196 OBSEEVATIONS ON THE WINDS. 



off the coast of North America take their origin over a lower pressure 

 between two areas of higher pressure. 



(127.) In conclusion we give some extracts from an exhaustive examina- 

 tion of the records of Storms experienced by the steamers of the North 

 German Lloyd, contained in the pamphlet mentioned on page 171. 



In this pamphlet, Storms are considered as violent winds of force 10, 11, 

 and 12 of Beaufort's Scale (page 104), of which 829 were recorded in the 

 eight years (1860 — 1867) under discussion, between the parallels of 40° 

 and 52° N. Were those of force 9 included, the number would be raised 

 to about 2,500. The steamers experiencing them were barque or brig 

 rigged, and used their sails to the utmost. Consequently, it was an im- 

 portant question to determine the nature of the Storms in the zone fre- 

 quented by these ships, the directions they take in the different months of 

 the year, and whether they occur more frequently in certain zones and 

 between certain meridians than in others, taking into consideration the 

 number of ships observing, with the relative frequency of the gales. 



The tabulated returns show that November, December, and January, 

 are the chief Storm months; in February, April, and October, they are not 

 half so numerous, and still less so in March and September. The calm 

 period is from May to August. January and February each show 19 per 

 cent, of the Storms occurring during these years ; November, 12 per cent. ; 

 February and April, each 9 per cent. ; October, 8 per cent. ; March and 

 September, each 6 per cent, (appearing to show that the Equinoxes are 

 not such stormy periods in the Northern part of the Atlantic as is generally 

 supposed) ; May, June, July, and August, each show 3 per cent.* 



As regards the quarters from which these 829 Storms were experienced, 

 it was found that West to N.N. W. winds preponderate (482 out of the 829), 

 and next come the North to E.N.E. gales (158 in number) ; the least 

 number (107) being from East to S.S.W. But the most severe Storms 

 generally commence from the latter direction ; the wind then falls calm, 

 and afterwards shifts through South, to break out with increasing fury 

 from S.W. to W.S.W. ; it then veers rapidly to N.W., or rather, the 

 dense cold N.W. wind breaks with overwhelming power into the rarefied 

 S.W. current. 



With regard to the longitude in which these 829 Storms were experienced, 

 it will be seen from the tabulated returns that the frequency of the gales 

 between 30° and 35° W. begins to increase in a very striking manner from 

 the directions West, W.N.W., N.W. especially, and North, and to hold in 

 an equal degree as far as 45° W. To the West of 55° W. most of the gales 

 are North-Easterly. This is a convincing proof that the cold water of the 

 Polar Current flowing over the Banks of Newfoundland brings with it a 

 mass of air which falls into the track of our steamers in a North-Westerly 

 direction as far as 35° W., and between 45° and 40° N., but beyond 50° W. 



• These figures, however, do not coincide with those of the " Charts of Relative Storm 

 Frequency," published by the United States War Department. These charts are founded 

 on observations during the ten years 1874 — 1883, and show that March and April are 

 the months in which the greatest number of Storms occurred in the North Atlantic; the 

 fewest occurred in June and July. 



