Better Than Uncle Weatherby: Just Look Up!

WESTHAMPTON, NY (By Vincent Pica, Division Captain, Division-18 (1SR), United States Coast Guard Auxiliary - The Boating Channel)

Anybody who was borne prior to, say, 1970, can remember the newscaster/weatherman Tex Antoine, aka, Uncle Weatherby. While weather forecasting is far more reliable than ever before, it pales in our esteem for the mariner that can open the back door, look up, gaze knowingly for a second or two, and pronounce, "nah, we'll be coming home in a whopper. Tomorrow will be better." And, sure enough, a half day later, it is pouring. This is all about that mariner.

Clouds are Batteries

Since this column started, we've written about the weather and seamanship three times (see "Skippering in Heavy Weather", SSP, 10/11/06; "Lightning - Shocking!", SSP, 3/07/07; "Weathering the Squall", SSP, 11/28/07 - for copies email me below.) And, as those columns implied, clouds are batteries that store water and tremendous power. But the history of weather forecasting goes back to the dawn of time and is loaded with old wisdoms ("mare's tails and mackerel scales make tall-ship captains take in their sails") and many jokes, ("where else can you be so wrong so often and keep your job!?") So, where does the weather, and these "sayings", come from?

Part of the problem of weather forecasting was solved over a hundred years ago by British meteorologist, Luke Howard, when he devised a system of nomenclature that the rest of the world's scientists were constantly arguing about. Every country wanted to use its own language and definitions for naming clouds and their effects. Howard came forward using - you guessed it - Latin and the fight was over. Meteorologists the world over accepted his type/sub-type system:

• Cirrus ("hair") - wispy, high-level clouds that foretell a major weather system on its way (the mare's tails)


• Stratus ("layer") - these cloud formations have no specific feature except that they only form at specific altitudes (see the diagram)


• Cumulus ("pile") - the puffy clouds than coalesce into the thunderheads we all recognize that then presages the near immediate arrival of a major storm. BTW, the warmer the weather, the bigger they get (pile up into the sky.)


• Nimbus ("precipitating") - we're all familiar with these. By this time, it's raining. And, the darker they are, the more water they are carrying.
• Alto ("high") - like in music, while it means high, it means the second-highest (soprano or treble is higher in music) and cirrus's and, often, the cumulo's (thunderheads) are even higher.

Look Up!

Watching the weather over hours or even days, often subconsciously by that back-door mariner, adds to your skills in predicting the weather. And it is all about the sun, the sea and the land interacting.

The sun heats the land faster than the sea. The warm air rises, taking some moisture from the sea, lakes, creeks and rivers with it, and forms cumulus (puffy) clouds. This vacuum effect then brings in cooler air from the sea to fill the gap created by the rising air over the land and we have what we call a sea-breeze ("winds are known from whence they blow, currents are known for whence they flow.")

The opposite effects happen at night, as you might guess. The land cools faster and the process reverses. All this is generally called "convection." And where convection is occurring, clouds are forming - and they are batteries storing up water and power.


Blankets presage Rain

Another sign that weather is approaching is when the sky cover builds and the sea breeze stops… The cloud cover has now gotten so thick that the sun can't heat the air underneath the clouds. That's when someone mutters, "Please, let it rain and clear out this humidity…" The cloud is acting like a blanket - and you know how much you like blankets in the summertime!

Ancient mariners looked for clouds for two reasons. They didn't know that convection was causing the wind but clouds meant wind. They also meant land. Convection first lines the shore line with clouds. "Land Ho'!" And it builds from there. Some more proverbs: See if you can divine why they are true, based on what you now know:

"The moon with a circle brings water in her beak…"
"Rain before seven? Over by eleven."
"Red sky at morning? Sailor take warning!"


BTW, if you are interested in being part of USCG Forces, email me at JoinUSCGAux2008@aol.com or go direct to MaryJo Cruickshank, who is in charge of new members matters, at FSO-PS@emcg.us and we will help you "get in this thing…"

Coast Guard, San Mateo County Sheriff Dive on Vessel Wreckage

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, March 21, 2008 (The Boating Channel)- The Coast Guard, working in partnership with the San Mateo Country Sheriff's Department Dive Team and members of the San Francisco Police Department, has located what is believed to be the wreckage of the sailing vessel "Daisy." Yesterday afternoon at approximately 1 p.m., the San Mateo County Sheriff's Dive Team and the Coast Guard Cutter SOCKEYE located a portion of the vessel underwater using side sonar equipment. The wreckage was located approximately 3 nautical miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Divers from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office dove on the wreckage and reported no persons found among the underwater debris.

Weather limitations for the sonar equipment and for diving operations prevented the operation from occurring earlier in the week.

The Coast Guard and its partner agencies conducted an extensive search Saturday and Sunday after the sailing vessel "Daisy" was reported overdue from a race to the sea buoy and back. Coast Guard Investigators have been actively pursuing any information related to the "Daisy's" disappearance, and have been tracking down debris believed to be related to the case.

A final determination has not been made as to what happened to the "Daisy." The Coast Guard is continuing an inquiry into what may have caused the vessel to sink.

Rescued Boaters Arrested - Suspected of Killing Charter Boat Crew

From CNN: MIAMI, Florida, October 2,2007 (The Boating Channel) -- The two men found rescued by the Coast Guard in the Florida Straits last week have been arrested. According to the story, they are suspected of having murdered the crew of the Joe Cool, a fishing boat they had chartered. Kirby Archer, 34, and Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, the two suspects, were denied bond Tuesday. The magistrate ruled they are a danger to the community and flight risks. More