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March 2007 Konza Sailor Page 7 |
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And during the winter, Jane made a startling discovery: The picture shown above was taken around 0730 on July 17th; the storm hit shortly after 3 pm on the same day. We had forgotten the old weather proverb—“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red Sky in Morning, sailor’s warning.”
There are many proverbs that have been around for a long time as people accumulated natural clues for predicting weather. The “Red sky” adage is mentioned in the Bible when Jesus referred to the red sky in Matthew XVI: 2-3. Many of the proverbs also have some scientific background but they are not consistently accurate because time and place are factors that play a role in weather prediction.
We normally scan the sky often checking for a red sky, but somehow we missed that observation last July 17th. The weather people missed it too as the storm came in unannounced. So, perhaps it would be wise to at least be aware of the “Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.” |
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Red sky in the morning By Bob Mullen, Rear Commodore |
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Last summer Gene and Coleen Lindgren accompanied Jane and me as we sailed the North Channel of Lake Huron for part of July and August. In July a record storm hit Ontario, Canada including Manatoulin Island and waters of the North Channel. The storm destroyed buildings, uprooted thousands of trees, knocked out power for 100,000 people for several days and overturned a 42 foot yacht. Many boats dragged anchors as winds exceeded 100 mph. The Mullens and Lindgrens road out the storm while at anchor in a large bay near the small town of Gore Bay where one sailor snapped a photo of an anemometer that recorded wind speed of 120 knots. There was a brush with danger when the boats owned by the Mullens and Lindgrens dragged anchors but both boats escaped without damage.
The unpredicted storm was the main topic of discussion among sailors for the remainder of the summer and continued to resurface in sailing magazines and newspaper articles. The Mullens and Lindgrens were still relating Storm Stories after returning home to Manhattan. |
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Red sky in the morning of July 17, 2006 Photograph from Bob Mullen |