| |
KF5JRV > TECH 02.08.16 13:45l 46 Lines 2752 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 7026_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: FitzRoy’s Barometer
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ<KF5JRV
Sent: 160802/1131Z 7026@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQK1.4.65
FitzRoy’s Barometer
Back in the day, mercury barometers were very expensive, and only available to
the wealthy. Unfortunately “wealthyö was not a word that could describe many
of those who were at the mercy of the weather: farmers, fishermen, sailors,
and so on. They had to rely on storm glass, an inexpensive and profoundly
inaccurate divining tool. The fluid in a sealed glass tube consisted of a mix
of camphor crystals, potassium nitrate, ammonium chloride, water and alcohol.
From this mixture fluctuating patterns, predictions were made about the
approaching weather.
In 1831, a tempestuous sea captain named Robert FitzRoy nicknamed “Hot Coffeeö
set out on a voyage to chart the coasts of South America (you may have heard
of the voyage of the Beagle: on board was a young naturalist named Charles
Darwin). FitzRoy had a keen interest in meteorology and attempted to quantify
the exact nature of storm glass. His observations eventually led to a standard
script printed on many storm glasses, such as “A cloudy glass with small stars
indicates thunderstormsö and “If there are crystals at the bottom, this
indicates frost“.
In October 1859 a huge storm, the greatest in living memory, struck the
British Isles. The clipper Royal Charter, on her way from Melbourne and packed
with returning gold miners, was sunk with the loss of 459 lives, as were some
200 other ships. It was a national disaster. In response, FitzRoy pushed for
the establishment of weather stations around the nation’s coasts to monitor
atmospheric conditions. Storm glasses were distributed to fishing villages,
earning them the name “FitzRoy’s Barometersö. In fact, it was FitzRoy who
coined the term “weather forecastö in the course of his initiative. Reports
from the land stations were sent back to London, under the management of the
newly-formed Meteorological Office. The first weather forecasts published in
the pages of the Times in 1860, and a system of flying cones in fishing ports
to warn sailors of approaching gales developed the following year. To this
day, the Met Office monitors the weather around Britain and issues regular
warnings to mariners. Originally, the owners of fishing fleets objected to the
system, as it meant boats were more likely to stay in port, but the fishermen
themselves welcomed it, and FitzRoy is credited with saving untold lives. One
of the areas covered in the Shipping Forecast, a stretch of ocean north-west
of Spain, is designated FitzRoy in honour of the man. Sadly, having secretly
exhausted his entire fortune in the drive to build a better weather prediction
system, and battling with depression, FitzRoy committed suicide in 1863.
73, Scott kf5jrv
KF5JRV @ KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
