The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-07-29
WEATHER HERE AND ELsEwHERE.

The weather is the chief topic of con-
yersation on both sides OF the continent.
Throughout the Eastern States. from CHI
cago to Lynchburg and from Richmond to
New York, Wednesday was one OF the hot
test days on record. Thermometers in shady
and elevated portions recorded 9jdeg. and in
the streets many instruments showed n
rise OF the mercury 10 100. OF course. SIM
strokes were numerous. The hospitals are
full and the police ambulances were worked
all day In carrying sunstruek patients from
the places where they fell. Horses suc-
cumbed as we'll as men; the eobblestopes
were as hot as the pavements. Business
was practically suspended. No one had
anything in his mind but tie heat. The
term ended on Wednesday with trema,-
dous rainstorm which did havoc in iow
lying towns. During the prevalence of the
neat, the air was generally still: when if
was stirred, the breeze came from the
south.
simultaneously on this coast people are
complaining of the cold and damn. san
franciscans are noted for their short mem
orles IN matters OF meteorology: because
July and August are hot months in the
East, they always seem 70 fancy they should
be warm here. AS matter Of fact. Julv
and August in San Francisco are generally
chilly and misty: raw wind blows in
from the ocean and breeds fine erop of
colds among people who are careless. The
clerk OF the weather tells us that those
mlsts and cold winds are caused by a high
baromerle pressure along The California
coast, coupled with low barOmetric pres
sure in Nevada: if people don't compre-
bend this they have no one TO blame but
themselves. The Weather Bureau is not
bound to furnish them understanding, The
Tact Is that out at sea. In the summer
months. the winds set from west TO east
and, driving before them a mixture of The
not air which overlies the Japanese cur
rent ana the cold air everything the Alaska
current. precipitat tie ii on the coast of Cali
fornia in the shape Of raw mist. Why the
winds should blow persistently in this
direction, or, IN other words, why the bar
ometric pressure should be high on the
coast and low in the interior, outsiders
have no means of knowing. The Weather
Bureaus explanation that the atmospheric
conditions are caused by storms sweeping
from the ocean over the British colonies is
AKIN TO the EXPLANATION given by Moliere's
doctor OF the sop0rifc properties of opium.
Some day, no doubt, the laws of heat and
cold will be understood. A step was made
when meteorolOgy traced isothermal lines
and explained them by showing that heat
and cold are largely governed by the un-
equal distribution of land and water and
by the influence of ocean currents. Until
this explanation was given il was difficult to
understand how points in North Scotland.
nearly on the parallel of 60 deg, had the
same winter climate as Charleston, S. c.. in
the thirty-second. and how the summer heat
OF Nicaragua does not exceed the summer
heat Of Assiniboia. Vast expanses of land.
where they are not exposed to constant
gales blowing from the direction OF the
poles, are naturally warmer than land
which is close to large bodies of water. and
shores which are washed by currents flow
Ing from the equatorial region are warmer
IMAM shores on which the polar currents
break. Other variations of Climate are ex-
p'alned by meteorologists by referring to