Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-06-16
the HOT NoaTHERs.
Their Genesis and Manner OF Mo-
tion-They are Not Local, but
Continental


Concerning the late hot blast that
shriveled up the green grain like the
breath OF a furnace, the Alta says; "In
respect to any rational explanation. they
are as mysterious as they are remarka-
ble.' ''Their calorie properties are
clearly due to the temperature Of the
atmosphere Of the plains.
This idea is clearly erroneous. The
hot northers are first heard from in the
north part Of the State, before they reach
the Southern plains at ALL and come
along directly after a cold spell, while
the plains are cold, and it requires
several days Of these hot blasts to heat
the soil Of the plains. The mystery of
these hot northern blasts is seldom sx-
planned. That they are not of local
origin is at once evident, but come from
afar. II this heat were produced by the
California deserts then the hot winds in
Los Angeles would all come from the
east, when in fact the east winds here
are never hot. These hot northers
always appear first in the northern part
Of the State, travelling southwark about
800 miles per day, and pass of on to
the ocean below the 35th parallel Of
north latitude. The suppcsition that
they come from heat in the San joaquin
Valley is absurd. Should great local
heat be produced in that valley. the air
in that place would rise, and the cooler
air of this section would move in that
direction, forming south wind instead
Of q norther.
Besides, these hot aerial rivers always
begin further north than any large heat
ed locality, and are first found to strike
the earth in the regions Of forests and
snowy mountains, and hence must be
caused by forces outside of this State.
No theory seems to account for them,
except that they are generated in the
equatorial regions, carried upward and
flow northward, above the constant cur
rent that flows from the north toward
the equator. When great unusual heat
prevails in the equatorial regions, the
current from the north becomes greatly
energized, and the vast superposed heat
ed current flowing outward from the
equator is drawn into the under current,
completinga circuit, and flowing back
ward toward its place of genesis in the
tropics. These aerial rivers, flo wing in
circuit, have now been as well estab-
lished by observation as the maritime
rivers that begin in the equatorial re.
gions and form the great warm currents
in all the oceans. A phenomenon SINH
lar to our "northers" is often found on
the west coast of Africa, where it is
called Harmattan. If anything were
needed to verify this theory it has been
furnished by the microscope in the
hands of the philosopher ,Ehrenberg,
who discovered in the dust that fell
from these hot northern blasts on the
coast of Europe millions of silicious
skeletons OF animalculae found only on
the llanos of South America. These
little particles dropping from the
north wind three thousand miles north
of their birthplace revealed the philos'
ophy of the circuit of these vast aerial
rivers which support the life of the
world, transferring the oxygen from the
equatorial forests to the animal life of
the temperate zones and returning the
carbon to the tropical vegetation. They
distil the waters of the ocean and carry
away only the fresh, pure vapor to bathe
the earth and quench the thirst of man.
The atmosphere is the breath of the
planet. and without it the earth would
be but dead star in space.