NATURE 



[December 24, 1891 



The Meteorological Council have very kindly permitted 

 the use of the Observatory records and other documents 

 in their possession, which are more in detail than the eye 

 observations made at the telegraphic reporting stations 

 which furnish data for the daily weather reports. 



The following table shows the hourly velocity of the 

 wind as obtained from the anemometrical records. All 

 velocities of 35 miles and upwards are given, and when 

 so strong a wind is recorded at any Observatory, the 

 velocity is given at the other Observatories, although less 

 than 35 miles an hour. 



Velocity of the Wind by Anemographs. 



From the table it will be seen that the gale did not 

 continue over the United Kingdom for more than twenty- 

 four hours, and at Falmouth and Holyhead, where the 

 highest velocities were obtained, the wind only exceeded 

 50 miles an hour— a fresh gale of Beaufort's notation— 

 for four hours ; whilst the maximum hourly velocity at 

 any observatory was 62 miles, registered at Falmouth 

 at 9 o'clock in the morning. These velocities, although 

 a fair index of the severity of the gale, give no idea of the 

 violence of the gusts or squalls. 



The photographic registrations of the barometer show 

 that at Valentia the first fall for the gale set in at i a.m., 

 loth, when the mercury was standing at 295 inches, and 

 the lowest reading was not reached for more than twenty- 

 four hours later, the minimum being 2878 inches at 

 2.10 a.m., nth. The fall at Valentia only exceeded the 

 rate of 005 inch per hour for two hours, and the subse- 

 quent rise there was not very brisk ; the wind force, how- 

 ever, at Valentia throughout the storm did not exceed a 

 moderate gale. At Falmouth, the barometer commenced 

 to fall at 8 a.m., loth, and by i a.m., nth, the mercury 

 had decreased an inch, whilst the lowest reading was 

 28*37 inches at 5 a.m., nth. The subsequent rise was 

 very slight at first, but after 8 a.m., nth, it amounted to 

 0-15 inch per hour. At Kew the first fall of the baro- 

 meter is shown at 1 1 a.m., loth, just ten hours subsequent 

 to Valentia ; and the lowest reading was 28*47 inches at 

 ii*5 a.m., nth, only nine hours later than Valencia. The 

 fall did not amount to o"i inch per hour, but the subse- 

 quent rise was o"i5 inch per hour from i to 3 p.m. The 

 wind did not veer till after i p.m., and then only to west- 

 south-west from south-south-west. The hourly velocity of 

 the wind at Kew evidently affords but little illustration of 

 the violence of the gale, since the maximum velocity was 



NO. I I 56, VOL. 45] 



only 45 miles, which occurred at 2 p.m. ; whilst at 

 Greenwich the pressure anemometer registered 31 -5 lbs. 

 on the square foot at 2-35 p.m. At Fort William the 

 barometer commenced to fall at n.30 a.m., loth, and 

 the lowest reading was 28-48 inches at 3.53 p.m., nth. 

 At Aberdeen the fall of the barometer set in at 7.45 p.m., 

 loth, and the minimum was 2838 inches at9p m., nth • 

 wljilst here the wind changed suddenly from south-east 

 by east to west by north at 10 15 p.m., nth. 



The ship Khyber, Captain W. Peterkin, keeping a log 

 for the Meteorological Office, felt the first influence of the 

 cyclonic weather system at midnight, 9th, inlat. 49°3o'N., 

 and long. 1 3" W., about 300 miles to the west of Land's 

 End, when a moderate south-west wind was blowing, 

 and the barometer stood at 29-64 inches. The wind 

 afterwards changed through south, south-east, east, and 

 north-east, and the centre of the disturbance passed to 

 the' south of the vessel, being nearest to the ship at 

 about 10 p.m., loth, when the barometer was 28-71 inches, 

 and the wind was blowing a fresh gale from north-north- 

 east, the ship being in lat. 49^40' N., and long. 12'' 20' W. 

 This vessel shows that the wind did not attain gale force 

 until after the centre had passed to the east of the ship,, 

 but with a rising barometer she experienced a very strong 

 northerly gale. 



The observations from the Khyber, considered with 

 those obtained from stations in the United Kingdom, show 

 that the storm system travelled across the area of the 

 British Islands at the rate of about 34 English miles per 

 hour ; but the rate of progress was slackening decidedly 

 after it had passed over the centre of England, and on 

 reaching the North Sea it passed away very slowly to the 

 northward. 



The exceptional features of the storm were the strong 

 gales experienced in the English Channel and over the 

 southern portion of the Kingdom, accompanied by a 

 terrific sea, the latter being doubtless greatly aggravated 

 owing to the heavy westerly wind setting up the Channel, 

 also the low barometer which occurred in the southern 

 part of the country. In the neighbourhood of London the 

 barometer fell to 28-47 inches, and there have only been 

 seven years since i8n in which the reading has fallen 

 lower, the absolutely lowest corrected reading during the 

 last eighty years in the vicinity of London being 28-02 

 inches on January 29, 1814. 



The influence of this storm area had not passed away 

 from our islands before an entirely fresh disturbance was 

 seen to be approaching the Irish coasts, and at Valentia 

 a fresh fall of the barometer was in progress after 7.50 

 p.m. on the nth, the barometer having only previously 

 risen to 29-20 inches. The mercury subsequently fell to 

 28-36 inches at 6.20 p.m., 12th, which is more than 0-4 

 inches lower than during the gale of the nth; and the 

 wind attained the velocity of 58 miles an hour, and was 

 above 50 miles an hour for ten hours, from i to 10 p.m. 

 At Falmouth the wind attained the hourly velocity of 

 47 miles at 6 p.m., 12th, and at Holyhead 45 miles at noon, 

 1 2th ; but at Kew and Aberdeen the wind did not increase 

 beyond a fresh breeze. 



The sudden manner in which this second disturbance 

 collapsed, after assuming very threatening proportions, is 

 of considerable interest, in so far as it affords a good 

 illustration of the extreme difficulty experienced at times 

 in the weather forecasting for our islands ; the present 

 position of science aff'ording no explanation why the one 

 storm should traverse our islands, and the other prove 

 entirely abortive after reaching the western stations. 



Chas. Harding. 



NOTES. 

 The Duke of Devonshire, of whose death every one was 

 sorry to hear, maintained throughout life the interest in science 

 which had been fostered by his studies as an undergraduate at 



