Isaac Cline
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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 Hiawassee 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.
[edit] 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 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 a pregnant Cora did not 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.
[edit] 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.
