Talk:1887 Halloween tropical storm

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:1887 Halloween tropical storm/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: TropicalAnalystwx13 (talk · contribs) 22:18, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

I'll be reviewing this shortly. TropicalAnalystwx13 (talk) 22:18, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice,fiction, and lists):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

I've read the article, and it is in good shape as far as quality...so you will see a lot of nitpicks from me. Here are all of them:

Lede

1. The sixteenth tropical storm of the 1887 Atlantic hurricane season, it formed from an area of disturbed weather over the Gulf of Mexico — Since the 1887 AHS was not a normal season, could you add something like "highly active"? Could you add the date it formed at the end too?
2. The storm eventually moved over Florida and continued up the East Coast while strengthening, causing severe storms in North Carolina and Virginia before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone. — Shortly after forming, the cyclone came ashore on the east coast of Florida before producing severe thunderstorms across North Carolina and Virginia and transitioning into an extratropical cyclone on [X date]. or something like that.

Added info on the first and fixed the lead per the second. Hurricane Angel Saki (talk) 22:59, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

I object to #1 as-is. It is unreferenced and is otherwise WP:OR. Hurricanefan25 (talk · contribs) 23:29, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

If you mean it lacks a reference, the source is with the statement in the MH. Though if you mean the "area of disturbed weather" is OR, I can change it for an area of low pressure (listed in both Partagas and the 1887 document) if it helps. Hurricane Angel Saki (talk) 23:49, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

I'm talking about "highly active". If it's in the lede (which isn't supposed to have refs), then it needs to be in the body with a ref. Hurricanefan25 (talk · contribs) 00:15, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

That is not true, it is perfectly fine unsourced. TropicalAnalystwx13 (talk) 00:40, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

I'm talking about the "highly active" part. TAWX, read all of WP:OR before you reply to me. There should be text that says specifically that followed by a ref that supports the claim. Hurricanefan25 (talk · contribs) 00:53, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

I understand what you are talking about and I understand that rule as well, but saying that it is OR because of the "highly active" part is ridiculous. However, in order to stop this discussion in its tracks, I have changed the sentence. TropicalAnalystwx13 (talk) 01:11, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

1. The storm affected the town of Norfolk, where it became the most damaging storm since 1879 — Never ever link dates.

Meteorological history

1. As a whole in this section, you use "the storm" too much. You can use "it", you know?
2. After becoming a tropical cyclone, [the storm began moving from a point 200 miles (320 km) northwest of Key West], making landfall on the Florida Peninsula → the storm was located 200 miles (320 km) northwest of Key West and began moving east-northeastward.
3. The storm came closest to land near North Carolina on October 31 at its peak as a 70 mph (110 km/h) tropical storm with a pressure of 993 millibars (29.3 inHg). — "came closest to land" → "passed closest to land near the North Carolina coastline".
4. After becoming an extratropical cyclone, the storm moved away from the coast and strengthened to the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale on November 1,, although when it formed, the SSHS had not been created. → After transitioning into an extratropical cyclone, the storm moved away from the coast and intensified to the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir—Simpson Hurricane Scale on November 1, although when it reached this intensity, the scale had not yet been developed.
5. The storm made landfall on the Cotentin Peninsula of France on November 6 and dissipated, although one proposed track showed the cyclone executing a counter-clockwise loop over northwest France until dissipating the storm on November 8. — I know what a "proposed track" is, but the regular reader may not. Could you explain what it is and by what it was proposed by?

Impact

1. Could you split the second paragraph of this sentence into two?
2. As the storm crossed Florida, Fort Meade recorded less than an inch of rain. — For consistency, change "less than an inch of rain" to "less than 1.00 in ([cm value]) of rainfall".
3. As the storm strengthened along the East Coast, various towns reported storms and damage. — 1.) The storm never really "strengthened along the East Coast" it strengthening OFF it. 2.) I don't think that "reported storms" is needed, unless they spawned tornadoes or something, which caused the damage. 3.) What did the damage occur from? Do you know?
4. In Hatteras, North Carolina, storms occured from 4:05 a.m. EST to 2:20 p.m. EST. — Sentence not needed, in my opinion.
5. A maximum wind of 54 mph (87 km/h) was measured from the storm there → A maximum recorded wind [speed/gust] of 54 mph (87 km/h) was measured at this location.
6. In Kitty Hawk, the storm was more intense, generating storms and winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) to as high as 70 mph (110 km/h) from late on October 30 to afternoon the next day. — In Kitty Hawk, impact from the storm was more intense, generating maximum winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) to 70 mph (110 km/h) from late on October 30 to the following afternoon; despite the strong winds, minimal damage was observed..
7. Cape Henry was hit with a combination of wind, rain, and blown sand on October 31 and communications between Cape Henry and Norfolk were downed. — You can't down a communication. You can down the telegraph poles, or you can lose communication. Take your pick. (:
8. The storm conditions made area beaches so hazardous that the beaches were watched during the day as well as at night. — I'm not sure what this sentence means. Where they watched to where residents weren't allowed on or something?
9. The northernmost point winds from the storm were reported at was Provincetown, Massachusetts, where winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) were recorded. → Effects from the storm reached as far north as Provincetown, Massachusetts, where winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) were recorded.
10. Despite causing damage on the coast, the storm is best known for causing a record number of maritime incidents. — Which coast?
11. Another vessel, the Wyonoka, spotted a sunken schooner with its five crew grasping the mast and ropes. They were also rescued. [3] — Combine those two sentences, and remove the space between the period and reference 3.

I did what I could for all of these, but there are two stumbling blocks:

3-3: The report seems to lean towards winds causing the damage, but it's not set in stone. To say so would probably cut close to OR unless its safe.

8: The source doesn't actually say to what measure, just that they were constantly patrolled. Swimmers possibly, but once again, it's close to OR.

I hope I was able to do the best here. Hurricane Angel Saki (talk) 02:43, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, but you can't get rid of me that easily. Got two more. :)

The ship was driven so high into the beach that its crew were able to jump and wade to safety. [5] — Remove the space between the period and reference. The captain, who had stayed high on the starboard side for safety, began climbing down to where the mate was, but the ship made a sudden stop. — Mate? lol.

I laugh just thinking of that usage. Since nothing actually states what mate he was, I ended up finding (in the Life-saving Services report) the likely reason he went down the ship, so I used that instead of the cocktail of OR/Unintentional hilarity. Also fixed the space. Hurricane Angel Saki (talk) 03:10, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

References

1. References look good.

Summary

1. This is a good article, especially for how long ago the system occurred. Passing! TropicalAnalystwx13 (talk) 03:00, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

Suggested new lede

The current lede seems to me way too long at 20% of the wordage of the main article. And only near the end does it state that the storm is ‘best known for the unusually high amount of shipwrecks’. I addressed both these points in a new shortened version on 31/7/16, that was immediately reverted by Juliancolton. Perhaps an unbiased reader might compare the two versions, and judge which one is better. Valetude (talk) 10:35, 1 August 2016 (UTC)