All cruisers are obsessed with weather forecasts. And the main phenomena we watch in forensic detail are the fronts we all hear the weather-person telling us about on the telly or radio.
Specifically, the impending lows concern us most. The opposite of highs, which generally bring settled, clear weather, a low front can cause severe rainfall, usually accompanied by squalls with thunderstorms, and even hurricanes (typhoons in the southern hemisphere).
We try to avoid this kind of situation whenever possible, but on this occasion we were already committed.
Buton Strait, Sulawesi
It was a relief to be in the Buton Strait. And although we anticipated squalls and unpleasant conditions, leaving the Banda Sea after many days of anxiety and difficult passage-making was so much more comfortable aboard SY Esper!
The weather low closes in
Here, at least, we hoped the water in the strait would protect us from the big weather front gathering momentum to the east. The islands either side of us should stop the potential huge build-up of swell.
The National Geographic Society neatly sums up fronts:
“A front is a weather system that is the boundary separating two different types of air. One type of air is usually denser than the other, with different temperatures and different levels of humidity.
This clashing of air types causes weather [such as] rain, snow, cold days, hot days. As well as windy days.”
And it’s those windy days that can raise the spirits of any sailor, or send them spiralling into a depression.
For more information on fronts, weather generally (and climate change issues) we use the UK Met Office website. But there are plenty of other informed gateways to information which may be more your cup of tea.
For the full story, watch episode 333 on YouTube…
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Forgot to include the Australian common usage for severe weather – Cyclones.
Hurricane is used for tropical cyclones of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the central northern and eastern Pacific Ocean. Typhoon is used for tropical cyclones of the western and northwestern Pacific Ocean and the northern Indian Ocean. In other places, including Australia the generic term tropical cyclone is used.