# The first Hurricane Warning of the history



## FILIPVS (Apr 20, 2011)

This warning appeared in a special edition of the newspaper La Voz de Cuba on October 19, 1876. It predicted when and where the hurricane would strike, and urged the people to take necessary precautions. Father Vines' warning was heeded throughout Cuba, for he was a renowned hurricane forecaster, and his warnings had already saved many lives.

In his day, the Reverend Benito Vines was the greatest authority on Atlantic hurricanes. His contributions to both theory and forecasting techniques, as well as the pioneer warning service and observation network he established, laid the foundation for our present hurricane warning system. From the 1870s through the first decade of the 20th century, Father Vines was, in fact, "Father Hurricane," and his warnings and/or hurricane "laws" were heeded by all.

Father Vines came to Cuba in 1870 to serve as director of the meteorological observatory of the Royal College of Belen, in Havana. After having seen firsthand the terrible devastation wrought by hurricanes, Father Vines took it upon himself to discover ways to help the people of Cuba escape the wrath of these killer storms. He had little to work with, however, and had to rely heavily on the 12 years of records at the observatory, old newspaper accounts, and countless stories of past storms. A true scientist and investigator, he could be found at the scene of Cuban hurricane disasters, rummaging through debris and questioning survivors. He painstakingly recorded every detail.

Father Vines developed a demanding daily weather observation schedule for himself. It included observations every hour from 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., an international observation at 7:30 p.m., and, in times of special need, an observation every hour of both day and night. His annual reports included monthly, daily, and hourly summaries of the elements he observed and were soon in demand throughout the world.

First Warning

Father Vines' hard work and scientific insight compressed what should have taken decades into the span of a few years. His first recorded hurricane forecast (apparently the first formal hurricane warning in the Western Hemisphere) was printed on September 11, 1875-two days before an intense hurricane savaged the entire southern coast of Cuba. Many lives were saved, and word of the remarkable Jesuit meteorologist spread rapidly.

A year later, on September 14, 1876, Father Vines predicted the future path of another violent hurricane. The captain of the sailing vessel Liberty ignored the warning and his ship was wrecked when he sailed directly into the path of the storm.

The following September the little priest wired the Barbados of an approaching hurricane still out in the Atlantic Ocean. He then contacted Puerto Rico and told them not to fear as the storm would pass well south of the island; at the same time, however, he warned Santiago de Cuba ". . . it will reach you on the 24th, be on your guard." Everything happened just as the Reverend Vines predicted.

Father Vines' accurate predictions won him praise and offers of help. By 1877 he was able to start a small hurricane reporting network throughout Cuba-including a "pony express" between the most isolated villages-and on a few other Caribbean islands. Steamship companies offered him free passage for his investigations and ordered their ship captains to pull into the nearest port and cable the observatory whenever hurricane-like weather threatened. Railroad companies also offered him free transport, and telegraphic and cable services were put at his disposal.

His Greatest Work

The same year (1877), after six years of study, Father Vihes finished his greatest work: Apuntes Relativos a los Huracanes de las Antilles, which was soon published as Practical Hints in Regard to West Indian Hurricanes by the U.S. Army Signal Corps' national weather service (the Weather Bureau wasn't established until 1890). It quickly sold out three large printings.

Father Vines was the first to suggest that the clouds well in advance of a hurricane could be used to locate the storms center, and also the first to forecast hurricane movement on the basis of cloud movement.

The Pilot Charts of the U.S. Hydrographic Office printed and reprinted the "laws" of Father Vines. The May issue of the 1889 Pilot Chart reads: "These important laws, established by the study and long experience of Father Vines, should be thoroughly understood by every navigator and utilized by shaping his course so as to avoid a hurricane."

In 1886, in reply to a query from the Havana Chamber of Commerce, Father Vines wrote: "For my part I am desirous only of serving all so far as service is rendered possible by my poor health and the limited means at my disposal; nor do I wish other recompense, after that which I hope from God, than to be of use to my brethren and to do my little share for the advancement of science and the good of humanity."

The Chamber of Commerce, however, along with several private concerns decided to reward and extend Father Vines' valuable service by financing the completion of his observation network throughout the Antilles. This network is still an integral part of our national hurricane warning system.

In July of 1893, at the request of the Chicago Exposition, Father Vines completed a detailed treatise on hurricane circulation. On July 23, 1893, three days after he mailed the paper, the hurricane priest died. So beloved and revered was he, the Havana newspaper La Lucha published a special edition to describe "The Last Hour and Death of Father Vines."

On October 6, 1900, Willis L. Moore, Chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau, wrote in Collier's Weekly that ". . . probably the Reverend Benito Vines gave more intelligent study to the investigation of tropical cyclones than any other scientist."

DICK DeANGELIS, a former editor of Mariners Weather Log, has been a frequent contributor to Weatherwise over the years. This article ran in the October 1989 issue.

http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y98/mar98/13e5.htm


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Thanks for the interesting information, FilipVs. I wasn't aware of any of that. Not all bad news about the church.

John T


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## ben27 (Dec 27, 2012)

good day filipvs,sm.yesterday.12:50.re:the first hurricane warning of the history.a most interesting post.and he did it all without radar and computers,there is always a first,regards ben27


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## FILIPVS (Apr 20, 2011)

When Father Benito died in the summer of 1893, he left behind a staff of well-trained hurricane-predicting pioneers. Father Lorenzo Gangoite became head of the Belen Observatory (see picture attached bellow). Although the Cubans had much to offer to the new U.S. Weather Bureau (which was less than 10 years old in 1900), people in the Bureau disagreed. They refused to accept that Cubans could accurately predict hurricanes - let alone do it better than the Bureau could.

As a monster storm made its way toward Galveston, at the height of the 1900 hurricane season, U.S. weather predictors did not rely on data provided by anyone other than themselves. Some historians believe such arrogance was a contributing factor to the magnitude of the *Galveston disaster*.

_*"Weather Bureau forecasters believed the storm would travel northeast and affect the mid-Atlantic coast. "To them, the storm appeared to have begun a long turn or 'recurve' that would take it first into Florida, then drive it northeast toward an eventual exit into the Atlantic."[15] Cuban forecasters adamantly disagreed, saying the hurricane would continue west. One Cuban forecaster predicted the hurricane would continue into central Texas near San Antonio. Early the next morning, the swells continued despite only partly cloudy skies. Largely because of the unremarkable weather, few residents heeded the warning. Few people evacuated across Galveston's bridges to the mainland, and the majority of the population was unconcerned by the rain clouds that began rolling in by midmorning."* Wikipedia_


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## Robert Hilton (Feb 13, 2011)

Thanks Filipus y felicitaciones. All new to me. All I heard of was "Bye Ballot's Law." 

Your article gives pause to consider whom in general we should believe. We may wear a suit and a tie to an interiew to gain credibility, but not every man so dressed is to be believed.


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## FILIPVS (Apr 20, 2011)

Robert Hilton said:


> Thanks Filipus y felicitaciones. All new to me. All I heard of was "Bye Ballot's Law."


In fact he knew and applied the *laws of Buys-Ballot*. But that was not something new in those years.


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