Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-04-17

impossible of attainment until, as it
were, Yesterday, may be reached to-
day. when all classes of the people,
daily, have placed in their hands or
within their easy reach the cable and
wire dispatches of the world, in
which "the weather, . l am glad to
note, has now generally a place.
MAPPING THE WEATHER.
/ long ago found out that mapping
the weather was the correct thing. l
defy anyone to take up a series of
tablets covered with barometric and
themometric readings, in the figure
shape, and make much out of these,
even after very fair perusal. Fig
ures do not convey to the eye what
the general behavior of the weather
has been for the past month or year.
at least, to the general observer.-but
mapped out lines, at glance, convey
a correct idea. For example, how
often we hear in our daily walk and
conversation incorrect and ridiculous
statements made respecting the
weather of particular month or sea-
son. One says, Most remarkable
month this for January, the mercury
did not reach Zero. You quietly I'M
do your s. weather ROLL" and at the
instant see that twice the line repre-
senting the minimum temperature
touched upon zero, and twice went
from three degrees to FIVE degrees be-
low it. This is a ssettler. At the
same glance you show him how often
the temperature touched upon the
thaw line, and how often it went and
how long it undulated above.it.
Again, 1 wish to determine, say,
whether January or any other month
we may be in is acting according to
it's usual. programme. To effect this l
do not consult my meteorological fig
ure-tables Of past Januarys, and pencil
down again and contrast the maZima,
minima, and the mean temperatures
I find recorded. No; I simply pin out
on the table before me a few narrow
and anything but formidable looking
slips of paper representing say, some
ten or more Januarys, on which are
sketched to temperature all
the detailed undulationS of each re-
Spective month. Within FIVE minutes
/ note the cold, moderate or mild
months, see in what portions of these
the cold dips, or s'church-steeples'
(unusually-high Their. readings) have
occurred; in which the snow-storms
where the rain-falls. In short, with
in a comparatively few moments /
know far more respecting the beha-
vior of the past ten Januarys than had
/ pured for hours over long columns
of figures representing, say, even tri-
daily readings of barometer and Their
mometer.
Besides the undulations, or ups and
downs of temperature, my maps also
indicate the days or portion of day on
which either snow Or rain has fallen,
and the average duration Of each fall.
This feature is shown by distinct col
ors. For instance, the main tempera-
ture line is red, carmine, or som ething
brilliant. When snow begins to fall a
dot of blue is put on the proper place
on the paper, and when the fall ends
a second dot is registered, and those
two connected by line of the same
color. Thus the duration of the snow
| 1dll 10 GllOWH. LII IlhO ludAllOl UlC
rain-falls are marked out in green,
and even brief showers may be indi-
Gated by dashes of this color when
they have occurred. Where snow,
Sleet, and rain come together and are
inseparably mixed up, the two colors
blue and green-are dotted in alter
nately. By this method the extent Of
precipitation for the month is instan-
taneously discernible. Such weather
maps have been an invaluable aid to
me in the preparation of my weather
forecasts, as they show at glance the
recurring periods y in a series of
years.
WEATHER ADMINISTRATIONS IN CAN
ADA.
Bear in mind that the weather prog
nostication is yet in it's infancy, that
it is naturally in crude and imper-
feet state, the observations being con-
fined to but one or two, and these
barely covering quarter of century.
Like every other science, it wants
time for development. We do not
claim to have gone much beyond the
first step, but after the first step is
successfully taken, walking becomes
easy. We think we're the government
to establish chain of observatories
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with
instructions to note the minutest
changes of the weather, and with in
structions to report regularly athead-
quarters, that it would soon be posi-
BILE to forecast the nature of the sea-
sons with considerable accuracy.
The establishment of a Weather
Bureau in connection with the Gov
eminent might-in Canada-seem a
novelty, but it is novelty that we
are convinced would be productive of
important results. 1t would form an
important era in the history of agri-
culture if the farmer could have
reasonable certainty of the nature of
the seasons before him.
Of course we would not think of at
tempting, from our station at Mon
treal, to predict the weather changes
in England, or China, or Brazil, or
even for British Columbia. Should
we attempt it, the inevitable result
would be failure. Every district is
subject to it's own climatic changes.