Christopher Columbus and his early weather warnings
As we approach the beginning of another Hurricane season, it might be prudent to apply what we have learned from one of our earliest weather forecasters.
Long before radar, satellites, and El Nino, and even before the invention of the barometer in 1643, an explorer named Christopher Columbus had made several journeys across the Atlantic to a new land. Columbus noticed cirrus clouds drifting overhead from the southeast and he can felt the exceptionally long ocean swell roll in from the same direction. His little ship the Capitana dipped and bobbed on the anchor. He also noted the large number of dolphins leaping from the water at the mouth of the Ozama River just outside the harbor at Santo Domingo, the new capital of Espanola. It was a beautiful sight on a beautiful day, but not a beautiful forecast.
The “Admiral of the Ocean Sea” had learned a great deal about tropical weather during his four journeys to the new world.
On his first journey in 1492, he had observed similar clouds and the deep swell from the southeast without understanding their meaning.
On his second trip, three years later he encountered the same signs and the correlation became evident when his fleet was struck by a terrible storm and he lost two of his three ships.
In July 1502 and he saw the same signs. In addition, his rheumatic, fifty-one-year-old joints were sore, and those creaky things never lied to him.
Realizing that a storm was imminent, he warned the new governor of the Spanish colony to hold the thirty ships ready to sail for the homeland in harbor. He also sought permission for his four ships to join them for safekeeping.
Permission was denied.
The new governor and Columbus were rivals for the Crown’s affection and Columbus had lost some favor since his triumph a decade earlier.
The thirty ships set sail for Spain and Columbus headed west in search of safety.
This was a grave mistake for the ships bound for Spain. Out of the thirty, only a few survived and 500 sailors were lost. Only one ship made it to Spain and a few were able to make it back to Santo Domingo.
Meanwhile, Columbus and his ships were safe after sheltering on the south coast of the island. We now know that Columbus’s hurricane prediction that July is the first in recorded history.
The signs that Columbus first observed are still useful today, and even with all the modern equipment, a vessel was lost in the Atlantic just a few years ago when the captain failed to heed the forecast.
The information for this article was taken from an old book titled “Early History and Science” Chapter 1 Hurricane Watch pages 1 through 5.