Pat Shingleton for July 24, 2008
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Father Benito Vines, a Jesuit priest, is regarded as the preeminent hurricane scholar of the 19th century. As the director of the observatory at Belen College in Havana in 1870, he made meticulous observations of weather conditions, especially during tropical disturbances. His daily observations became a climatological catalog for future forecasts including excerpts of how Cuba’s ever-present cumulus clouds would evaporate at the approach of a hurricane. His research allowed him to understand the dynamics of tropical cyclones and by 1875, he was able to issue accurate hurricane warnings. Vines, referred to as Father Hurricane, invented a device used by mariners for decades to avoid hurricanes called the Antilles Cyclonoscope. He died July 23, 1893.
Fastcast: Still showery.
Fastcast: Still showery.
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