Waco evening news. (Waco, Tex.) 1888-1889, 1889-01-24
Texas Weather.

The weather Of central Texas is a
puzzle to the wisest weather seers. In
most countries it may safely be predic-
ted, that such wind or such sunrise
will bring rain or such an indication
will bring cold weather, and the pre-
dictions based on such signs are reas-
onablv sure Of fulflment. In this Sec
ton, however, all signs fail, not only
in dry weather, as the adage has it,
but in all sorts Of weather. Even the
rule Of contraries will not work in
Texas representations. Being wholly
at sea therefore on old and we'll es-
tablished signs, new departure has
to be made by those who would be
weather wise, and the subject has to be
studied de novo.
There are several peculiaritics about
the climate of Texas, and one of them
is the latitude. The lines of latitude
do not parrellel the isothermal lines
by long shot, and the isothemal lines
do not represent an isotherm as gen.
orally understood. The south wind,
which blows three-fourths Of the year
is not south wind at all, but comes
from the west and it does not blow of
the gulf of Mexico, but comes from the
Pacific ocean. Again, blowing from
the sea it should be surcharged with
moisture, but instead--when it strikes
Texas it is as dry as q powder horn
every drop Of moisture having been ia
ken out Of it in crossing the high table
lands Of Mexico as completely as if il
had been run through tatent clothe!
ringer. The north wind is not cold
nor rain producing wind nor nortf
wind at all.
The wind blows from the west only
about three times year and then only
for an hour or two and the wind from
the east is only an occasional visito
and only about every other time being
a rain producing wind. If then tn
south wind is rainless and the nortl
wind devoid of cold and rain the west
crn wind failure and the east wine
a shaky dependence, where does Texal
get its rains and whence its cold wealth
er? The answer is nucleus arount
which the new study Of Texas weathe
must cluster. Texas weather is no
surface weather but is manufacture t
almost exclusively in the upper atmos
phere, miles and miles above the sur
face Of the earth. You should smile
certainly, or sneeze, but, neither smile
nor tears affect facts. The most paten
bull in this weather synopsis is tn
statement that north wind does no
produce cold. Let US take that TO
analysis. The wind will be BLOWN,
warm from the south, a man is sitting
with his coat off when in an instan
the wind 10 north and cold. The chang
is instantaneous. Now for the wind t
change instantly is credible but no,
could it become cool instantly. Itwa
warm wind striking you on the RICH
oheek-piff-it is cool wind striking
you on the left cheek. If it is tn
same wind coming back it ought to b
.;sa ,oa-m, and continue warm 70
some time and gradually grow cool a
, the wind from the north having driver
back the warm south wind began t
get in its work. The fact is the win
from the north, which we call north
er, is not norther nor the wind blow
ing from the north. It is the atmos
, phere Of the upper regions tumbiln
.. down in cataract and which, whe
, reaching the earth, takes a souther
: direction because of the vacuum le
by the warm south wind. But if cor
ing from the frozen regions above, VIII
4 is it cool and not cold as soon as
h strikes the earth ? Because, in i
downward fall it mixes with the war
surface air and grows cooler as it ge
the ascendancy.
R The fact that the wind in chan,
2 from south to north, brings an insta
famous change from warm to cold
:, fatal to the theory of the wind bell
u surface wind. This is only one
" the anarchronisms Of Texas wealth
all the rest 90 to show that Texas
~, a neutral zone, neither temperate n
liz tropical and that all weather chang
are produced above where the wine
the cold and the heat of the trop
he and the temperate zone meet q
miDgle, and fight 1t out and u