Abstract
THIS discussion was undertaken primarily by the Meteorological Office with the object of throwing some light on the very exceptional storm which was experienced at Aden in the summer of 1885, but advantage was taken of this opportunity to produce synchronous weather charts of the Arabian Sea for a limited period, since it was felt that such charts would be of especial interest, dealing as they do with a part of the ocean which is subject to the regular change of monsoon winds. The charts also exhibit the occurrence of a second cyclone which had originated over the eastern portion of the Arabian Sea before the full effect of the first disturbance had passed away. The Gulf of Aden and the northern portion of the North Indian Ocean are rarely visited by cyclones or typhoons, and consequently the occurrence in these waters, in the summer of 1885, of a violent cyclone, causing the loss of several vessels, among them the German corvette Augusta, and the French despatch-boat Renard, attracted considerable attention. The number of ships' logs which have been collected and utilized in the preparation of the charts is 239, and the information has been obtained from all available sources, including our own Navy and mercantile marine, and those of many foreign countries. For the first few days of the period discussed, the normal conditions were apparently prevailing over the Arabian Sea, the wind was north-westerly near the Indian Peninsula, but the south-west monsoon was blowing steadily near the African coast and for some distance over the sea on the western side of the district. Until about May 20, the weather in the neighbourhood of Ceylon seems to have been quiet, and the wind fairly steady from the south-westward. On the 20th, Her Majesty's ships Briton and Woodlark experienced somewhat disturbed weather at Trincomalee, the squalls attained the force of a moderate gale from the north-westward, and much thunder and lightning occurred. Unsettled weather continued from the 21st to the 24th, and from this day a storm area can be clearly traced travelling to the westward. The cyclone reached its greatest violence on June 2 and 3, when the barometer is reported as reading 27˙86 inches in close proximity to the centre of the disturbance. A hurricane occurred at Obokh during the evening of the 3rd, and it was reported that all the houses but one had been blown down, and trees had been uprooted. The position of the storm area is not only marked throughout its passage across the Arabian Sea by the cyclonic circulation of the winds, but also by the rain area which accompanied the disturbance; the rate of progress of the storm from May 24 to June 3 was rather less than seven miles an hour.
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Cyclones in the Arabian Sea1. Nature 45, 276–277 (1892). https://doi.org/10.1038/045276a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/045276a0