New-York tribune., 1878-07-20
A HOT ATMOSPHERIC WAVs.


science of meteOrOlogy during the past lew
year, we seem almost as far as ever from
reaching any practical results. Why, for IN
stance, should hot atmospheric wave sweep
over the country with such deadly effect one
Simmer and not another7 Why should such
torrid current start away up in Manitoba, OF all
places on the continent, steal down the Mis-
sIssippi Valley to St. Louis, and thence spread
over the East like the hot breath Of the Sirocco,
while on the western side of the Rocky Noun
tains the air is delightfully."- cool and pleasantf
And how long are we doomed to swelter and
suffer from this terrible invasionP These are
some of the pertinent questions which just
now yex mems souls, and before which
Science Is dumb For TWO days the hot spell
has been upon us, and there are no indications
that the wave is passing away. From the
Mississippi to the coast of Maine the whole
country, with a few exceptions, is suffering
from the common plague. At ST. Louis where
the outbreak has wrought such havoc, there
are few signs of the abatement Of the fierce
heat In Ohio, and Iowa. and Pennsylvania,
and other Western States, the thermometer
still ranges from 95o to 1862. In New-England
the mercury is equally high. These figures by
no means indicate an equal amount OF suffer
ing. II is well known that hot air, If dry, is
comparatively harmless and produces little in
convenience. IL is only when the air is stag
nant, and laden also with moisture, as it
nearly always il in river valleys, that the ter
rible effects of the heated term are really felt
Severe, too, as has thus far been the heat
in New-York we have had comparatively
but a light infiction. The figures of the
thermometer here have been much below
those either ut the West or in New-Eng-
land Notwithstanding our acres OF brick
walls and miles Of scorching hot sidewalks.
This is no doubt due in q large measure to
our insular position on the edge OF the ocean.
The masses of wa er in the Hudson and East
Rivers flowing on both sides of the city tend
largely 10 moderate the heat, while at the
same time they offer an easy highway for the
currents from the ocean which rush in at
night and reduce the temperature. Thus
New-YOrk is never so hot as Philadelphia,
Baltimore OF Washington, OF even as Albany
or Boston-places considerably north Of us.
Nor has the present heated term been any
thing like so severe as those of former years.
Two Summers ago, for instance, hot wave
struck the city on June is, and remained till
July "a. On July o the thermometer
registered 1919 on July 8 and 13 it marked
99o and during the term there were twenty
three days when the mercury was 90' or up
wards. The suffering on this occasion was
not specially great, partly because the hot
spell arrived very gradually, and partly be-
cause there were usually cooling breezes and
little breaks which tempered the attack.
A much more trying time was the Summer of
1872. The heat then came on suddenly, the
thermometer bounding up almost at jump
to 9So, on June 80, and remaining stationary
there for a week. The suffering OccaaOned
by the heat was intense. In this city seventy
persons died from sunstroke in a single day.
and the lists of sunstrokes occupied more than
a column of close print in The TRIBUNE of
July g. 1872. The heat Of that year con-
tined with little mitigation for more than two
weeks; there being only three days In
that time when it was below 90o in the after
noon, and the night temperatures were steadily
high The peculiar fatality of 1872 was due
to its sudden and steady heat; the lighter
mortality Of 1876 must be ascribed to its slow
approach, and its occasional interruption by
cloud and breeze.
There is coolness and comfort in the refec
ton that the present heated term is not likely
to be so oppressive as either that of 1872 OF
1879. Its advent has, fortunately, been so
long delayed that its stay cannot be protracted.
We may not be already on the tail OF the
wave, but we may reasonably hope that it will
pass away in few days.