The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1882-10-12
ABOUT roRHADoEs.

| AtcnlSOn Cham plOn: IOfndQOeS, II
appears, are not SO uncommon in this
country as most people suppose. Ser
geant j. p. Finney, of the signal service
bureau, who, it will he remembered, in
yestigated the Irving and other lorna
does in Kansas. in 1879. has compiled q
report giving list of six hundred of
these visitations in all parts of our coun-
try. The first ON record occurred at
| Norwich Connecticut, June 10, 1874 !;
the last in Hardin county, Iowa, Sept.
20, 1881; and thirty-six states and six
territories have suffered from them. The
most destructive storm in the list was
that at Marshfield, Mo, April 8. 1880,
by which aver two hundred buildings
were demolished. G5 persons killed and
over 200 wounded, and over 81 600 coo
worth of property destroyed. These
storms, too, have occurred during every
month of the year, but the large MAORI
" are recorded during April, May, June
July, August and September, and most
frequently during the first
three named months. With
rare exceptions, they happened between
4 and p. IN. Very few are recorded
between the hours of midnight and
noon.
"Funncl shaped" ''cone shaped, /" "in-
verted funnel" and "hour glass" are the
terms used in describing the appear
anco of 233 of these stnrms, while one
is described as "serpent like" and an
other as "basket shaped" These in
clude all that appear To have been very
destructive 10 life or property. The
''funnel shaped cloud" or something re-
sembling il, may, therefore, be taken a.
the form in which all destructive or
dangerous tornadOes appear.
Sixty-twO tOrnadoes are credited TO
occurred in "IIOlt county, Kansas" and
"De KaIb county, Kansas" in 1850.
These counties are both in Missouri.
Mr. Finney should bc more careful in
his geography. There are no counties
bearing these names In our State. OF
the sixty that are properly located in
Kansas, twenty assumed
the funnel shape and, of
these, seventeen were destructive TO life
or property or both. The remaining
thirty-thrce should really have no place
in the list. They were simply severe
blows, magnnfied into tornadOes by |
some writer or ielegraphcr of vivid i'm
agination and descriptive powers.
The first Kansas tornado on record |
occurred in Doniphan county, July 4th,
1860, and 1t destroyed much timber on
the Missouri River, The next occurred
in Marshall county; July 5lst, 1880, and
the next in Doniphan county, June 10Th,
1863 Another occurred in Republic
county, November Sth, 1870; the next in
Cloud county, June 28th, 1878; and the
next in Butler county, June 22d, 1874.
June 9th, 1876, destructive tOrnadOes
are reported in Saline county, near Gyp-
sum creek, on Dog creek and in Pleas
ant Valley. Sergeant Finney counts
were really only one, as all the places
mentioned are in Saline county, and
near together. March 5th, 1876, tor
nadO is reported at Larned, and May
9Th, another is said to have occurred
near LeavenWorth. April ed, 1877,
Dodge city is said to have becp visited,
and April 18th. 1878, Cottonwood Falls
saw funnel shaped cloud.
The worst tornadoes recorded in ham
sas occurred in 1879. Commencing at
Delphos, June 10Th, very destructive
tornado uccuesesiS followed by those Of
May 30lh, which wrought such desLruc-
ton in Lincoln county, on Buffalo
creek, at De.phos, Pipe creek, Wake
field, Stockdale, Irving and WaIeIvillc.
Here again, Sergeant Finney makes
eight tornadoes out of one. for the
"twister' formed in Lincoln county,
and moved nOrthwCs; To Marshall, strik-
ing all tho places mentioned.
The next Tomatoes reported in this
state occurred at Ottawa and Girard,
April 81. 1880; Yates Centre, May 9th
1880, and again at the same place, May
10th, 1881; near Clay Centrs. May 18th,
1881; in Morris county. and III the Sol
ONION Valley, June 9th 1881; and in the
NeOsha Valley, September 29th. 1881,
This completes the list
Sergeant Finney says that no season
or month is exempt from i0rnadOcs, but
June is the month III which they most
frequently occur. His list includes 1l2
occurring in June, 81 in April, 80 in
July, 81 in May, so i'll September, AZ in
August, 81 in March, % in November,
2l in February, 10 in October, 0 in De
ccmber, and in January. Three hun
dred and ninety -six of III six hun drei
occurred between l and = p. IN and "f
these large majority Lapl enc'l between
4 and 6 p. m.
The average width of the IoTnGdo's
path is 1855 feet, ahd their velocity
from Twelve Ia sixty miles an hour.
They pass given point in from Il II
seconds to thirty minutes, the average
being about six minutes. The length of
the track varied from = to $50 miles, the
average being d miles. Three hundred
and ten moved from the southwest to
TO the northeast.