THE TWIN STORMS OF JANUARY, 1867. 259 



Cunard's steamers shows that the air very closely approximates in 

 temperature to that of the sea. Here then we have a difference 

 of fully 30° between the air over the land and that on the sea ; 

 with a sharply defined line of division on the west coast of Ire- 

 land. And when we further consider the large extent of heated 

 air over the Atlantic Ocean, it becomes evident that a general up- 

 ward movement must leave a large space to be filled with the 

 denser air from the land, creating first the easterly wind and then 

 the south-eastern storm. 



It is observable also that the greatest force of the S.E. wind 

 passed along the line of the lowest barometer ; and this corre- 

 sponded very nearly with the longest line of open sea in that 

 direction. 



All the Wind Charts appear to show that cold \vinds, in 

 winter at least, cling to coast lines, and have a tendency to sweep 

 towards the open sea rather than be entangled with the hills and 

 colder air of the land ; and from this cause the entrances to the 

 English Channel and the Irish Sea will in winter be most exposed 

 to S.E. gales. 



Deductions : — 



1 . Cold, especially when accompanied by snow and continued 

 frost, is in the South-west of England a storm-breeder. 



2. After severe cold, of many days standing, in winter, heavy 

 gales may be expected; and when, at such a time, northerly 

 winds shift to E. and S.E., a storm is near. 



3. Other things being e^ual, the force of the storm will be in 

 proportion to the amount of difference in temperature between the 

 cold air of the land and the warm air of the sea. 



These deductions, however, must be considered as only the re- 

 sult of a first attempt to investigate a proverbially difficult subject, 

 which future observations may either modify or confirm ; but the 

 frequency of such storms of late years, and the lamentable loss of 

 life which accompanied them — (we might especially refer to the 

 storm of January, 1866, when 40 vessels were wrecked in Torbay 

 alone) — will justify the attempt to discover their origin, in the 

 hope that we may in some measure be enabled to anticipate their 

 coming, and to guard against their effects. 



