DECEMBBR,1931 MONTHLY WEATHER RETIEW 491 WEATHER OF THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS [By the Marine Division, W. F. MCDONAUIin Charge] NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN four ships, all westbound from north European ports, the German steamship fieaden and the American steamship By W. F. MCDONALD West Harcuvar on the 5th, the American steamship The pressure s~tw;ltion.-The average barometric pTes- Ensley City on the 15th, and the 'American steamship sure for December, 1931, indicated in general a weakenmg Seattle Spirit, on the 16th, as shown in the table of of the usual Icelandic LOW, which occurred during the selected storm reports which accompanies this summary. middle and latter part of the month. For the month TABLE1.-Averages, departures, and eztremcs of atmosphm'e pressure as a whole the barometer averaged one-third of an inch (sea level) at selected stations for the North Atlantic Ocean and it8 above normal on the Irish coast, with excess pressures shores, Dccember, 1951 in lesser amounts at all stations representmg the north- eastern Atlantic area. (See Table 1.) Pressure depsr- Stations Average 7:: Hlghest Date Lowest Date tures were slightly below normal over the northwestern Pre- 1 1 1 1 Atlantic, central over the Canadian Maritime Provinces, Inchea Inrhea where storms were most numerous and quite. ersistent. Reykjavik, Iceland 1_________.._. 29.55 28.73 8 Normal pressures prevailed in mid-Atlantic an over the Lerwick, Shetland Islands I------ 29. ea 28.66 4 B ~ ~ Valeneia, Ireland 1___..__ _______ 30.27 29.46 3 West Indies. Llsbon, Portugal 1 _.___.._____ ___ 30.27 iO.16 30.60 29.89 30 Madeira I---- - ___ ________._._____ so. 12 +o.m 30.37 29.81 29 The Atlantic HIGH was well developed at the opening Horta, Azores 1__________________ 30.15 29.67 16 of the month, dominating the whole ocean between the Belle Isle, Newfoundland 1____.__ 29. dB Hdihr. Nova Scotia 1_______ _._ - 29.88 American and European coasts south of latitude 45'. Nantucket 2 ____._..____.________30.03 -0.02 30.61 29,m 22 30.16 +0.03 30.57 29.85 4 About the end of the first week, however, the continuity 30.15 +o.m 30.40 29.78 29 of this HIGH was broken by the southward extension of a 30.12 30.07 29.80 31 deep LOW over Newfoundland, and high pressure attained 30.07 29.61 30 full transoceanic development thereafter in only one or 29.80 29.84 111 two brief spells. High pressure was remarkably per- 1 All data based on a. m. observations only. with departures compiled from best sistent over western Europe and also during much of available normals related to time of observations. 1 Corrected %-hour means, based on more than one observation daily. the month, between the Azores and the European coast. a And other date or dates. A severe cold wave was reported from western Europe about the 20th. Charts VI11 to XI cover selected days in December, to Cyclones and gales .-Storminess was more pronounced illustrate the stormier portions of the month on the North over the western than over the eastern portion of the Atlantic. Atlantic, but the month did not rank as an unusually Unusually heavy seas aecompan ing the storm of stormy December. The total number of gales reported December 16th (shown on Chart IH ) were reported in from ship routes was rather less than usual for the month, news dispatches to have made navi ation exceedingly dif- although whole gales or stronger were encountered at ficult for the eastbound Anchor finer Tuscunia, which some place on the northern routes on about two-thirds of was forced on several occasions to come about to face the the days in the month, but in most caaes the gales occurred sea, and was once overwhelmed by a huge following wave west of longitude 30'. Within the last 10 days, gale that caused the death of one passenger and injured a conditions were reported far southward over the western number of others on deck at the time. Atlantic as a result of the development of several slow- Fog.-Fog was mostly confined to the region of the moving LOWS which combined to form a persistent cy- Grand Banks and the New England coast, being reported clonic storm central near Newfoundland but extending in one or more localities on about half the dates in the ita influence at times well southward past Bermuda. month, but in no single Bdegree square on more than The highest winds of the month in no case exceeded four days. Six dates with fog were reported from coastal force 11, although gales of that severity were reported by waters of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. OCEAN GALES AND STORMS, DECEMBER, 1931 Dlreetionand force Direc- Voyage Position at theof I loweet barometer Time of tion of andDirectin high- Ehifts of wind Oale lowest Ode of wind wind VeesSl I near tlm of began barom- ended at theof when at force 01 eter ram- lowest gale wind lowest barometer I From- I To- ./Latitude Longitude ate1 barometer ended I- I- -- NOBTE ATLANTIC OCEAN 1 0, Inch lo----- Orete Ger. 8. 8 _________ Hamburg____ New York ... 50 12 N a7 30 w Dec. 1 3 p, 1.-. Dec. 2 28.98 SSW, E..-. -, SSE-SW. Eramhia, Am. E. 8. ___._Lisbon... ___. ....-do ______ __ 43 00 N 3658W Nov. 30 1 a. l--- -.do _____ 18.70 w,9 E, lo----- 8-sw-w. West Harcuvar, Am. 8.8. Hamburg. ___ Boston _.___._60 a0 N aS0BW Dee. 1 Noon,2 --do _____ 29.30 WSW, 7-. WEW, 10 WBW-w. Titus Du. 9. E___._____. Port Barrios. Amsterdam.- 41 37N 14OW Dee. 2 4.30p,2. .-do _.___2Q.S N, 10 -, 10 ...-. 88E-SW-N. Wlniebsgo, Br. 8. 8 _._._New York--- Avonmouth.- 1 32 N 3040W Dee. 3 Mdt,3. Dec. 5 29.23 WBW. 9-. WNW, 10 88E-W8W. Polvbius. Am. 8. 6. Manchester.- Beaumont. 53 N 438w Dec. 2 Noon,3 Dec. 7 23.28 AW, 10 w, 10.... 8-w. - ~~I _____ Z7 Tax. ' lo--- 8 W- W-N W. Otho Am.8. 8____ ~ _____ 8t. Vinmnt-- New York..- 37 30 N 0630W Dee. 4 6p, 4.-. Dee. 5 29.88 SW. 6.---. EW, _.Cobh- _.-...-do U 00 N &5 18 Dee. 3p.5-.. Dw. 8 29.02 SSW, NNW 11 S8W-WNW. Dreahen, Oer. 8. 8_____ - - - __ ________ w 6 Weat Harcuvu. Am. 8.8- Hamburg.-.. Boston--. .-.. 48 66 N 40 12 w .-do ____ ~ 11 p.5.. Dec. 7 2p.m E6 wsw' 11 8-WEW. Miwurl, Br. 8. 9 ____.__ London ___.__New York--- 47 44 N 3358W Dec. 6 5 p. 6-.. .-do. ____ 29.56 sk, 8W. 9: ... EW-W8W. Cerinthus Br. 8. S ._____Port Arthur.. Antwerp _____ 47 %3 N 10 03 w .-do--.-- Noon, 6 -.do _____ 29.88 WNW, 5.. NNW, 9- Aden Mah, Jap. 9. 8 ~.Fowey.. .. ... Port1 and , 43 28 N 6037W Dec. 7 3p. 7... ..do _____ 29.29 W,8 w, 10...- W-WNW-W. Me. Tiger. Nor. 8. S..-. ____.H a r s t a d , Baton Rouge- 61 58 N a0 i5w .-do _____ 10 a, 7-- ..do ___._23.96 SE, 10 -, 10..... BE-EW. Norway. Examelis, Am. 9. 8 ___.__Lisbon ___.___ New York ... 41 50 N 58 3%w ..do _____ 68. E... Dec. 9 29.43 WNW,7.. -, lo----. WN W-W-N W. Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/30/21 03:02 AM UTC.