The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-06-19

cases these premonitory clouds are
unlike any ordinary formation. II they
are light their appearance resembles
smoke issuing from a burning build
ing or straw stack, rolling upward in
fantastic shapes to great heights;
sometimes they are like a fine mist, or
quite white like fog or steam. Some
persons describe these light clouds as
at times apparently irldescent or 9 low-
ing, as if q pale whitish light issued
from their irregular surfaces. If the
premonitory clouds are dark and pre-
sent a deep greenish hue, this fairly
forbodes very great evil. So, also, if
they appear jet black from the center
to circumference, or if this deep set
color appears only at the center, grad
ually diminishing in intensity as the
outer edges of the cloud or bank of
clouds are approached. Sometimes
these dark clouds, instead of appear
ing in solid and heavy masses, roll up
lightly but still intensely black, like
the smoke from an engine or locomo-
tive burning soft coal. They have
been described as of n purple of
blush tinge, or at times possessed of
a strange lividness, or frequently dark
green, and again of an inky blackness
that fairly startles n with its in
sensity.
Another and invariable sign of the
tornado's approach is a heavy roaring,
which augments intensity as the tor
nado cloud advances. This roaring is
compared to the passage OF a heavily
loaded freight train moving over a
hrjHra ~. n rC,1rh a laar pose ~. t,,
mel, or as heard on damp mornings
when the sound is very and loud.
At times the roaring has beer so VIC.
lent that persons have compared it to
the simultaneous rush of ten thou
sand trains of cars" Again, the roar
ing is likened to the low rumbling of
distant thunder. The varying in
tensity of the roar, as here represen-
ted, is apparently due to the lack of
uniformity in the positions of the vari-
GUS observers with respect to the ad-
vancing tornado cloud. Those situa-
ted nearest the cloud, other things be-
ing equal, experience the loudest roar,
while to those at greater distance the
noise is proportionally weaker. In
any event, however, the noise is sufti-
GENTLY peculiar and distinct to create
alarm, and as a means of warning
should not be overlooked under any
preteXt.
The tornado cloud is, generally
speaking. at its first formation funnel.
shaped-that is to say, it tapers from
the top downward, not always in the
same degree with every appearance of
the cloud, but the lower end of it (the
part nearest the earth) is Invariably
the smallest, and this, too, whatever
may be the inclination of the central
axis Of the cloud to the vertical or
plumb line. AS seen in different posi-
tions and stages of development by
various observers, located differently,
the tornado cloud has been call
ed ''balloon-shaped," basket-shaped,"
egg. shaped ''lrailing or the ground
like the tail of an kite;'' .'of
Dubious form;' 'like an elephants
trunk" etc. In the majority of in
stances, however, observers describe
the cloud as appearing like an up
right funnel. When the small end of
the cloud just reaches to the earth, the
violence of its whirl causes a peculiar
ly-formed cloud of dust and finely
divided debris, around which play
small gatherings of condensed vapor.
To appearances now. the tornado cloud
has two heads, one on the surface of
the earth and the other IN the sky, the
bodies of each joining in midMr and
tapering both ways with the smallest
diameter at their junction. In other
words, the cloud now assumes the
shape of an h~our-glass, and the lower
portion displays extraordinary de-
structive violence. This last and most
fatal form OF the tornado cloud is
fortunately not a constant feature of
the storm. The tornado cloud is con-
stantly changing from the hour-glass
form to that of the upright funnel, or
some other intermediate shape pre-
viously referred to. The various gra-
dations of form, not any of which,
however, affect the stereotyped rela-
ton between the size of top and bot
tom, number some twenty-five or
thirty, so far as reliable information
has been secured upon this point.
These variations of form depend upon
the peculiar movements of the whirl-
ing currents of air within and about
the tornado cloud, the direction of the
currents being outlined to the eye by
the singular disposition of the rapidly
condensing masses of vapor.