The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1883-03-15
How Cold Waves Travel.

Cold waves, so called-a name for
which we are indebted torecent metoro-
logical science-do not appear to move
in some instances much faster than q
railroad express train. They vary how
ever, in their rate of motion. Where do
they come from? 1t is not easy to say.
It might be found, if one could travel at
express train speed from the mountains
'of Montana and the frozen regions farther
north, that the cold continued all the
way to Eastern Alaska, and on to
Behring Strait with even a greater degree
of intensity. In fact the coolest region is
probably the wide exparse west, and
especially northwest, of Hudson Bay,
in the neighborhood of the magnetic
pole. A ~"cold wave" is wave OF
heavy air, following the rarifed track
Of slow barometer" and changing the
rari6ed and milder atmosphere (Which
is usually also stormy to one of clear,
cold skies: y heavy air. full of tonic pow
or, and exhilerating and hunger-produ-
cling to sound and healthy animal life.
The establishment Of the modern gov
eminent weather observation stations,
with their appliances including the
electric telegram and the daily press.
has enabled the country to see and
comprehend something Of the move:
ments Of these frequent cold
waves: The movement is as marked as
the advance of veritable sea wave.
Rocky mountains tit always seems to be-
gin there though in fact it rarely does
having it's origin much farther north),
and its advance can be timed like that
ola railroad train: It's speed varies
from from forty to sixty, or sometimes
even seventy, miles an hour; usually 1t
would seem about fifty. 1t rolls over
the country, real wave, an areial coun-
terpart, on the shore, Of its congener,
the tidal wave of the ocean,
and it's direction is usually from the
northwest to the southwest. It sweeps
slowly down from the frozen waters OF
the Asiatic shore, and the equally frlgld
wi de- of the American mainland in the
Arctic circle, to our Atlantic coastrits
breadth reaching all the way from Nova
Scotia to Cape Hatteras, and frequently
making it's chill presence felt as far south
as Florida. The Bermudas-which lie
just south of the Gulf steam, q little over
600 miles almost due east Of Charleston
feel the influence of our "cold waves
very preceptibly. That solitary ht!ie
group Of small, low-fying coral islands
which can be reached by steamer from
New York in the same time that it would
take to go to Savannah, happen to lie on
the leeward side of the Gulfstream; and
that great thermal current of the ocean
forever saves them from frost. and keeps
them in spring foliage all winter; out,
while it finely tempers and modlhes the
north wind, it can not quite robi Of all
it's intrinsic character the result is
wind that may be at times coo:, and fire.
quentlv boisterous, but never rea! cold;
and those lonely islands, surrounded by
wide-reaching coral reefs, have all win
ter pleasant climate of spring. That is
almost all that they, or the more south
ern islands of the Bermudas, ever know
of our winter "cold waves" These
come in an almost rhythmical succession,
and have their causes, doubtless, as po-
ton. as those of the oceans tides, which
they ssrikingly resemble.