In the Right Place: Predictions

In the Right Place: Predictions

Here, we see yesterday morning’s sun, scudding cumulus clouds, and 20-mile-per hour wind gusts at the head of Eggemoggin Reach. This is where the Pumpkin Island Light used to warn sailors of the Reach’s treacherous nighttime waters.

I tried to imagine what a 19th or early 20th Century coastal schooner captain would have said when he awoke to the glorious new day. As usual, I turned to John Leavitt’s invaluable sourcebook, Wake of the Coasters, and found one answer: The captain, likely a man of a few words, might well have said, “Looks like a chance along.” This meant that there was a fair wind on a fair day and the odds of having a good trip without trouble or disaster looked favorable. At least at that moment.

Cumulus clouds also are known as “fair weather clouds” here in Down East Maine. The base of each cloud is usually flat and the top is rounded or in mounds of fluffiness. However, cumulus clouds can congregate into a mass, darken the day, and decide to grow upward into towering cumulus congestus or cumulonimbus storm clouds. Hence, fair weather clouds give you a good chance, but they’re not totally reliable as weather predictors.

(Little Deer Isle, Maine)