Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-03-02


minimum. A shown by S'c cross ''n''
few general facts are of great interest.
In the first place it is clearly demon
strated that tornadoes are not increasing
either in number or destructive force
they have certainly prevailed for 100
years past in the United States, and will
as certainly for 100 years to come
Secondly, the reason is found in the fact
that all the central section, from the Allie
ghanies to the Rocky mountains, is
basin plain, unbroken by cross ranges of
mountains, and with no hills which rise
to the middle region of the atmosphere.
Hence the territory Of the United States
west of the Alleghanies will always be the
land of the tornado, its force increasing
from east to west till one reaches the Mis-
souri, valley, and from both ends toward
the west center-about latitude 40 dogs.
These facts would lead us to conclude,
and observation proves it, that there are
certain belts where the tornado is very
rare, and others where it is of appalling
frequency. The records for 1875 years
prove the following:
West Virginia is the one state where
the tornado, strictly speaking, is I'M
known, and next to it in exemption is
Virginia proper. Southwark and slightly
westward from the latter there is an in
creasing liability till one reaches that part
of Georgia and Alabama south of the
westward trend of the Alleghanies, and
there is storm belt at least 100 miles in
width from north to south. From
West Virginia northward there is a
rapid increase of liability till one
passes central Ohio westward from
the Big Miami the liability again
decreases, and there is a region in the
Wabash valley, from Vincennes to La
fayette, where there is almost complete
exemption--at any rate tornadoes are
rare. Westward from that region the
liability increases rapidly and steadily to
the junction of the Nemaha and Missouri,
and there is, beyond comparison, the tor
nado center of the United States. Take
the junction of these two rivers as center
and lay off concentric circles, with radii
of 100 200 and 300 miles, and you will
very nearly outline the areas of greatest
successfully decreasing frequency.
The reasons are very plainly stated In
the latest publication of the signal SER
vice bureau; but they are too numerous
to recite here. The point of interest to
the dweller in the tornado belt is to deter
mine the phenomena which Immediately
precede the tornado, and the proper
The following facts, therefore, deduced
from observation of over 500 tornadoes
are of vital interest"
/. Seven-eighths of all destructive tor
nadoes come between l and p. m. A
tornado never originates after shutdown
they sometimes, but rarely, strike in the
night but always as continuation OF the
previous days course.
2. Nine-tenths of the worst ones come
from the west; in certain sections (Which
the department now has mappedD nearl!
all come from south of west, and in Others
majority come from north of west
Therefore, if the narrow black "trunl
cloud" which always shows the tornado
be seen in time, run to the northwest O
southeast-never toward the east o
northeast. If you retreat to the cellar
always crouch in the southwest corner o
under the west wall, for in nine cases on
of ten the house goes off to the east o
northeast