November 17, 1998 transcript # 260-2
Subject(s): hurricanes, Jose Partagas
Title: Gone With The Wind
Not very many people get to experience a hurricane from inside the storm. But Jose Fernandez Partagas did. Jose spent his adult life studying tropical cyclones, but it wasn't until after he died that he got to fly into one. Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory, and this is The Weather Notebook.
Jose grew up in Cuba, and from early childhood he was fascinated by hurricanes. As an adult, Jose came to Miami and started his many years of dedicated work as a hurricane historian. He taught at the University of Miami, and he volunteered at the National Hurricane Center as a media liaison, translating hurricane advisories into Spanish. In August of last year, at the age of 62, Jose passed away. But because he had very little money, and no family in the US, Jose was destined to have a simple and quiet burial. But Jose's friends at the National Hurricane Center had a different idea. What if they could scatter Jose's ashes into a hurricane? For someone who lived and breathed hurricanes, there could be no greater tribute. But the plan had to go on hold for a year, mainly because El Nino made last year's Atlantic hurricane season a quiet one.
Finally, though, in August of this year, Jose's friends brought his ashes aboard a research flight into Hurricane Danielle, located about 400 miles northeast of Miami. As they flew through the storm, the scientists held a brief ceremony. Then they sent Jose's ashes in a cloth sack through a chute out the bottom of the plane. In a matter of seconds, Jose Partagas was united with one of the swirling storms that had fascinated him for more than 50 years.
Thanks today to our contributing writer Bob Henson. The Weather Notebook is underwritten by Subaru, the beauty of all wheel drive, with major support provided by the National Science Foundation.