The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-08-23
TORNADOES.
The Result OF Eight Years Invest CATION
BY a Signal Service Officer


The Result OF Eight Years Investi CATION
BY Signal Service Officer
Lie tenant John p Finley, of the
Signal Go. ps, has been studying the
phenomen of tornadoes for the East
eigh wears. Tornadoes are now so
we'll understood that it eliev d that
trustworthy warning can soon be sent
ont to the localities th cate d In fact,
experimental predictions have been
made for year. with good result. Ac-
cor ing o Lieutenant Finl v. to nadoes
have distinctly marked characteristics
and arr by no means 10 be COMPOUNDED
with hurrIcan S. '.blizz I'd ~ cyclo :. s
or mouth asst rs. Their acks are never
more than few hundred yards wide
heir otary motion, whic is or attest
toward the center. Ometimes reaches
the enor Ous rate of 1900 mil s an
hour. while the, forward movement.
alw vs. rom southwest to northwest
dinalily o not exec ii forty or fifty
miles. They are usually unaccompa :
led by electrical diSturban .es and are
believed to be uninfluenced by electrical
conditions, though violent thu der
storms sometimes foil W them w
mics away
There is a distinct and curious rela-
tiOnship between the tornado and the
general storm center, viii h is ALWAYS
apparent in their un form relative po-
s!tlOns, the tornado always occurring.
sOutheaStwar;ilv from the enter CT low
barOmetric pressure, and at 3 dis lance
of from one to six hundred mites. The
shape of the general storm ceuteI, the
direction in which its lowest barometer
lies and the appearance of the upper
and lower clouds en.er as minor ele-
ments into the profile IL out of which
the weather experts hope TO work a
complete system of tornado WARNINGS.
The visits of the tornado are common
~ between the hours of two and six
O'Clock in the aftern on. Its home is
an area which includes the whole of
Iowa, all of Missouri. except the south
eastern corner, the northwestern corner
of Arkansas, the northeastern part of
the Indian Territory, Eastern Kansas,
Eastern Nebraska, Southern Mime
sofa, Southern Wiscon sin and Western
Illinois. Here its season extends from
April to August inclusive. 1t is also a
frequent visitor to two other regions.
These are, first. strip along
the Gulf and South Atlantic coasts.
which takes in the central portions of
Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
with termini in Mississippi and North
Carolina, over which its devastations
are confined to the months OF January.
February aud March. The second in
cludes portion of Southern and Cen
trail Ohio, a large portion of Pennsylva-
mia. small area in Maryland, strip
across New York and a corner of each
of Massachusetts and Connecticut.
where it is In season only during Au.
gust and September.
The conditions which are favorable
to the creation of tOrnadoes are present
when a cool, dry current of air meets a
warm. moist current. bringing wide en-
tremes both of temperature and hu-
Nudity into close proximity. The cool.
dry currents come from the north, but
such as flow over the Great Lakes pick
up in their course both moisture and
heat and their destructive forces are
thus neutralized. Those blow inc from
the Northwest, down over the dry
plains of Manitoba and Dakota, carry
something of their Arctic character,
istics far South, and if in their course
they meet one of the heat
and vapor, laden Freezes COM
ing mp from the Gulf the war
of the elements begins at the point OF
contact. The storm always has it.
birth in the upper air its first visible
manifestation being the ominous fun
mel shaped cloud. whose pendant trunk
is in form not unlike that of an ele-
plant. Within it the furies are confined
and when sud where its point touches
the earth the path of destruction be-
gins. When the isOtherm of the morn
ing sign | map shows the advancing
| columns Of air, with their wide con-
trasts of temperature, in proximity;
when the general storm center is in
that relative position which seems
necessary to the exercise of its mystic
rious influence; when the pressure is
low toward the east, disclosing a
vacuum into which the detected cur
rents may advance without obstruc-
| tion-when all these conditions com bine
it should become but simple problem
for tie experts to determine with rea-
| sonaole probability from the wind We
| lOcities whether the threatening line of
contact will have advanced to OF beyOntt
the tornado's accustomed haunts bv the
| time of day when the powers of mis-
chief shall be lcosed. Washington Coz
| fhilGdelpltia Times