black squall

American  

[blak skwawl] / ˈblæk ˈskwɔl /

noun

Meteorology.

1. a squall accompanied by very dark clouds and usually heavy rain.

   Daylight all but vanished as the black squall raced across the lake toward our campsite.

---

Etymology

Origin of black squall

First recorded in 1820–25

Example Sentences

He called a quartermaster to open the flag locker to reply just as a great black squall struck the little barkentine.

From Time Magazine Archive

These, in an orange-sloop their father plied,      Deck-laden deep she sailed from Cadiz town, A black squall rose, she turned upon her side,           Drank water and went down.

From Poems by Jean Ingelow, In Two Volumes, Volume II. by Ingelow, Jean

A black squall was blowing down from the Sault Ste. Marie; and they lay at anchor out in the lake, tossing and pitching, opposite the green mouldering hull of the Fortuna.

From Strange Stories by Allen, Grant

The old man cast one long, anxious glance to windward where a black squall was apparently brewing.

From Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer A Romance of the Spanish Main by Crawford, Will

I had heard of a black squall off that coast, and from the darkness of the sky and the increasing wind, I was afraid that one was now brewing.

From Peter Biddulph The Story of an Australian Settler by Kingston, William Henry Giles