force 7 to 8, rainy and squally weather. At 8 a. m. the steamship Pinna, anchored in
Nandi Bay, outside Lautoka, Fiji, reported a barometer of 29.18, wind SSE., 8. The storm had now recurved into
southenst nnd was headed directly upon the Fiji Group.
At! noon of the 11th the hurricane center was slightly
north of Suva, where the barometer read 29.22, with a fresh southeast gnle, nnd wns moving upon Savu Savu,
where a t 12:40 p. m. a hurricnne wind from northeast was
raging, with barometer at 2S.48.
On the 12th the hurricane, after passing Suva to the east-
ward, slowly recurved from southeast into south over the
Koro Sea. Fresh to strong shifting gales were yet blowing
at Suva, but the winds were diminishing rapidly a t Savu
Savu. At least one important line of communication-
the lnnd line to Levuka-was reported interrupted.
At 8:30 p. m. of the 13th Suva reported the storm as
well to the southward, now npparently headinw south-
southwest. The Danish motor ship Jane hlaersg, in 23'
S., 17s" E., a t 8 p. m., with a barometer of 29.33, rising,
was experiencing a south wind of force 11, which attests to the violence of the cyclone a t this time.
THREE TROPICAL CYCLONES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN, 1927-28
By WILLIS E. HWRD
His Esce,llenc,y the Governor of New Caledonia, a t
Noumea, in a recent comniunication to the Hydrographic
Office, which was forwarded to the Weather Bureau,
inclosed data relative to three tropical disturbances in the South Pacific Ocean which occurred during the period
December, 1927, t,o May, 1928.
The earliest wns esperienced at the beginning as a
fresh nort'heast gale, pressure 29.33 inches, a t Port Vila, Elate Island, in the New Hebrides Group, on the after-
noon of December 29. Fresh to strong north gales
occurred during the early hours of the 30th, with barom- eter dropping to a niininiuni of 29.13. At 10 8. m.
the wind went into northwest, force 10, with rising pressure, as the cyclone passed the island to the west-
ward, and after 2 p. m. the force lessened. The storm, which was encountered with moderate severity by the steamships Makambo and Cassiopec, proceeded in a
south-southeasterly direction across the Loyalty Group
midway betwe,en the New Hebrides and New Caledonia,
the cente.r passing a short distance east of Noumea a t
2 a. m. of the 31st. It crossed Walpole Island at 10
a. 111. and continued on the southward of the Fijis during January 1.
The cyclone of February 8-9, 1928, was of considerable violence over some portions of the New Hebrides Group,
in particulnr devastating the south end of Santo Island
and the nort,hern part of the close-lying island of Aore, where it badly damaged buildings and broke down or
uprooted the palm trees. At Lunganville, on the south-
east of Santo, the barometer dropped from 29.84, at 7
p. m., t80 28.78 inches, a t 9 p. m. of the 8th, the wind at both hours being from east-southeast. The cyclone
appr0ac.he.d from the eastward, the center crossing five
islands of the group, then going in a southwesterly