The study of historical natural phenomena has always suffered from a lack of pictures.  The Southwold waterspout of 1884, for example, amazed the witnesses with its grandeur during the few minutes it was visible.  Then it was gone without trace, and the only record of its existence was a letter to the Times.  I have attempted to recreate what some of these lost phenomena might have looked like, using descriptions by witnesses and occasionally their drawings.  While a rough sketch by an eye-witness is more valuable than any 'artist's impression', often we don't even have that.  Accuracy has been striven for, but cannot be guaranteed, of course.  There are also a few 'generic' pictures for variety.

All pictures ©  Chris Chatfield 2006

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	PRECAMBRIAN  The Lewisian volcanic islands, about 3,000 million years ago  Acrylic paint on block
	VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS  Acrylic paint on board
	SUFFOLK SPOUT  A waterspout off Southwold, July 20, 1884  Technical pen on paper
	ERUPTION OF MOUNT ST. HELENS, December 5, 1842  Acrylic paint on paper
	HALOES OVER HORNTIND, Norway, August 7, 1898  Acrylic paint on paper
	TORNADO DAYS  Technical pen on paper
	TOTALITY OVER CAROLINE ISLAND, May 6, 1883  Acrylic paint on paper
	HALO CROSS in the North Atlantic, July 12, 1933  Acrylic paint on paper
	PASAMONTE METEOR TRAIL, March 24, 1933  Acrylic paint on paper
	ECLIPSE IN A FOG, Kilgorrif, Ireland, December 31, 1861  Acrylic paint on paper
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