The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-11-09
HOW TO PREDICT STORMS.
How Observations Are Taken in. All
Parts of the Country.
Fyoyy1 the Rosf01i Herald

From the Boston Herald.
The forecasts of the weather printed
every day in the newspapers are furnished
by the signal office at Washington to the
Associated Press agent at the capital, by
whom they are distributed over the CONT
nent. The signal office is the central de-
partment of the United States signal
service, and is a branch of the war depart
ment. The service maintains over 100 sub
stations in carefully selected places in the
United States for the purpose of obtaining
from them twice daily Geographic reports
or the conditionof the weather then pre-
Vailing. The observations everywhere are
made at the same moment of time, and the
results are at once telegraphed to the CEN
trial office, in order that an indication officer
may study them and formulate predictions
Tor the ensuing twentyfour hours. These
official forecasts are made for large areas of
country, and must necessarily be brief and
very general in their character. As me-
teorology ID yet only a partially developed
and imperfectly understood science, they
sometimes prove to be disappointingly in-
accurate fact of which the public is
already well aware. 1t is not unnatural by
reason of these failures that fuller informa-
ton than the forecasts contain is some
times demanded. If the indication officer
could be approached, he would very often
he thus Intercepted: "You say that to-
morrow IL will rain. How do you know it
willl Your prediction seems highly i'm
probable while it is SO fair to-dayp
To convince the most skeptical, and, at
the same time, to bring his department into
closer touch with the public, the chief sig
nal officer, Gen A. w. Greedy, name intl-
mately associated with Arctic exploration,
has recently undertaken, by an exceedingly
interesting method to place in the hands of
Ihose who desire it all the information nee
essary for the making Of independent pre-
dlctions. The information is not given in
the ordinary printed form, but by means of
weather chart, OF map. which is published
twice every day at the signal stations IN the
large cities Of the country. The observa-
lions, from the results of which the maps
are drawn, are taken at a. m. and p. M,
eastern standard time, and as soon as the
Information is all collected at the central
office, it is tabulated and telegraphed by
means Of very ingenious cipher, designed
70 save Geographic expanse, to all
the stations in the country which publish
maps. In two hours from the time the
observer at Fort Custer, M. T.. or the OBJ
server at Chicago, Salt Lake City or
Galveston makes his observation, the
condition of the weather at that place is
known to the observer at Boston, and the
Information in the mean time has been
USED by the washington indication ofhcer
Tor bis prediction. As soon as the maps
are printed they are posted in various
public places. such as reading rooms,
schools, postoffices and boards of trade, and
they are also sent through the mails TO a
large number of subscribers, whopay the
government at the rate OF 81 so for 100
maps which is just enough TO meet the ex-
pense the government incurs in buying the
prepared paper on which they are printed.