The National tribune., 1889-12-12
THE WEATHER.
Notable Occurrences for the Week Ending Dec. .,
1852

1851.
ny LIEUT.. J. p. FINLEY, u. s. SIGNAL SERVICE.
correspondence invited, suggestions desired.
ard Information cheerfuliy furnished. Every or
fort employed 10 make tlsis iinrca,i 81 practical
10 the readers % fnR NATIONAL rEinusE All
communications slpnid be asdrcssad-- Weather
TnE SATioSaL TntuuEE Office. Washington. u. g. /
Lows, OR AREAS OF WARM, MOIST AIR, CLOUDY
WEATHER, wtra GENERAL RAIN OR sNow
ASD HiGH wfsDs.
Seven such areas affected the weather Of the
United States Three continued from last week
came from the North Pacific Coast, two
came from tho Northwest Territory and one
from southern California. Average progressive
velocity eastward 1874 miles per hour Aver
age duration 81 days.
HIGHS, OR AagAs or COLD. DRY AIR AND GEN
TEALLY CLEAR WEATHER, WITH MODERATE
WINDS.
Three such areas affected the weather OF tho
United States. One continued from last week,
two oamc from tho Northwest Territory, aud
ono from the California Coast. Average pro-
grcssive velocity eastward Is miles per hour.
Average duration 35 days.
Temperature. greatest fall in % hour
&c., occurred at Norhfeld, VI, on the
ID Tho greatest rise f2So) occurred at La
occurred at Rio Grando City, Tex, on the Sd
The minimum (129 below zerol occurred ut
Mortified, VI, OF the 4th.
Precipitation. Rain or snow has been report.
cd from every State aud Territory except
South Carolina Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana. Texas, Arkansas. Indiana, Indian
Territory Kansas and Wyoming. Tho heay.
lest lover one inch In - hours was reported
from only one State, California The maxi
mum in ~ hours 100 iuches) occurred at San
Francisco Cal, on the 9th aud 9Th
Riuers.-There has been no rise reported dur.
ing the week The maximum fall (33 nches)
occurred at Fort Smith, Ark, on the ID.
Existing C0ndtti0ns.-The principal lOtp Is
central In the Mississippi Valley. Another lo,p
Is moving eastward from the Pacific Coast
The principal high is central in New England.
Another high Is approaching from tho North.
west Territory. Occasional rain or snow in
the Mississippi Valley aud TO the West. Fair
IN the Atlantic Coast States
Facts 10 be Remembered-The connection be-
tween shooting stars aud bad weather men,
toned by many ancient writers, will appear
probable il we consider certain facts establish
ed in the domain Of modern science. OF all tho
various theories advanced to explain this start.
ling phenomenon termed meteor, fire. ball
shooting stars, moon.stone, sun' stone etc. that
seems 90 be the most probable which considers
them planetary bodies of very small size cireu-
lating IN an orbit round the sun, as our earth,
aud getting into that of the latter, entangled by
her attraction, which occasionally brings down
some of them upon her surface. Numerous
planetary bodies called Ceres, Pallas etc, exist
between Mars and Jupiter, and similar bodies
of smaller dimensions may exist between the
earth and its neighbors in the solar system
Periodicity Is great fact in cosmica arrange
ments, and this phenomenon of shooting stars
etc. is strikingly periodical. Induced, appar-
emily, by certain popular weather maXims
among the French, M. O. st. Claire Deville has
Investigated the subject. aud his conclusions
are positive as to the" perturbations of the
earth's temperature" concident with tho phe.
nomenon, as noticed from time immemorial In
about the first fortnight Of February, May, Au-
gust aud November. M. Deville even ventures
upon general conclusions from the fact. He SAYS
DO not all these considerations almost neces.
sarily lead ns to infer the influence of these
critical periods by their sudden variations of
temperature, not only on the health of the veg
etable creation, but that of the human race (?
Should we not examine the registers of hospi-
tails to see If certain diseases are not more fro
quent OIL certain days OF certain years? Can
we not even go back and see In the history and
chronicles of past ages il there are some traces
of periodicity in certain great perturbations in
the health of nations like the two invasiOns of
cholera, which perhaps by chance occurred in
1882 and in l949, about the center of the two
critical periods and which came from the north
like the aurora borealis. since IL seems, Also
that it is these great atmospheric waves that
propagate the perturbatiOns of temperature -
In confirmation of this view we may notice the
cattle plague and cholera In their recent raw
ages of certain portions of this country. 1t
would require much close study and MANY
years of records To discover If the relation was
accidental or otherwise.