Tempests are “great and terrible” storms. A tempest drove a ship back upon the waters for three days, and those aboard “knew not whither they should steer the ship” and feared drowning. On the fourth day after they had been driven back, “the tempest began to be exceedingly sore” (1 Nephi 18:13-14).
Mountain waves and tempests caused by “the fierceness of the wind” buried the people many times in the depths of the sea (Ether 6:6). The Lord said, “I prepare you against these things,” naming waves of the sea, winds, and floods before a crossing of the great deep (Ether 2:24-25).
A “great and terrible tempest” came with thunder, lightnings, whirlwinds, and quaking of the earth; Zarahemla took fire, and Moroni sank into the sea (3 Nephi 8:6-9). The storm and tempest lasted about three hours, after which darkness came upon the face of the land (3 Nephi 8:19).