New-York tribune., 1885-09-12
CYCLONES IND TORNADOES.

HOW THE TWO TYPES OF STORMS DIFFER.
The awful havoc wrought by tornado in Ohio,
Tuesday evening, nearly quite equal to that
done by q cyclone on the. south Atlantic coast in
August, affords occasion for noting afresh some OF
the differences between the two types of storm. Inc
tornado oddly enough is called cyclone more than
half the time, by the majority OF people, IN spite
of repeated explanations from weather bureaus
Besides the'accompaniment of heavy rain. the two
phenomena resemble each other also in that they
are both whrlwinds. In diameter. however the
tornado is to the cyclone q gas pipe to circus
tent. Tho former is seldom more than few hun
dred feetthrcugh. The latter is from to hvehu
dred miles across The tornado which smoto the edges
of Philadelphia and Camden early last month was
only three hundred feet in diameter. And another
hundred feet away on either side. scarcely breath
was felt during the passage of the destroyer. The
cyclone that visited Charleston and Savannah
recently sucked in the air from area fully
hundred miles across andit was "a small cyclone at
that The violence of the tornado, however, IS
much greater than that OF the cyclone Lieutenant
Finley. of the Signal Service, estimates that the
draft in tornado sometimes reaches two thousand
miles an hour; in cyclone, the winds usually
blow from fifty to hundred. The tor
nado is purely local, like :thunder storm,
to which it is closely akin, aud even more
ephemeral Ii rarely lasts more than n few minutes
or travels more than few miles from its origin. IL
is like the fight of ball compared with the
movement of transcontinental express train. Ihe
cyclone is enduring. lasts day and night, and
follows path thousands of miles long.
Accordingly. practically warning can be
Afforded of tornado The general conditions which
produce them may be foreseen but the precise spot
and time at which they will organize cannot be
predicted. Their approach is indicated several min
utes. possibly in advance, by the attendant black,
funnel shaped cloud, which, as it comes gyratlng
along the skies. DROPS a swaying point like an
elephants trunk or the slack of n balloon 10 tne
earth But no previous wind OF depression M oi ,fe u1e
and path too brief to admit OF telegraPDlc
cautions The coming OF cyclone In marked Dy,
decided fall in the barometer and increase OF wind;
and where its tear lies over the land, its appear
ance and course can he reported hours II not days
before IL reaches given point lie coming OF s .ne
one which recently struck the South Atlantic Coast
was strongly suggested by the sinking mercury
at Jacksonville early Monday morning. Savannah
and Charleston were not reached by ltnnll uesnay
morning At midnight the storm centre was near
Norfolk and all day Wednesday it was working up
along the Gulf Stream toward Newfoundland. ne
tornado is. more frequently. product OF temperate
iatitudes. and usually forms on land over tie
and other bodies OF water 1t takes the form Oh
a waterspout The cyclone Is born In the tTop.es,
and like Venus. springs from the sea. In tine
Pacific storms of this class seem 10 originate s0un-
east OF the Philippine Islands, moving northward or
northwestward. either striking the Chinese OF
Japanese coasts or coming near to them, and then
moving away TO the northeastward into mid-ocean
Those OF the North Atlantic organize In or near the
West Indies, aud describe much the same para
bolic curve Sometimes they get so far west as To
enter the United States from the Gulf OF Mexico:
more frequently they approach our SHORES between
Florida aud Cape Hatteras. Still oftencr they SWING
away toward Northern Europe without coming
near this country at all.
Again the seasons of the two classes OF storms are
slightly different. Like thunder storms. tornadoes
may occur at any time from early spring 10 Iate
autumn though they nre most abundant IN July
Cyclones are encountered in the North Atlantic
mostly in September and October, although few
are usually reported In August. That which nearly
wrecked the bark Brlmga was met near Nova
Scotia on the sth of last month and the same day
another sank the colossal drcdgc Beaufort near
Bermnda; and Others in the last fortnight are
liable 10 he reported by Shipping coming To our
shores any day. While then. the tornado season IN
the United States Is drawing TO closo, the cyclone
season may be said 10 have only just fairly opened.