MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: LAKE MONSTERS AND METEOROLOGY PART TWO

Hello again. Today I am going to continue with my look at meteorological explanations for lake monster sightings.

Following on from Terence Meaden's study of water spouts as a possible explanation for these lake cryptids in an 1976 issue of The Journal of Meteorology, Sir Peter Scott also looked at the same subject in The Journal of Meteorology volume 2 number 13 p.19 in an essay titled Devils and the Loch Ness Monster 1: Some Questions.

In this essay Scott says: 'I am very much interested in your article in the Journal of Meteorology, vol 1 no. 4 pp.118-124, and agree that it may be the explanation of a number of Loch Ness sightings. It may be worth following up a few details, if data exist, to answer the following questions -'

Sir Peter then goes on to ask what meteorological conditions were like on the date of the sighting on the Loch. 'Also, what sort of tracks do the water devils take and how do they relate to wind direction? Do they produce `humps` on the water and also, do they give the impression of a body with humps? Finally, could the water devils create a long column of water that looks like the neck and head of the Loch Ness Monster?' (1)

Meaden replied in the same issue of the journal by explaining that various types of weather fronts, e.g. sea breeze fronts, could produce the conditions necessary for a water spout. He then says he would welcome a list of 'recent unexplained sightings' of the Loch Ness monster in an attempt to analyse the meteorological conditions at the time. He then goes on to say that the passage of land devils and water spouts can alter local temperature….`the direction of motion of the water-devil might be expected to bear some relation to the wind direction of the new air mass….

'It is unlikely that two or three water-devils would appear in line in such a way as ever to be mistaken for a `body` with a number of `humps` . It would appear to be possible for a water-devil to produce a long, narrow, solid-looking column of water that could fit the description of the head of the Loch Ness monster, especially if it should pass over and levitate flotsam such as water-weed or other vegetable matter… Most of the `monster` sightings which have been made on the waters of Loch Ness may eventually be accounted for in a number of different ways, and some of them may indeed prove to be animal in origin, but it is nevertheless considered that the meteorological mechanism proposed here is pertinent to at least a few of the sightings. From time to time, water devils have been seen, and recognised as such, on other lakes and rivers, so that watchers on Loch Ness should be prepared as well to meet similar phenomena at, albeit, infrequent intervals.' (2)

1.Sir P.Scott Devils and the Loch Ness Monster: 1:Some Questions. The Journal of Meteorolgy vol.2 no13 Nov 1976 p.19
2. G.T.Meaden. II: The Reply Sent to Sir Peter .The Journal of Meteorology vol.2 no.13 Nov.1976 pp 19-21

The Alarm Third Light

Your head on my shoulder
Two months you`ve been a soldier
I feel so sick inside
Two months you`d have been alive

So no one here knows your surname
No one knows from where you came
The red cross takes you to your grave
For which your government kindly pays

White cross upon the hillside
There lies that unknown soldier
No one can remember your name…