, 1898-10-19

regular tuHu COulu udN0 DCOH AOHN
however, the changes Of the wind that come
most into evidence in this case. The wind
observations refer 10 he motions of the lower
clouds. Experience has shewn that in a cy-
clone these clouds are moving almost at
right angles to the line pointing out the posi-
ton of the storm centre The surface WINDS
move a little more inwards, and are unrelIa-
BILE, as they may be influenced Ivy hills and
even by buildings. In the following re-
marks, then, "the wind" must be read as mean-
ing direction of the lower cloud movement.
On Sunday the 18th We had enough infor-
nation by cable to show us that a cyclone
centre was passing between St. Lucia on the
north and Grenada on the south. At half an
hour past noon we noted"bar. 80, wind Flower
clOuds) from e. N. E., moderate" A line at
right angles to this Direction would bring us
nearSt. Vincent, where, 40 we afterwaIds knew,
the hurricane was then sweeping all be-
fore it. With US the weather continued mo-
derate, with the exception of a couple Of
squalls, one at half past four on Sunday after
noon and another Every heavy ut 9! in the
evening.
On lie morning of Monday the 18th at 8
O'clock We noted char. 80. Wind E. by S."
This is about what would have been expected,
and shews hat the storm centre was already
passing on the south side of us. At 4 p. H..
we noted "bar. 1896, wind E. by N" Here was
a surprise! Under normal circumstanc es the
wind might nave been expected to continue
veering towards south as the storm went on;
but now it was turning back. How was that?
On Tuesday morning Cl3th) The wind WAS
still north of easl, but was dropping to Il
calm. BY midday it was scarcely possible
to see any motion in the clouds. BY and by,
1ou-o,o, - rlHUx Cm,o NJ VIZ oO,1I
be detected, but this quickly passed through
w. to w At l pm. we noted bar. 3OO5,
lower clouds moving from S.W. slowly
thunder and lightning" All day Wednes-,
day the sky was covered with clouds moving
Mt a moderate rate from about S.W., and at
5 pm. the barometer stood at 1898. On
Thursday (5th) the same movement conl
tinued, the bar. standing at 30 when or
served, namely at 8 am. aud 5 pm. A
careful observation of cloud direction at 5
p. m. showed that the movement was from
S.S.W.; but the direction changed during the
night, passing through south to south enst =
at 9 am. on the 10Th We noted "bar. 1910,
wind through =. to Sc" At 8 am. on
the 18th "bnr. 3O.l3, wind nearly east"
1t seems TO us that the only explanation of
the remarkable reversal of tie wind on
Tuesday the 18Th and its subsequent passage
through S.W. and S. TO Sc. with a simulta-
neOus return of bar. to its normal height can
only be explained by the supposition that a
second cyclone, having its centle well to tho
north, had im~pinged on the first or southern
Cyclone.
The news that subsequently, cam from The
Northeastern islands. Anguilla, st. Martins
and Saba confirms this view. 1t is a pity
that we have SO few particulars from those
places. but from all we can gather the dps-
~tructive wind was from the west. If the
worst winds were westerly the infer-
ence would be that the storm centre was to-
wards the nort1. The desl nction in all
those islands was done on Monday night and
early OH Tuesday morning. On Tuesday af-
terno0n the storm centre was passing US OH
the north side, moving to North. west, and
would explain our westerly winds during
those days.
The case of Saba presents a difficulty. It is
somewhere about 60 miles south OF 81. Martins
and might be supposed 10 be to- far away
to be seriously affected, but on the other
hand it must he remembered that the town
is at a very high level, and hence is much
exposed.
1t certainly is puzzling that st. Thomas
and the Virgin Islands $50 far as we know
did not feel the westerly wind in more force.
When, however, we get two cyclones i'm
pinging on each other We must look for
some anomalies at the common tangent.