Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-04-27
Suggestions Regarding Tornadoes.

General Hazen, Chief Signal Officer, is pay
ing much attention to the subject OF tornadoes,
with a view of obtaining 80 clear knowledge
of this class of storms that some OF their eviis
may be mtigated. All who live IN regions
that are liable to be often visited by these oe-
structive winds will be interested to know tnat
already Sergeant Finley is about to start out to
investigate the track of the storms which
swept over Michigan, Iowa and Illinois on the
9th inst. Sergeant Finley has done some very
valuable work on this subject. Last year the
Signal Service issued as one of its professional
papers very important monograph on the
character Of the storms of May 20 and June 10,
1879. The paper was very elaborate, and there
is now in press another professional paper py
the same writer. which contains taDulateo
statements of 600 tornadoes and some general
izations from their facts, with some sugges-
lions as to the method that ought to
be pursued If the investigation of the
storms. The 600 storms cover period
of eighty-seven years and the wnole
country Their examination leads to the
conclusion that tornadoes occur most ire
quently in summer and in the month of June.
They have occurred, however, more frequent
ly in April than in July, and in May and Sep
TENDER than in August. Kansas is the State
that has been most afflicted, and that notwth-
standing the fact that the period during which
tornadoes have visited it has been compare
lively short The State has had 81 tornadoes
from 1859 to 1881; Illinois has had 81, from 1854
to 1S81s Missouri A, from 18Th to 1851; New
York 81. from 1881 to 1881; Georgia 81, from
1854 to 1881: Iowa 81 from 1854 to 1881; Ohio %,
from 1928 to 1881; Indiana q, from 1852 to 1850.
The States and Territories that have had only
one each from 1894 to 1881 are Colorado, Cali
fornia, Indian Territory, Nevada, New Mexico,
Montana, Rhode Island, West Virginia and
Wyoming
The storms occur most frequently from five
to six in the afternoon, although there is no
hour of the day that has been entirely free
from them. The average width OF the path Of
destruction is LOSS feet, and each storm-cloud
runs with velocity of from twelve to sixty
miles. The wind within the vortex sometimes
attains velocity of 500 miles an hour, the
average velocity being 1872 miles.
Among the most valuable suggestions of the
paper are those with reference to the pecul-
iarity of the movements of tornado clouds,
containing rules for arriving at their violence.
A tornado cloud always has a center, and it al
ways moves forward from west to east 1t
may, however, sway from side to side in its
progressive movement. Changes in motion
are sometimes very sudden. In the event of a
sudden change, the observer who is east or
south of east of the storm should move quick
ly to the south. If he is northeast, he should
move to the north. If within very short dis
lance of the cloud, the observer should run
east, bearing to the south. This indicates the
character of the directions which have been
given for the avoidance of the disastrous eff
feet of storms. The examination that Ser
geant Finley will make Of the recent storms
will be very thorough, and General Hazen ex-
poets that it will add greatly to the knowledge
of Observation-Disclosures (Apr1 I6) Special to
Chicago Tribune. go