New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-08-19
THE dTGTST STORU.S.


We're IL not that great storms nearly always
travel from west to east, we might be tempted to
suppose that the long continued wet and bosterous
weather in England, of which so many complaints
have reached US this Summer, had determined
upon q visit to this side of the Atlantic
1t is little unusual to find here so
many days of steady ram in August. although
the month in past years has often been marked by
one or more severe storms which have had their
origin IN the South, and have wrought special
havoc along the whole Atlantic Coast line.
The rain storms Of the last few days have been
caused by twoatmospherc depressiOns both OF which
have come to us apparently from the tropics and
been charged with superabundance OF moisture.
On Friday last the centre of the first storm was in
the lower Mississippi Valley, whence it travelled In
northeastery direction. and passed over New-Iork
late on Saturday. Sull further south. and running
almost parallel with the first storm, was another
storm centre of much greater energy whose first In
dications began to be felt GA Saturday morning In
Florida, although it was not until Sunday
that 1t struck with full fury the Carolinas
Following the common course OF August
storms, this depression passed rapidly along
the coast accompanied by high winds and
an unusually heavy fall of rain, which seems to have
been greatest in the South Atlantic States. The
western edge Of this storm apparently
confined to a narrow belt along the coast. In the
interior at a short distance from the seaboard as
the Government weather map shows, fine weather
generally prevailed yesterday, with the single
exception of Omaha, where there were local rains
The full force of the storm must have been felt out
at sea.
OF the causes of these August storms we know
little In spite Of its rapid progress during the past
few years, meteoroogy Il yet far from being an
exact science. The fact that there was a new moon
on Sunday will hardly account forthe rain, although
with many the moon and the weather are msep-
arably connected Nor can we safely fall back on
the theories Of that small class OF Western weather
prophets, who base their predictions on planetary
conunctops Mercury is, it is true, in conjunction
with the sun on the ODD instant, and
Uranu, on the 2Sh, while Jupiter is in
opposition on the 31st; but the most en-
thusiastc ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS would hardly assert
that these planetary phases were responsible for
the present weather, whatever mischief they may
work a week or a fortnight later.
And il is equally clear that any European origin
of the storm is also untenabe. simultaneously
with our own wretched weather come reports
of excessive rains in England. Brkenhead
is flooded There have been thirty hours of
continuous rain mt Chester. Traffic was sus-
pended on one important railroad yesterday Wa
duets and bridges have been washed away in
some places; III Others, rivers have overlooked their
banks and flooded the country, while the cry is
again raised that wheat rotting aud that the grain
crops still standing viii not pay for the cutting
Dlsagreeable and inconvenient as our own storms
have BEEN there is comfort in the thought that the
crops are all safely housed and that no more serious
damage has been wrought than the triting losses
sustained by the keepers of Summer resorts.