Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-10-05
The Phenomena Of Tornadoes the
Subject Of Scientific Study
at the Signal Office
important Experiments Which are
eliminating in Gratifying
Results-..Explained.
How Farmers and villagers seek lnforma
lion and How They are Answered by
the Bureau.
rnI,NAnnEs rNrLAINnp.

WAsnrNGToN, Oct. 4.--'The phenomena
Of tornadocs, to the scientific sthuy
of which Lieut.. John 7. tFinley OF
the signal corps has devoted about
eight years, are now SO well unaer-
stood as 60 warrant the belief That
Trustworthy warnings may soon
be sent out 10 the inhabitants
of localities which may be threatened
with disastrous vsitatlons. Daily pre-
dictions arc, ia fact, being made at pres
cpt. having begun last year and CON
tipuod during the tornado season ana
resumed recently upon the return OF
Lieut.. Finley from an inspection Tour III
the West. The progress OF yerlilcation
Is already gratifying, though the prcdic.
lions are as vet largely experimental ana
arc embodied IN the daily published bul-
lctins by the signal officer only when the
conditions favorable to The creation oil
tornadocs are very.promlncnt. In such
eases severe local stotms are noted as
probable. 10 a reporter of the Assoc
catcd Press, Lieut.. Finley, re-
Gently described the known
phenomcn OF tornadocs, and the ends
towards which the present researches are
directed. The storms are distinctly
marked and characterized, aud are by no
means To be cuniouudcd with hurricanes,
billiards., cyclones or northeasterS.
Their tracks are never more than few
hundred yards wide, and their forces are
generally exhausted by the time they
have Travelled course OF forty or nifty
miles, though in this latter respect they
ARE quite variable, some having been
traced BY their lines oil devastation more
than $50 miles Their rotary motion,
which is the greatest toward the
center, sometimes reached the cnor-
NOUS rate OF 1000 miles an hour,
while their forward movement,
always from southwest to northeast, or
dinurily does not exceed forty or fifty
miles. They are usually unaccompancd
10y electric disturbances, and are believed
TO be uninaueuced by electrical condition,
though violent thundcr-storms some
times follow them or few miles away.
There Is distinct andcuriOuS relationship
between tornadoes aud the general storm
Centers, which Is ALWAYS apparent in
their uniform relative position, the tor
uadocs always occurring southeast
wardly from the centcrof low baromet-
rlcal pressure and at dis
tarCc of from one to six hundred
miles. The shape fof the gen
cml storm-ccntcr, the direction in
which its longest diameter lies,
and the appearance OF the upper and
lower clouds cntcras minor elements into
the problem out of which weather cN-
pcrts hope TO work u complete system of
tornado warnings The visits of lorna
does are commonly between the hours Of
. and q O'Clock IN the afternoon. It's
home Is an area which includes the whole
OF Iowa. all OF Missouri except the
southwestern corner, the northwestern
corner of Arkansas, the northwestern
part OF the Indian Territory, Eastern Kan
sas, Eastern Nebraska, Southern Min
ncsota, Southern Wisconsin and Western
Illinois, Here It's season extends from
April to August inclusive. II Is q
frequent visitor to two other re-
gions One Is a strip along
the gulf and South Atlantic coasts, which
takes In portions OF Alabama, Georgia
and south Carolina, with tcrmini In Mis-
sssippi and North Carolina, over which
itsldoyastationsa confined toithe months
of January, February and March. The
other includes portion Of Central and
Northern Ohio, large part of Pennsyl.
yunia and u small area In Maryland, Il
strip across New York and corner each
of Massachusetts and Connecticut, where
rs season is only during the months OF
August aud September.
Lieut.. Finley further said, while ,
host OF interesting scientific question.
respecting the origin of tornados ant
the laws which govern them aud their re
lationship to other meteorological pheno
ncna remain to he answered, the NOR,
practical questions as to when and wher
they are likely 10 appear seem 20 be nd
Naucing rapidly toward the solution Tn
interests which are subject to disastc
from tOrnadocS are alive TO III
importance of the warning progress
neutrality-suspicious. of farms apply to Tn
signal Office Tor Information respcctln
the Liability OF their selected locality l,
disaster, TooaCh ono was sent the record
ol the past as far as they are known
Whenever Lieut., Finley travels IN pursui
oi ms studies farmers and villagers pres
him for iuiolmuUun 10 them he say
that nothing raised 10y the hand of ma
above the surface of the earth can with
stand the shock OF a tornado. He ad
Uses them to seek their dugouts upou III
appearance of portentouS signs OF di,
aStcr, and there await the passage OF th
storm. For their property lac advise
them to Insure, so that the los
Of The individual may be share
by his moro fortunate peighhurs Tn
insurance companies, which last yea
wrote i,000000 tornado policies, an
eagerly awaiting the completion of III
map now In process of making, whiC
WILL Us expected, greatly narrow ii
so-Callcd tornado regions, and pcrhat
show that large portions OF them Ia,
never experienced disastrous storm
Upon thus map Lieut. Finley proposes
show from the complete records of SCI
rml years, and the date US far as obtail
able for many previous years, the ave
age number OF torpadocs Tor each localit
annum.
Dir. EAToN's SAY.
MA~tnNGTDN oct In nnS,ypr ia