New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-09-02
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CORRECT NAMES FOR VARIOUS STORMS.

CORRECT NAMES FOR VARIOUS STORMS
cvcroNr. TORNADO. HURRICANE AND soUALL'
ana Editor Of The Tribune
Cir VIII Won explain afresh the difference be-
tween a cyclone and o tornadof ENoulShn'
New-York, Aug. ~ leSl' .,.
iC,o,ones and tornadoes are both wind storms
III ,,oro or loss rain and they both whirl; other-
LEO ,bov are very unlike The cyclone is from
ono to ZOO miles across. Is generally born az
aooo ,nost NJ It's work there, and lasts several
go. sometimes even weeks, before dying out.
T.s axtert is so great that 1t takes many hours
ord often n day or two, TO pass given poiht
"a ,bouob there Is @ gradual change OF drec-
aor tho wind blows apparently as a straight-llne
,olo The tornado is land storm, measuring
,orIv few hundred feet In diameter The wheie
tbinc ran be discerned at a glance 1t sweeps
o,-or q narrow track, and does Its work In CITY
as large as Louisville almost In an instant. lte
whole lifetime during which 1t may have traVeiieu
twenty-five or fifty miles, Is seldom over an
bour or two; often less 1t Is apt 10 nave
thundershower aocompaniments; gusts, rain OF
hail and lightning; but its most obvious charac-
terIstio Is a funnelshaped cloud descending ike
the slack of balloon, or an elephants uuhk'
from the main thundercloud. This v@por-
spout is the axis of the &" twister." In considering
both cyclones and tornadoes, the rate OF prog
ress is much less important than the gyratory
velocity. In a cyclone, the latter is 100 niles
an hour, sometimes, neOr the centre, the violence
being enhanced by the rather gusty character OIL
the protracted gale. The tornado whirls az a
rate variously estimated from 500 TO 1000 miles
an hour Though ephemeral aud dimiEutlve' u nus
vastly greater violence. To call it Cyclone
is TO belittle its teuOrs. True cyclones are eX-
ceedingly scarce, while tornadoes are num-
bered by the hundred every season. Cyclones are
of tropical origin, and are chiefly found IN nVe
localities the West Indies Bengal Bay, ana the
Chinese coast, north Of the equator; and IN inc
South Indian Ocean off Madagascar, and the South
Pacific near Samoa. In the Antilles there are not
half dozen on the average every season. Ihey
usually come only between July and October.
For the term Cyclone then, the news-gatherer
has but little legitimate use Hurricane Is the
old Spanish name for West India cyclone; but it
is now used also TO designate a long continued
wind Of extreme violence In Beauforts scale,
one rises through Eight, gentle fresh" and
" strong breezes," fresh" "strong' and whole
gales and STORM" to hurricane" by which the
mariner understands velocity of ninety miles or
more an hour" For a short, sudden blast, such
as often comes IN a summer storme ana WRECKS
Yacht levels trees, unroofs buildings and works
other like damage, "squall' is the proper term,
unless there is good evidence of a rOtatory motion
and funnelshoped cloud, Nor will the in
tcllcent reporter deem "squall" inadequate for
his purposes when he recalls that the British man.
of-war Eurydice, with officers and crew, suddenly
capsized and sunk March "a, 1879 in storm
of this type.-Ed)