, 1909-11-17

gently floating from about west northwest.
We we're not left long ii doubt that q
heavy disturbance was either III course of
formation or was coming nearer to Us, for
the barometer fell rather rapidly on Thurs
day and continued to do 50 on Friday morn
ing, falling by 2 p. m. to 29.76. Besides the
fall in the barometer, the sky began to give
signs of disturbances. At 10 q. III. on Friday
our notes record "cumulus, in increasing
quantity moving rather fast from south
southeast" During the night the wind
blew in gusts with short intervals Of COM
parative calm and an occasional squall
There was much lightning and some distant
thunder all through the night and at . am.
Oh Saturday the 18th a heavy thunder
storm, after which the sky looked more
peaceful, but rain and wind soon followed.
AS the barometer continued low and the
weather looked very threatening it became
advisable to form some theory Of the storms
movement, so rs to form au idea OF what
might be looked for here. Our editor con
cluded that it was likely That the centre was
moving slowly northwards and would curve
to the northeast and 50 pass northwards Of
the Danish Islands; md when III the even
ing d severe squaIl came from north of west
bringing very heavy ram and much thunder
and lightning, it did look rs II the theory
would be confirmed. 1t looked more
80 on the morning of Sunday the 14th,
when the low clouds were coming from
northwest and the barometer began to rise,
1t looked so, but the high clouds would not
confirm it, they were seen on Sunday to be
coming from about southwest, OF at all events
much south of west.The centre therefore had
not passed to the northeast, in which case the
high clouds should have been coming from
about that direction. The storm centre
was still in the Caribbean, and there it WAS
on Monday, when the high clouds continued
their refusal to go round to northeast and
were moving from about west-northwest
The storm centre had therefore continued
to move off westward. This is further
confirmed by the heavy sea reported as
running in Dominica, ~onSunday, a sea which
had probably left the centre some time dur
ing Saturday night.
How then are we to explain the shifting
Of the wind from south through west to
northwest on Saturday nigh, if we cannot
put it down to the movement Of the cyclone
centre {?
The explanation is probably to be found
in the rise Of a new power. On Sunday it
soon appeared from the strong norther-
ly wind and the falling temperature,
LnaI u ueaVY vino WAS SeJGlug III from IubO
direction. On Monday morning u strong
northeast wind probably part Of q regular
"Norther") was blowing, and it has continued
to blow since, so strong at San Juan that
steamers were not able to leave the port.
1t would be very interesting to look down
on all the turmoil and see how the two forces,
that of the cyclone and that Of the
invading Norther, are fighting II out.
We cannot so look down, but later we
may perhaps hear something about the wea-
ther to the west that may help us to
picture the clash and the triumph. Here per-
haps we had a fragment Of that experience
in the storm of thunder, lightning and rain
that broke on us from west-northwes on
Saturday evening.
A West End correspondent writes that on
Friday there was a southerly wind with