Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1880-11-25
NO. 4S.
LONGER WINTERS.
a Singular meteorological Change ian
the sierras
Virginia City Enterprise.

Virginia City Enterprise.
Prof. Legate has Just returned from
a trip into the Sierras of eight days du-
ration. He had with him two assist
ants and his own vehicle for the trans
portation of his instruments, and
camped out most of the time The OBJ
ject of the professors trip was the study
of recent meteorological changes in
the elevated regions of the Sierras. He
was led to believe that during the pres
ent season the warm belt had shifted
south. Beginning at a point just north
of Lake Tahoe, the snow had not melt
ed away as in former years. There are
now banks of snow from fifty to one
hundred feet in depth at points where
before at this season no snow has lain.
Nearly the whole of this snow will re-
main where it now lies until the SHOWS
of winter again set IN. Up toward the
headquarters of the north fork of the
Yuba river, where no snow is usually
seen at this season, it has but little
more than begun to disappear In that
place are to be seen huge banks of
snow, under which flow the waters of
the stream. forming arches or natural
bridges 100 feet IN height and 200 to 800
feet in width. AS nearly the whole of
this snow will remain until snow again
comes, the accumulation next year
will be still greater, and the whole re-
giOn around the head of that and other
rivers high in the mountains will prob
ably lie under the snow the year round
1t was for the purpose Ofascertaining
the cause Of this remarkable change of
climate to the northward that Prof.
Legate went on his expedition into the
mountains. Through the results OBJ
tanned by observations made at many
points with various delicate instruments,
but principally by means of careful
thermOmetrical tests, the professor has
established the fact that there has oc-
CURED in the range of the Sierra Neva-
da mountains this season grand
isthermal change. He finds that the
warm current of air which ever since
the settlement of California by Ameri-
cans-and probably ages before
moved upward from the Pacific sea-
board to the Sierra Nevada mountains,
and thence turned and flowed to the
northward along the west side of the
main ridge of the range, thus giving to
all regions in that direction warm eli
mate, no longer moves in that direc-
ton. 1t now comes from the side of
the ocean and pOurs eastward directly
across the crest of the Sierras near Lake
Tahoe.
Prof. Legate has satisfied himself
that this wonderful change, which is
leaving all the northern parts of the ST.
erras buried IN snow, summer and win
ter, is caused by the denudation of
timber which the mountains have suf-
fered through belt beginning at Lake
Tahoe and extending some twenty
miles southwark Through the gap
thus left by the sweeping away of the
forest now flows the warm current Of
air which form erly mOved-with some
thing of the circling motion of water
in all eddy-far along the mountains
to the northward. Prof. Legate says it
must not be supposed that the change
has been caused merely on account Of
the gap or trough left by the clearing
away Of the forests. The denudation
of the ground is the principal cause.
The heat of the sun pouring down upon
the broad belt of bare ground now
reaching across the mountains causes
dG IndL pOlnG dI immense ascending
column of heated air which draws in
from the west the heated current which
formerly moved to the northward, and
now all crosses the Sierras, passing in
an upward and eastward direction.
Prof. Legate is of the opinion that
the only thing capable of changing the
isothermal line which has been recent
ly accidentally and disastrously estab-
lished, is the creation, at some point
well north, of another broad belt of de-
nudation, the influence of which will
be to draw in that direction portion
of the warm current of air moving up
to and along the western slope of the
Sierras, and thus partly restore the
equable temperature that formerly pre-
vailed. He thinks the railroad which
is to run in the direction of Oregon
from Reno. and which is to strike and
tap the great pine forests of the Sierras
well to the north, will after few years
effect the desired change.