Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-01-20
1910.

i direct news Of the storm was received
from Cheyenne, the most westward
meteorological station, il having com.
/ meneed to snow there about ( pm,
on January H. Reports were also
/ received from Omaha, Duluth, and
st. Paul on the same day, showing
/ that the storm had also commenced
| In those cities. The storm continued
with no cessation Of violence till
about midnight of the 18th, when the
weather telegrams failed to give any
/ further knowledge Of it. IL had sud
denly disappeared; but only to strike
Chicago with premOnitory drizzle
Of rain on the morning Of the 18Th,
the same symptoms showing them
selves in ST. Louis aud Milwaukee.
It changed to snow In the afternoon,
and the storm then let out the full
power Of its fury. The snow fell in
perfect clouds all night, taking the
form Of heavy, dense particles from
the warmth of the atmosphere, and
drifting in great masses that testified
TO the violence Of the blasts that ac-
cOmpanied it.
On Saturday the storm showed
strange changes, from snow to sleet,
from sleet to rain, and vice versa, but
all the while borne on such a fierce
tempest that it was difficult to stand
under its attack.
The storm continued during the
greater part Of yesterday with the
same savage violence which marked
its earlier stages. The mixture Of rain
and sIeet with the sngW, which had
day, disappeared, and all day there
was q steady fall Of moist snOWtiakes
of great size and weight. There has
been no such storm in Chicago within
the memories Of its citizens, except
the great storms of the winters Of 1867
and 1864. The weather on these OCca-
siOns was many degrees colder, and
consequently the fall of snow COM
paratively light. The amount Of snow
that has fallen during the present
storm is almost unparalleled; but,
great as il is, il furnishes no gauge for
the quantity Of moisture that has
reached the earth, as the amount of
rain and sleet held in the snow makes
il almost as heavy as salt. Another
interesting feature Of the storm has
been It's extreme duration, as compared
with It's violence. As bitter as the
driving rain has been, the storm
took thirty-nine hours to reach
Chicago from Omaha, q progress
which would give the very slow mo-
mentum of about ten miles an hour.
This accounts for the long time it has
elUng to US, and the reluctance, not
shared certainly by the subjects Of its
81 HsrN Hngr loft
The utter destruction Of the eastern
lines leaves no data by which to insti-
tute a comparison Of relative violence,
but the amount of wind has been
about the same in Chicago as in all
the meteorological stations westward,
and it is fair to presume that the
herCeness Of the storm has known
no decrease in its advance to-
ward the seaCOast. Previous to
the commencement of this unu-
sUaI visitation, the weather in all
parts Of the country except the Allan
tic seabOsrd had been very mild for
the season. 1t is the first storm, &C
COrding 10 the statement Of the tele-
graph operators, which has ever been
known to travel the immense distance
rom Reno, among the Rocky noun
taiDs, where the present storm COM
menced.
But the absence Of any daily accU-
rate meteorological reports till the
present season, may possibly allow
the harb0riug Of a doubt on a subject
where none but the most certain daLa
are at all trustworthy. The storm in
its progress, as has been stated, has
shown quite a uniform degree Of viO-
lenCe, a characteristic not common in
storms extending over a wide stretch
OF country. Ordinarily, storms aug
ment to a certain point, and then as
regularly decrease in power till their
force is entirely spent. When all the
data shall have been collected bearing
on this uneXampled carnival of the
storm elements, science viii UndOubt-
adly be able 10 draw unusually inter I
astiug conclusions from the conditions
Of its inception, and the peCUliarities |
Of its course and continuance.
One statement may be accepted as |
certain, and that is that
and the region round about
Tor a distance Of less than a hundred
miles, has been the scene Of its great |
est fury. As already stated, the fall |
Of snow has been the largest ever /
known in this vicinity.