Everything about Isaac Cline totally explained
Isaac Monroe Cline (
October 13,
1861 –
August 3,
1955) was the chief
meteorologist at the
Galveston, Texas office of the US
Weather Bureau from
1889 to
1901.
Cline was born near
Madisonville, Tennessee on
October 13,
1861 to Jacob and Mary Cline. Cline attended
Hiwassee College, then in
1882, joined the meteorology training program of the
U.S. Army Signal Corps. Cline was first assigned to
Little Rock, Arkansas, where he earned a
Doctor of Medicine from the
University of Arkansas in his spare time. He was then assigned to
Fort Concho, then to
Abilene, Texas where he met Cora May Ballew, whom he married.
In March
1889, a
Texas section of the weather service was being established, and Cline was sent to Galveston to organize and oversee it. Cline stayed with the office when it became part of the
U.S. Weather Bureau in the
1891 transfer from the Signal Corps to the
Department of Agriculture. In
1892, Isaac's younger brother, Joseph Cline, also began work as a meteorologist at the Galveston Weather Bureau.
Galveston
A well respected man in his time, Cline was the first
meteorologist to provide reliable forecasts of freezing weather. He also provided some of the first available
flood warnings on the
Colorado and
Brazos rivers. However, in 1891, he wrote an article in the
Galveston Daily News in which he gave his official meteorological opinion that the thought of a
hurricane ever doing any serious harm to Galveston was "An absurd delusion". Many residents had called for a
seawall to protect the city, but Cline's statement helped to prevent its construction.
He was proven tragically wrong on
September 8,
1900 when the
Galveston Hurricane of 1900 hit the island killing thousands in what remains the biggest natural disaster in US history. Isaac was nearly drowned, but managed to save one of his children, little six year-old Esther Bellew. Joseph Cline saved Isaac's other two children, but his pregnant wife Cora didn't survive.
Local legend has it that Cline took it upon himself to travel along the beach and other low-lying areas warning people personally of the storm's approach. This is based on Cline's own reports and has been called into question in recent years. Cline did, however, issue a hurricane warning without permission from the Bureau's central office in
Washington, D.C.
New Orleans
Shortly after the destruction of Galveston, the Weather Bureau began establishing regional forecasting centers. The center for the gulf coast was initially located in Galveston, with Isaac Cline as chief forecaster. In 1901, the center was moved to
New Orleans, Louisiana, and Isaac Cline moved with it.
Cline continued his flood forecasts, this time on the
Mississippi River. He successfully predicted floods in
1903,
1912, and the
Great Mississippi Flood of
1927. He also successfully forecast an approaching
hurricane in
1915.
Cline retired from the Weather Bureau in
1935. He remained a resident of New Orleans until his death in
1955.
Further Information
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