Predicting Weather By The Moon - Xavier University Libraries

Weather Maps
The captain of the inter-island
ferry Wahine was experiencing
great difficulty keeping on
course in the height of the
storm in Cook Strait. As he attempted
to enter Wellington
Harbour the ship struck
Barrett Reef, foundering in
the harbour barely 100 yards
from the shoreline opposite the suburb of Seatoun. The
vessel was abandoned and although a massive rescue operation
was immediately mounted, 51 of the 734 passengers
lost their lives.
The bad weather wasn’t confined to the South Pacific
Newspapers around the world carried similar stories.
Storms raged throughout the United States killing at least
15 people. Trees fell in Kansas, crushing two cars. Dust
storms and strong winds crashed a private plane in New
Mexico. Winds of up to 100mph occurred in Louisiana,
Mississipi and Alabama, tearing down communications and
damaging buildings. Thunderstorms shook the Ohio Valley
and out-of-season snow fell in the north-central States.
Hailstorms damaged homes and greenhouses in the northern
States.
Let us go back to a different day in history. In Ecuador,
50 people were drowned or missing as flood waters of
the Tumebamba River swept through the city of Cuenca,
collapsing 10 bridges. In Portugal a ferry carrying 130 passengers
sank in the River Douro after hitting a sandbank,
drowning 50. More than 100 were killed and another 100
179