The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-10-15
TORNADO WARNINGS.
Trustworthy Reports to Be Sent to
Localities Threatened by the
Funnel Fiend.
Lieutenant j. p. Finley's Observa-
tiOns-The Per Cent Of yeri-
fication Gratifying.
Washington dispatch.l

The phenomena Of tornadoes. TO the
scientific study of which Lieut.. John p.
Finley, of the signal corps, has devoted
abont eight years, are now SO well UNDER
stood as to warrant the belief that trust
w6rthy warnings may soon be sent out to
the inhabitants of localities which may DO
threatened with disastrous yisltations.
Daily predictions are in fact being made
at present, having begun last year and con-
tinued during the tornado season. and re-
sumed recently upon the return OF Lieut.
Finley from an inspection tour In the West.
The percentage of verifcation is already
gratifying, though the predictions are as
yet largely experimental, and are embodied
in the daily published bulletins OF the
signal Office only when the conditions
favorable to the creation of tornadoes are
very pronounced. In such cases severe
local storms are noted as probable.
To reporter Lieutenant Finley recently
described the known phenomena OF tor
nadoes and the ends toward which present
researches are directed. These storms
have distinctly marked characteristics, and
are by no means to be confounded with
hurricanes. "blizzards," cyclones, or north
casters. Their tracks are never more than
a few hundred yards wide, and their forces
are generally exhausted by the time they
have travelled course of forty or fifty
miles, though in this latter respect they are
quite variable. some having been traced by
their lines of devastation more than $50
miles. Their rotary motion. which is great
est toward the center, sometimes reaches
the enormous rate of two thousand miles an
hour, while their forward movement, always
from southwest to northeast, ordinarily
does not exceed forty or fifty miles. They
are usually unaccompanied by electrical
disturbances, and are believed to be unin-
fuenced by electrical conditions though
violent thunderstorms sometimes follow
them a few miles away. There is distinct
and curious relationship between the lorna
do and the general storm center, which is
always apparent in their uniform relative
positions: the tornado always occurring
southeastwardly from the center of the low
barometic pressure, and at distance from
one to six hundred miles. The shape OF
the general storm center, the direction in
which its longest diameter lies. and the
appearance of the upper and lower clouds
enter as minor elements IN the problem out
of which the weather experts hope TO work
complete system of tornado warnings.
The visits of the tornado are COM
monty between the hours of 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 northwestern corner of Arkansas, the
northeastern part of Indian Territory,
Eastern Kansas, Eastern Nebraska, South
ern Minnesota, Southern Wisconsin, and
Western illinois. Here its season extends
from April to August, inclusive. 1t is q fire.
quent visitor to two or three regions. One is
a strip along the gulf and South Atlantic,
which takes in the central portions of Ala
bama, Georgia. 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 other includes portion Of
southern and central Ohio, large part Of
Pennsylvania small area in MARYLAND, o
strip across New York, and corner each of
Massachusetts and Connecticut, where it is
seasonable only during the months of Au-
gust and September.
Lieut.. Finley further said, while host
of interesting scientific questions respect
ing the origin of tornadoes, the laws which
govern them, and their relationship to other
meteorological phenomena remain to be an
swered, the more practical questions as to
when and where they are likely to appear
seem to be advancing rapidly toward solu-
ton. The interests which are subject to
disaster from tornadoes are alive to the i'm
portance Of the work in progress. Intend
ing purchasers Of farms apply to the Signal
Office for information respecting the liabil-
ity Of their selected locality to disaster.
To such are sent the records of the past as
far as they are known. Whenever Lieut..
Finley travels in pursuit of his studies
farmers and villagers press for information.
To these he says that nothing raised by the
hand of man above the surface of the
earth can Withstand the shock of the tor
nado. He advises them to seek their dug
outs upon the appearance of the porten-
tious sigrs of disaster, and there await the
passage of the storm. For their property
he advises insurance, so that the losses OF
the individual may be shared by his more
fortunate neighbors. The insurance COM
panies which last year wrote" $40, 900, 900
Ia tornado policies are eagerly awaiting the
completion of map now in the process of
making which will, it is expected, greatly
narrow the so-called tornado regions, and
perhaps show that large portions of them
have never experienced a destructive
storm. Upon this map Lieutenant Finley
proposes to show from the complete rec
ords of several years and dates the average
number of tornadoes for each localityper