JUNE, 1923. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 315
TORNADO AT ROSWELL, N. MEX.
By CLEVE HALLENBECK, Meteorologist,.
[Weather Bureau offire, Rnswell. N. 3Ies.. June 15. 193.1
The first tornado of record for the Pecos Valley of New Mexico and; according to pio1iee.r residents, the first one ever known to occiir in soutliesstern New Mesico, oc-
curred at Roswell on the afternoon of June 8, 1933.
When first observed by the writ.er, at 3:4S p. ni., the
tornado cloud was about 15 degrees north of west, 7
miles distant, and suspended froni near the southern edge of the ninibus area of a.11 es tensire, sluggish thundet- storm which at tlie time covered nearly half t>he sky.
This thunderstorm had begun forming fnr iip tlie west slope of the valle one and a half hours earlier, and was
a typical topographic thunderst,orni such as is observed a score of times every summer. During the day, up to the time the thunderstorm began forming, strato-cuniu- lus clouds moving in two directions were observed, the lower moving froni the southeast a.nd the upper from the southwest. The tornado moved east-northeast, nioving faster than the thunderstorm, and passed over the estreme north- west corner of Roswell, where i t demolished a few houses, partly destroved several othcrs, and des t,royed most of
the barns, other outbuildings md wincliiiills in it,s p d i . Two or three autoniobiles were wrecked, an airplane was
stripped to its fuselag!, a nunibcr of large trees yere destroyed, and both wires and poles of electric lighting, power and telephone lines were torn down. Nearly a
milefrom the center of the tornndos path streets were blockaded by the branches, nieasuring up to 10 inches in diameter, that had been torn from the rows of shade trees lining the streets. The instrument shelters at two fruit-frost stations mere blown over and two tliernio-
nieters broken. There were no c:asualt.ies, and only n few injuries. One entire fniiiilp w:i.s btidly iiiauled when the tornado played battledore nnd shuttlecock with tho automobile in which it wiis riding, the l a t h - became a shapeless wreck afterward, with its engine buried in t.hc side of a hill. When first observed by t,he writer, the tornsdo cloud was nearly verticd, with a ritgged, t,runcated apes at least 150 meters from the ground. As it moved it be- came more and more inclinecl t.o t,he iiorth, and when over the northwestern corner ol the city wii.s inclined fully GO degrees from the vert.iotl.1, while the base of the cloud had gradually urown widrr, more ra.gged, and
farther from the grounz. 111 this manner it disnppearetl when about 10 degrees west of north of the station, be- coming nierged into the main cloud mass.
When nearest the sta.tion, the t,orntido was 1.5 mile due northwest, a t which time n niitsimuni velocity of 5li
miles from the west wtts recorded nt the station. Damage to buildings was confined to n path not more than 250 yards wide. The tornado was acconipnnictl by only a light rain, very little hail, and no thunder (.except suc.li as was due to its parent thunderstorm), but escessive preci itation, accompanied by a lienvy fall of hail, followed a. P ong. the same path an hour Mer. Buildings that remained standing in the pitth of the storiii were plastered with mud on their west side, and spattered on their nort,li sides, while both north and south sides bore scars and
scratches made by tl-ying ravel.
tornadoes had previously formed in the southwest; that
moving east-nort x east against an eest-southeast wind-
A number of individua s s reported that three ot,her
two of these were ver short-lived, while the third passed directly over RoswelI hidi in the air, and when over- head resembled a whirTpoo1 in the clouds.  These reports agree in all essentials, and very probably are true. The writer was busy, and saw but the last one, and very probably would have missed it had not an ex- cited citizen citlled his attention to it.
The preceding account of damage clone, etc., is com- piled from accounts given the writer by people who risited the scene and not from personal observation, as lie had no opportunity to inspect, the damage himself.
DUSTFALL A T LUDINGTON, hlICH., MARCH 25, 1923.
By CYRUS H . ESFILEMAN, hiet,eorologist.
[Weather Bureau. Ludington, bfich.. .Tune 25, 1923.1
A rcniarkable tlustfall occurred atr Ludington, blich., and oyer an n.rea estencling east and wost nnd a short c1istmc.e tippiircntlv north and south, Sunday, March 25,
1953, hetween thohours of i and (i H. in. Iersons going out of doors notic.ed that the light snow which liad fallen, anic:)unt,ing to abnut, 0.4 of an inch, liad a decided brown- ish tinge, and those who happennod to bc out earlier saw sonit: of the dust conie tlnnii with the snow. Capt. h l i c h d hiart,in, of a Pere Marcluette Line steamer, st,at,ed that, when about, 25 inilcs out froin shore, bound for binnistee, hc encountmd the dust which came down like 11 great c h d of smoke. The writer gaklitwxl sniiw of the snow a.nd dust and inelted t,he snow. At first the seclinient looked dark, but when it dried it again beca.iiie brownish. Its conipo- sit,ivn was tlecidcdly fine and powdery. Smiples were sent to tslihc. University of Michigan, tlie Mic.liigan Agri- cultural College, and t.he Universit,y of Wisconsin. An snalysis lviis niade nlso hy one of the science instructors
of t.he Liitlingtmi High School. All the report8 of
~s tunin:i tion H ta trrt t,litL t i )rgnnic ilia t, t,er was prcsen t. Numerous niincrals were ~l s o ic-lent,ified. Tlic gcneral character, it W:I.S st&d by Prof. Wdter F. Hunt, of the L7nirersit.y of Michigtin, miis t,li:it of loess such as is
fimlid at, plnccs in ihe Mississippi valley.
In t,lw iii r an tim e nuni erous inquiries ww e ni ai 1 c.cl t.0 Wenthrr Hnreau statinns nncl ot4hr inst.itu tions or Ier- sons, 1vit.h t,iie view of learning the estent, of the t ]I ust area. lhc replies to those inquiries indic.nte that the tcrritory WI,S lrjO miles cir i 1 i i .m in length, from central Michimn :icross h l i ~ Michigan into Wisconsin ; and pr!llAly not. more tlian 10 to PO miles in wicltli, tliougli it is mssible tlist t,o the north where snowfall was licavier the 1 \ ust was thus liidclen from sight. The dust,fdl W~LS unquestionably an unusual one, at least, for this vic.inity. A rough estiinate of the total w~iglit of the dust over thc wliole area, judging from that c.ollwtd froni n few square yards, would be a t least 100
tons. I<vcrywhere -on roofs, porches,, sidewalks-after the snow melted the dust was noticeable. bhen several
nion tlis af tcrwarcl on rough Ilnt roofs some rcinained.
HEAVY RAINS IN SOUTHERN KANSAS, JUNE, 1923.
A . J. HENRY, hf c teorologis t .
[ Wratlsr Cureau, Washington, 11. C., Aug. 1, 193.1
The occurrcwe of hcsvy rains in the trims-Mississippi rrgion is ;dwsys :LII interesting iiieteorologicnl event, wliet.Iier consicleretl :IS ti purely nieteorologicd phenonie- nun or in the light of its economic effrcts. It is to be re- nienibcrecl that, in I<~IISRS, where ithundnnt rain nieans
so niurh to tllc agriculture of thc State, too much rain, on