Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-06-13
The Western Tornadoes.

nave cAnlDltcu SUCH awful power uhu
caused so much loss OF life that the atten-
tion of the whole people has been called
TO them. These storms rank with volcan-
ic eruptlons and great earthquakes among
the most terrible exhibitions OF the de-
structive powers OF nature. They are all
the more impressive because, though they
shake the very ground in their progress,
they are born In the clouds out OF moth
ing, as il were, and the weapon with
which they strike is only the soft air,
changed for the time into an engine OF
destruction which no work OF human
hands can resist. In tho afternoon or
evening of sultry day, and when the at
mosphere seems strangely still and oppres-
sive, fantastic looking clouds, ominously
black or cleaning luridly, and endowed
with swift, whlrling motions, suddenly
make their appearance, and come rolling
and tumblng up from opposite points in
in the horizon. Rushing together, these
cloud battalions seem to engage in des-
perate battle along the line where the OPP
posing currents of warm and cold air that
form the tornado Eeet Then the rotating
funnel characteristic of the fully develop.
ed tornado Is let swiftly down to the earth,
q roaring noise like the rush o. a thousand
express trains fllls the air, and the work
of the storm giant begins. As the black,
,vI,Irlin,, rlouI cnnnol Advances n nftau
makes long leaps, sometimes clearing sey-
cral miles at u bound, leaving the inter-
vcning country untouched, and wherever
1t strikes the earth cvcrthing-houses,
trees, barns, fences, bridges, churches, vii
lages-is swept away in a twinkling.
Sometimes the storm plays the most re-
markablc freaks people arc lifted bodily
from the ground, carried through the air
amid a shower of debris, and set down
uninjurcd many yards or many rods away;
fence rails are driven through the sides oil
buildings, or even through the trunks OF
trees, as il they had been shot from cat
apult houses are lifted from their founda-
lions, whiiled around, and set down again
with no more injury than the loss of some
plaster and window glass. In the recent
tornado at Racine, in the State of Wiscon-
sin, Il house containing five persons is said
TO have been lifted from its foundations
and carried out into Lake Michigan.
The characteristics OF these storms arr
SO well marked, and they have occurred
with such frequency during the last two
or three years, that mcteorologists have
had good opportunity TO study them
The result is that the atmospheric phcno
mcua Immediately preceding tornadoes
and the appearances which the sky pre-
scnts when tornado is forming arc pref
ty well understood, but the trouble is that
warning of their coming cannot be given
long enough in advance to be of much
service. The Government weather Off
GERS furnish plenty Of predictions OF the
approach of rainy weather and cold
waves, in the seasons when rainy weather
and cold waves arc expected by every
body, but these awful Western tornadoes
of whose coming warning is needed, il II
is ever needed, burst upon populous towns
and thickly settled farming districts like
an enemy rushing from an ambush. About
the only advice the weather watchers
seem able to give the inhabitants OF the
threatened regions is to keep a sharp eye
Oh the clouds, and by all means to dig safe
places of refuge under ground, where they
can seek shelter with their families and
valuables at moments notice. Perhaps
this Is the best of all advice, too. Wealth
er prophets are not Of much account, and
people who expect nothing from them, but
learn to Judge the weather for themselves
generally suffer least from unexpected
storms.
While tornadoes arc very cratic, YET
there are, as experience has shown, GER
tain regions. notably along the Missssip
pi and Missouri valleys and in the neigh
borhood of the great lakes, where they
are particularly apt to occur. This !.
probably owing to the situation and form
of the country with reference to the op
posing air currents which arc concerned IL
the production OF such whrling storms
Cases have been known I'm which the OF
posing currents pressed against one an
other without any extraordinary aeria
disturbance until some popularity in thu
formation of the land caused an inequali
ty OF pressure, and thus the tornado
sprang into being full armed, as though i
had burst from prison.
A great deal Of speculation has been In
dulgcd in of late as to the influence of OK
tra-tcrrcstrial causes upon the earths me
tcrology. Some persons think connec
ton can be traced between the periodical
return of the sun spots and tho prevalence
OF violent storms upon tho earth. The
evidence on this point has been, So far
conflicting. During the last two or three
years astronomers have been watching
with great interest the solar storms which
rccur at intervals OF about eleven years
and which during 1881 and 1882 and sc
far this year have, at times, exhibited ex
traordinary fury. Whether they, or the
causes which produced them, have had
any effect upon the carth's weather Is d
question that cannot yet be definitely an
swered. But IL is known that they have
made their effects felt upon the magnetic
condition Of the earth, and twice last year
during the prevalence of extraordinary
outbursts in the sun the tclegraphs were
crippled all over the world. The sun-spot
theorists point to this fact, and say that
If a sun storm can cause q magnetic nee
die on the earth TO trcmbc and shivcr as
IL shaken by an earthquake, I'LL the
heavens with the flaming strcamers of tho
aurora, and cripple the Atlantic cable, II
may be able to make its power felt aslo III
the production of storms. Others, while
admitting the magnetic influence OF sun