The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-01-19
sim SPOTS AND WEATHER.
Their Relation not Known-C auses OF
a Mild and Open Winter.
From the Baltimore Sun.

a D.
From the Baltimore Sun.
In conversation yesterday with reporter
about the protracted spell of beautiful
weather in this part Of the country, Lieut..
Tobn p. Finley, of the signal corps, and
assistant to the chief signal officer at Wash
irgton. said: Eyes, this is what the public
calls an open winter, or, as the meteoro-
1orical bureau terms it, a winter of Excess
eiTe temperature, meaning thereby
that the average state OF the
thermometer on any one particular
Jav for the last seventeen years, at
any one station, is below the temperature
,'acy,stered at that station on the same day
his wear. Such a comparison with the
yoean or normal of temperature conditions
during Dec mber has been taken by the
S;rnai service bureau for the whole country
and Dublished as a special bulletin. New,
Iyith the exception of the SOUTH the tenn
,,arature has not been more than So or 6
shove the n rmal, and though mild weather
js roted almost everywhere and the oldest
inhabjfant is out with the usual statement
that such winter is without precedent, the
bureau can only say that as far as its rec
ords 90 the year is not exceptional.
,tSnow has fallen as far down south as
Chattanooga Tenn, and there have been
otherwise low temperatures throughout
this section OF the Iuntry. On the other
hand less rain has fallen. 1t is merely ac-
cidental that we have had rain instead of
snow in these parts, with the usual slushy
and otherwise disag reeable accompaniments
that the la ter brings. The upper currents
of air NAV not have been cold enough for
the formation of snow when rain cloud
passed by, even though at the surface the
conditions were quite favorable for a
precipitation in this form. Again,
s-l,E hayT haa ,,o1
the clouds, which are nearly a mile
above US, and in descending through the
warmer strata of air become changed to
rain. Something like this frequently hap
peus, for a dry snow is less usual in these
ATTITUDES than wet one, and the latter re-
suits from just such conditions as last
named. In a range of the seventeen years
of the bureau, this year can not BE- cOnsid-
cred remarkable one, though the subject
may be discussed in many 81 les at we do
not n0te The bureau publishes its monthly
bulletins during certain months to give in
dcatons of the crop prospects. The wheat
ought now be covered by layer Of snow
to protect the grain while it develops; in
stead of that, by alternate freezing and
thaWing, the seed is thrown out much be-
fore its time, and, being exposed to the
frost, is killed
"a cause for this the bureau does not
attempt to assign, and, while there has
been nothing published on the subject, all
these suggestions as to connection of
weather with the conjunction of planets,
sun spots, etc, accord ng to private opinion,
have no value. The signal service does not
attempt to discuss any subjects pertaining
to astronomy or to note tue celestial pne-
nomena, although there is a manifest
connection between the weather and some
of the heavenly bodies. We do, how
ever, provide parties about to study eclipses
with forecasts of the probable state OF
the weather in the places whittier
they have determined to go. Prof. Ma sell,
of Rock Island, ILL.,, once had a theory that
the state of the weather was due to the con-
junction Of the various planets. ard whom
ever anything unusual occurred hat this
was due to some one of these planets going
out of their orbit. The late Prof. Proctor
answered these theories in several articles
published in western paper and completely
upset all his theories. He showed that the
facts on which Mausell based his theories,
even when they could be established, were
nothing moro than concOmitant circum-
stances, and could be explained with less diff
tculty otherwise, and that nothing could be
proved either one way or the other. Wig
gins and Venner, the much-talked-of
weather prophets Of several years ago, who
it will be remembered, came to grief with
some well-advertised predictions, founded
There was a man who recently came out
with a theory that every meteorological
ma Hesitation was due to electrical in
fuences; that the great storms and lorna
does Of the west were due to electricity
drawn from the clouds, where it should
have remained, by the many thousands of
tons OF iron and steel ia Is with which that
section of the country is now gridironed.
mo tempt has been made so far, to my
" N
present open winter, and no article in the
american Meteorological Journal the
only periodical in the field, discusses the
subject. We do not think that sun spots
have anything to do with what we are now
discussing. Several years ago, in response
to MANY inquiries as to II connect be-
tween the great and the small spots on the
sun with the prevailing temperature, an
myestgation was undertaken and the
results OF the observations on tempera-
lure aud the sun spots for fifteen
years published III the Monthly
Weather ReUielO of January, 1887 This
paper will elucidate pretty well all that
could be said of the relation of the weather
10 large spots on the surface of the sun as
seen through telescope, and Of similar in
Vestlgations in meteorology, so l will speak
o. II at length. We studied the peculiari-
ues OF the sun spots, of the wave OF mag
neuc declination of the range of air pres
sure OF mean temperature, of clouds and
LIuclplta Ion Train or snow.) A connection
was established by this study between the
waves OF magnetic declination and the sun
Spots, though the fluctuations in the latter
were followed only by corresponding ones
~ Tue former after several months. On
Vne otner hand there was an enormous in.
uedse Of sun spots in the early summer
mont OF 1885, but this was not followed
W any marked increase in magnetic decli-
Lauon' and 1t was thought that this NAV
nave been due to larger number Of small
ouu spots seen during those months. In
seNeIal, however, outside of the possible
masneVic coincidence recorded nothing but
ntalFe results were obtained, aud the
faesuon OF connection or non-connection Of
we Varlouss wave studied, involving most Of
,ns neurological phenomena was not es-
n.lS The state of the weather as here
n ti'o.41 uoWn is affected by so many causes
'cu mask one real cause.-the real
Fl 49, Oh one particular cosmic or supra
etigDral torce-and it is SO difficult 10
n cot i';1aVe all OF these except the one under
IA iHivlaIlon that one can scarcely hoye for
# i9iact9ry solution of the problems in
~ taxing the temperature, for in
he IL would seem that daily curve of
,ii e'ernent, when compared with the
wy spot curve, might show a con
Gu ou not otherwise obtained; but
do 3. Such q comparison could be
We ! would DO necessary to ex-
'Ng lue influence Of day and night, high
Nv pres"ures, the Invisible vapor OF