The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-06-19
TORNADOEs
The Formation and Appearance Of Tornadoes
n the PremonitGry signs Of Their

Llu0 Will only uetermlne whether
this will be a "good year, for lorna
does or not, says The Chicago Times.
The destruction caused by them dur
ing the past few seasons has created
much alarm in the districts where
they have been the most frequent, and
where they have resulted in causing
the loss Of many lives and much valu-
able property. The prevalence of tor
nadoes in some places has made eau
tious people reluctant to become resi-
dents of them, as no person wishes to
locate in a place where life and prop
erty are rendered insecure by the &C
ton of the elements. During the past
few seasons the signal office of our
war department has made a special
study of tornadoes, and has endeav-
ored to collect all the facts attainable
in relation to the places where they
are most likely to occur, the condi-
lions of their formations, premonitory
signs of their appearance and the
character OF tornado clouds and mo-
tons. 1t has also made Investigations
in relation to the best means Of afford
ing protection from them to life and
property. All this information has
been compiled by Gen. HAYES, chief
signal-service officer, and published by
the authority Of the secretary of war.
Following are some of the important
facts set forth in the report, which are
OF special interest to farmers and 9TH
ers living in the country:
In the United States the terms cy-
clone, tornado, and hurricane are fire.
quently interchanged in ordinary
conversation, and in the minds Of
nine-tenths of the people these terms
mean one and the same thing. This
IS no altogether surprising, consider
ing the want of systematic instruction
in accurate meteorological knowledge,
and the general disposition of intelli-
gent minds to speculate about the
weather. But, in fact, the tornado Of
the United States is a well-defined
species Of storm, differing in many
points from hurricanes, cyclones, and
thunder storms, and it is the only one
that will now be considered
Omitting consideration of the lorna
does, so called by Portuguese and Span
ish navigators on the African coast,
and combining our attention to the
cLttCos ~ 10 pC1iCtCu UlldC IACSo
storms are possessed of the following
prominent characteristics: The gen
eral direction of movement of the tor
nado is invariably from a point in the
southwest quadrant to a point IN the
northeast quadrant. The tornado
cloud assumes the form of a funnel,
the small end drawing near to, or rest
ing upon, the earth. This cloud and
the air beneath it revolve about a cen
trail vertical axis with uncomfortable
rapldity, and always in a direction
contrary to the movement of the hands
of a watch. The destructive violence
of the storm is sometimes confined to
a path a few yards in width, as when
the small or tail end Just touches the
earth; while, on the other hand, as
the body OF the cloud lowers more of
it rests upon the earth, the violence in
creases, and the path widens to the
extreme limit of eighty rods. The tor
nado, with hardly an exception, occurs
in the afternoon. just after the hottest
part of the day. The hour of greatest
frequency is between 3 and 4 D.. M.
Tornadoes very rarely, if ever. begin
after 6 p. m. A tornado commencing
about 5 p. m. may continue its charac-
terlstic violence until nearly s p. NJ,
which means, only. that the tornado.
cloud may be travelling after 6 >. M,
or after Z p. M. but it does not de-
velop-that is, make its appearance for
the first time, after those hours. Out
side of the area of destruction, at times
even along the immediate edge, the
smallest objects often remain undis-
turbed, although at q few yards dis
lance the largest and strongest build
ings are crushed to pieces. At any
point along the storms path, where
there IS opportunity afforded the tor.
nado cloud to display it's power, the
disposition of the debris presents I'm.
mistakable signs of an action of the
wind, such as might be called a rota.
ton, from the right through the front
to the left around the center. The de-
%structive power of the wind increases
steadily from the circumference of the
storm to its center.
Observations with a single isolated
barometer will not indicate the ap-
proach of q tornado, however near the
position of the instrument to the path
of the storm, but such observations
are of value when q number are dis
played on the daily weather map. The
tornado season is embraced between
the LIST of April and the 1st of Septem-
ber. The months of greatest frequency
are June and July. There are, how
ever, instances in a long series of years
where tornadoes have been reported
in every month Of the year. Taking
the whole United States together, it is
found that the region of greatest aver
age frequency per year per square
mile, embraces the following states:
Georgia, Illinois. Indiana, Iowa, Kan
sas, Missouri, Ohio.
On the day of the storm, and for
several hours previous to the appear
ance of the tornado cloud, what indi-
cations of its probable formation and
approach are within the comprehension
of an ordinary observer, and can read
lily be detected by himP A sultry, OPP
pressive condition of the atmosphere,
described by various observers as
followed: II really experienced d
sickly sensation under the influence OF
the suns rays" ST was compelled
to stop work on account of the pecu-
liar exhaustion experienced from ply
steal exertion." alt seemed as ii the
lightest garments that l could put on
were a burden to me-" There was
not a breath Of air STIRRING" 1.-THE
air. at times, came / putfs, as from a
heated furnace" II felt a want OF
breath, the air frequently appearing
too rarified to breathe freely" 81 was
startlat at the sudden and continual
rise in the thermometer, especially at
this season of the. year" alt was
terribly oppressive; it seemed as if the
atmosphere was unusually heavy and
pressing down on me with great
weight"
Enough examples have been cited
to Indicate the effects and signs of this
| oppressive sultriness. Other signs