Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-03-17
WHERE BLrzzARDs COME FROM.

The saying that "no true blizzard
ventures East" became an obsolete
popular impression on the 18th OF
March, 1888. The storm which rag.
ed on that day had the characters.
tics of that combination of fierce
gale, bitter cold and flying sleet and
snow to describe which the word
"blizzard was first coined fifteen
years ago. 1t was preceded by the
same remarkably fine weather which
tempts the Dakota settler a long
distance from home, and it came as
suddenly and unexpectedly as the
billiards. which bewilder, benumb
and freeze the Western traveller. 1t
left the great cities of the East with
their matchless railroad communica-
tions and Geographic facilities as
completely cut off from the world as
if they were isolated farm houses ON
the treeless prairies of Dakota or
Montana.
Meteorological authorities have
not yet succeeded in giving gener.
ally accepted explanation of the orr.
gin of these storms and the cold
waves which accompany them. The
first indication of the great majority
of them, however, is seen in the far
Northwest, East of the Rocky Noun.
tains. Lieutenant Thomas M.
Woodruff, who has charge Of the In.
dications Office in st. Paul, Mimi,
has made a special study of cold
waves, and from tri-daily observa.
tions taken during the tour year
from 1881 to 1884 inclusive, he esti.
mated that LA of the cold waves re.
corded originated on the East side
Of the Rocky Mountains or came
down on the same. side of these
mountains from the British North.
west. The other thirty-four cold
waves observed came from the Pa.
cific coast. The conclusion of Lieu.
tenant Woodruff is that " these
waves have their origin in the vast
regions Of ice and snow near the
Arctic circle far to the North OF our
stations.' l
The progress of the cold waves after
they have once reached the verge of
civilization, is another interesting
meteorological phenomenon and it
has led to their division into three
classes, according to the direction
they take. The first class move d..
rectly East and cut wide atmos.
pherie swathe from Montana o New
England. Their effect is felt in the
region Of the great lakes and the
Northern tier of states and Canada.
A second class move on a diagonal
line the termini of which are Hell.
ena, Mont, and Washington, d. 9.
Their effect is more general and it
sometimes reaches as far South as
Florida, as occurred a few Winters
ago. Still third class of cold
waves take a "header" almost due
South, and are felt in Texas and the
Western Gulf States. The cold
wave and storm of January - and
13, which was so fatal to life and
property on the Western prairies,
was of this class. Its full effects
were encountered in that broad belt
of states and territories which
stretches from the Canadian line to
the gulf, and is bounded by the
Mississippi River and the Rocky
Mountains.
Fortunately genuine billiards.
come but rarely. Even in Montana
and Dakota, according to the wealth
er-wise settlers, none occurred be-
tween 1873 and January, 1883, and
in the East meteorological records
viii! have to searched for genera
ton back to find a parallel for the
storm which will make this week
memorable. When it is over there
may not be such narrowing tales of
suffering to tell as always fol-
low the occurrence of similar condi.
tions on the trackless prairies OF the
West, and the loss of life, it is to be
hoped, will be only a fraction of that
caused by the Dakota blizzard of
last January. But the loss through
the destruction of property and the
decentralization of business will be
vastly greater, while the tax upon
human energy and vitality necessary
to free the railroads from their icy
bands and restore the means of con-
Quoting the ordinary affairs of life to
their normal condition will be meal.
culable.
Their Business BOOMING.