The Law of Storms: The various phenomena by which their approach can be ascertained with certainty, and practical directions to mariners for the avoidance of their fury, compiled from various sourcesRoss, John
Science
The Law of Storms: The various phenomena by which their approach can be ascertained with certainty, and practical directions to mariners for the avoidance of their fury, compiled from various sources
Ross, John
Storms
Similarly in the Southern Hemisphere, it may be inferred that when
Polar currents of air alternate with Equatorial, the regular shifting
of the wind round the compass will be successive through S., S.E., E.,
N.E., N., N.W., W., S.W., S.
This is Dove’s “Law of Gyration,” (or the law of the rotation of
winds). And collecting the main points into a few general propositions,
it may be laid down, that all steady winds are modified by the rotation
of the earth, in such a manner that Equatorial currents of air receive
a westerly deflection, and Polar currents an easterly deflection; but
latitudinal currents suffer no change. The N.E. and S.E. Trade Winds
are steady Polar currents. The Monsoons are alternations of a Polar and
an Equatorial current, twice during the year. Therefore they are N.E.
and S.W. in the Northern Hemisphere, and S.E. and N.W. in the Southern
Hemisphere.
The S.W. passage winds of the Northern Hemisphere, and the N.W. passage
winds of the Southern Hemisphere, are Equatorial currents.
Bodies of air set in motion from a state of rest, turn the wind-vane in
the direction of the meridian as follows:
The Polar current in the Northern Hemisphere from N. to E.
The Polar current in the Southern Hemisphere from S. to E.
The Equatorial current in the Northern Hemisphere from S. to W.
The Equatorial current in the Southern Hemisphere from N. to W.
In general the winds in the Northern Hemisphere are as follows:
Those from N. to E. the Polar currents.
Those from E. to S. the transition of the Polar to the Equatorial.
Those from S. to W. the Equatorial current.
Those from W. to N. the transition of the Equatorial to the Polar.
Also, in the Southern hemisphere, the winds are as follows:
Those from S. to E. the Polar currents.
Those from E. to N. the transition of the Polar to the Equatorial.
Those from N. to W. the Equatorial current.
Those from E. to S. the transition of the Equatorial to the Polar.
Thus, a complete revolution of the wind-vane in the Northern Hemisphere
is therefore S.W., N.E., S. with the sun, and in the Southern Hemisphere
the rotation is S.E., N.W., S., with the sun, also, in that region.
When the course of a steady wind is obstructed in such a manner as to
produce a Hurricane, or Cyclone, the wind has a rotary or whirling
motion (as it were, on an axis), while the storm itself has a
progressive motion.
N. B.—The rotation of the wind during a hurricane, in the Northern
Hemisphere, is in a direction contrary to that in which the hands of a
watch move. In the Southern Hemisphere, the rotation is in the same
direction as that of the hands of a watch. And hence the following
shiftings of the vane: In the Northern Hemisphere, when the vortex
(or center) of the storm passes to the westward of the place of
observation, the rotation is S.W., N.E., S., with the sun; when the
vortex passes to the eastward of the place of observation, the rotation
is S.E., N.W., S., against the sun.
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