Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1885-02-13
..ToRNADoEs,, AND ssoxoLoNEs., >,
An Omcial Explanation of the Terms
From the signal once.


To the EDITOR of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
AS much confusion seems to exist, not
only among the public but in the columns of
the press also, in the use of the words ''tor-
nado" and "cyclone,'G am directed by the
chief signal officer to briefly describe the
characteristics of these very distinct kinds of
storms, in order to assist in bringing about
uniform Technology:
Cyclone-A name suggested by Pudding
ton in East India about forty years ago, to
apply to the violent storms of the Bay of
Bengal and other tropical regions; synony-
nous with typhoon of the Chinese seas and
hurricane of the West Indies
broad storm, from one hundred to five
hundred miles in diameter, characterized by
broad cloud disc, from which heavy rain
falls; with spiral. inward blowing winds of
destructive violence: near the center, but with
calm space (ten or fifteen miles in diam
eter) at the center itself known as thes'eye of
the storm" The barometer always records
low atmospheric pressure near the storm
center. Cyclones have progressive motion,
not directly visible, but apparent in the pas
sing changes of the weather that they bring.
The broad storms, often of but moderate vlo-
lence, accompanied by wide-spreading sheet
of cloud with rain or snow, bring warm
weather in their front half and cold in their
| rear, which frequently covers a considerable
| number of our States at once, exhibit nearly
all the physical peculiarities of cyclones,
although the name is not generally applied to
| them by all meteorologists. In our country
such cyclonic storms never leave narrow
path of destructive action along the track
| of their central passage, but they are rather
beneficial than otherwise, they bring the
greater share of our rains. As a whole these
cyclonic storms travel across our country
| from west to east at rate of twenty-five to
| mil he often
| endures for week and its path may be fol-
| lowed for several thousand miles.
TornadoeS-Are violent local storms, which
| appear, from records made by the numerous
volunteer tornado reporters in cooperation
| with the signal service, to be generated only
| in certain parts of the broad relatively harm
/ less cycIonic storm. Tornadoes are marked
| by their we'll known whirling funnel cloud
| and by their narrow path of destruction,
| within which few structures can Withstand
| their violence. They are, therefore, very To-
| cal They advance at the rate Of twenty
| five to thirty miles an hour, corresponding
| to the progression of the great cyclon1c storm
| within which they generated, and a sin
gle tornado seldom endures more than an
| hour or two. ..--
| A number of tornadoes often occur the
| same day in adjacent States. They are COM
monty associated with thunder storms and
| with gales or squalls of violent straight-line
| winds. The word tornado has been used as
here indicated since the early part of this
| century in this country and in Europe. Its
| replacement by the word cyclone is very re-
| cent and should be avoided in order to pre-
| vent confusion.
The signal service reports never apply the
word cyclone to our western tornadoes and
| it is hoped that the daily press of the United
States will follow the usage of the service.
j. A. SHERMAN,
Observer, Signal Service.
| Eehr11arv 10 1SS5