12-09-2024, 05:46 AM
(12-08-2024, 08:17 PM)kalianna Wrote: Poor Tom. Let me explain. Batten is defined as " a strip of wood or metal for securing the edges of a tarpaulin that covers a ship's hatch." And hatch can be defined as, "an opening in the deck of a boat or ship leading to the cabin or a lower level, especially a hold." Since most of us live on land rather than on ships, one could surmise that the statement could be a figure of speech, usually referring to an upcoming weather event; poetic license as it were. Now since most of us live below 9000ʻ, one could reasonably eliminate snow as the said upcoming weather event. And since hurricane season is over and tornados and haboobs are not generally found on this island one would surmise that the said upcoming weather event refers to rain. Hence, "batten down the hatches" would probably mean that if one has a convertible and the top is down, one might want to move said convertible into the garage or put the top up, or generalizing, the statement would probably mean that an extended period of rain is coming. I do hope this helps you to understand this terribly complicated concept.
Jeeze, I simply asked a question. FYI, my father was a meteorologist, and I have had a lifelong interest in meteorology, including taking some degree-level courses in the subject. When I saw your comment about battening down the hatches, I looked at various forecasts and couldn't see why one would need to do that. Perhaps you might be using an app predicting a significant storm, hence the question. I didn't think it was because some rain was on the way, given that it's normal for the east side of the island to get a lot of rain, especially during the winter.