The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-10-15
HOW TORNADOEs FORM.
The Mysteries of the Dread Cloud.

OeeD studying Tue pHeuUueua vi LOIua'
does for the past eight years. lorna
does are now so we'll understood that is
believed that trustworthy warning can
soon be sent out to the localities threat.
cned. In fact, experimental predictions
have been made for a year, with good
result. According to Lieutenant Finley,
tcrnadoes have distinctly marked char.
acteristics and are by no means to be
confouudcd with hurricanes, billiards." :"
cyclones or Northeasters. Their tracks
are nt rer more than few hundred yards
wide. Their rotary motion, which is
greatest towards the centre, sometimes
reaches the enor 1,ous rate Of 1900 miles
an hour, while tIeir forward movement,
always from southwest to northwest, or.
dinarily does not exceed forty or fifty
miles. They are usually unaccompanied
by electrical disturbances and are be-
lieved to be uninhuenced by electrical
conditions, though violent thunderstorms
sometimes follow them few miles away.
THE HOME OF THE TORNADO.
There is distinct and curious rela
tionship between the tornado and the
general storm centre, which is always
apparent in their Uniform relative posi-
tions, the tornado always occurring
enthusiastically from the centre of low
barometric pressure and at distance of
from one to six hundred miles. The
shape of the general storm centre, the
direction in which it's lowest barometer
lies and the appearance of the upper and
lower clouds enter as minor elements
into the problem out of which the wealth
er experts hope to work complete sys.
tenn of tornado warnings. The visits of
the tornado are commonly between the
hours of 2 and 6 o'clock in the afternoon.
It's home is an area which includes the
whole of Iowa, all of Missouri except
the Southeastern corner, the Northwest
ern corner of Arkansas, the Northeastern
part of the Indian Territory, Eastern
Kansas, Eastern Nebraska, Southern
Minnesota, Southern Wisconsin and
Western Illinois. Here its season extends
from April to August inclusive. 1t is
also frequent visitor to two other
regions. These are, first, strip along
the gulf and South Atlantic coasts, which
takes in the central portions of Alabama,
Georgi and South Carolina, with termini
in Mississippi and North Carolina, over
which its devastations are confined to the
months of January, February and March.
The second includes portion of South.
ern and Central Ohio, large portion of
Pennsylvania, a small area in Maryland,
a strip across New York and corner of
each of Massachusetts and Connecticut,
where it is in season only during August
and September.
HOW THE TORNADO FORMS.
The conditions which are favorable to
the creation of tornadoes are present
when cool, dry current of air meets a
warm, moist current, bringing wide
extremes both of temperature and hu.
miditv into close proximity. The cool,
dry currents come from the North, but
such as flow over the Great Lakes pick
up in their course both moisture and heat
and their destructive forces are thus
neutrs.lized. Those blowiSg from the
far Northwest, down over the dry plains
of Manitoba and Dakota, carry something
of their Arctic characteristics far South,
and il in their course they meet one Of
the heat and vepor. laden breezes coming
up from the Gulf the war of the elements
begins at the point of contact. The
storm always has its birth in the upper
air, its, first visible manifestation being
the orninous nel.shaped cloud whose
xoo1o,k tsn,,l> 30 ;o forno MT N 1ita thot
of an elephant. Within it the furies are
confined, and when and where its point
touches the earth the path Of destruction
begins. When the isotherm of the
morning signal map shows the advancing
columns of air, with their wide contrasts
of temperature, in proximity when the
general storm centre is in that relative
position which seems necessary to the
exercise of its mysterious influence /;
when the pressure is low toward the east,
disclosing vacuum into which the
DETECTED currents may advance without
obstruc!ion-when all these conditions
combine it should become but simple
problem for the experts to determine
with reasonable probability from the
wind v,locities whether the threatening
line of contact will have advanced to or
beyond the tornado's accustomed haunts
by the time of day when the powers of
mischief shall be loosed.
THE UNKNOWN QUANTITIES.
The chief remaining unknown quanti-
ties in the problem consists of data Of
time and place, great store of which is
already in hand aud only awaits digestion
and tabulation, while 1900 special lorna
do observers are gathering additional
facts respecting current storms and from
all available sources the stories of long
past tornadoes, known 10 the earlier
settlers as windfall. Thus while host
of interesting scientific questions respect.
ing the origin of tornadoes, the laws
which govern them and their relation.
ship to other meteorological phenomena,
remain to be answered, the more practi-
cal questions as to when and where they
ere likely to appear seem to be advancing
rapidly toward solution.
The interests which are subject to dis
aster from tornadoes are alive to the i'm.
portance of the work in progress. In
tending purchasers of farms apply to the
Signal Cftice for information respecting
the liability of their selected locality to
disaster. To such are sent the records of
the past as far as they are known.
Whenever Lieutenant Finley travels in
pursuit Of his studies farmers and villag-
ers press for information. To these he
says that nothing raised by the hand of
man aboYe tho surface of the earth can
withstand the shock of the tornado. He
advises them to seek their dug.outs on
the appearance of the porte ntous signs
OF disaster and there await the passage of
the storm. For their property he advises
insurance, so that the losses of the ipdi.
vidual may be shared by his fortunate
neighbors
Robinson's Circus Wrecked.
ST.. PAUL, MINI, October IA ter
ribe accident happened on the Fergus