The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-01-23
SATURDAY. JhNTNHY T 1862.

SATURDAY. JhNIkRY tf le,2.
Every one who has felt the warn
breath Of - Montana winters suuthwce
ztuhyr fan his checks knows what
chiu.J.: u.s.. J.; ~ a peculiar wind. ]
never whistles Dr srrccchcs around sire"
corners throwing dust or snow into tn,
eyes of ~uusHsp"cting pedestrians. no.
l0es il yiciouslv snap at awnings ant
signs twisting them out Of ahap" 0l
making chem beat tattOos against thril
supports. nor does If pick up old papers
and other rubbish and send them whirl
ing in the air to the disgust Of the ;cs-
thciir or the establishment and fear OF
well bred cguiucs. No. 1t does nothing
Of the kind. Tho gentle chinook comes
soughing or sobbing through the tree.
tops and telegraph and telephone wires
and over house-tops as though it had a
mOurnful tale to tell. but felt too full for
Inference, or ii comes like the sweet
breath of a maid5n, now warmly caress-
it- tii' 'tl''f VI lilt lihetI- ll'n pay lux
with his locks unshorn or gently muir
mu:ing through his unkcmpt whiskors.
But from whence comes the gentle chi
nook; Tha, is the question the pilgrim
auJ tn" stranger ask.
The Indians Of Montana have Il tradi-
ton that the warm southwest winter
winds come from the land Of the Chi
hooks In" manu- Of a tribe Of Indians in
Washington hence the name. The In
dians are right as to the direction from
whence Our chinopks come, but quite us
Far oil IN locating their source or dcscrih-
Ing their cause as are many pale faces
who nave cssaycd to tell all about them.
We have said the chinook is a peculiar
wind. II may also be added il is pccul-
ton OF British Columbia. Neither south |
crn Oregon nor California have the gentle
chinook. IL finds its outlet through
Montana and is lost among the cold
waves Of the Dakotas which come down
from the north like a wolf on the fold.
carrying suffering and sometimes death
in their embrace. But to the question:
From whence comes the chinook? Here
is the 5
The average attitude of Montana is
5000 feet above the sea level, while
the average altitude of Colorado is 700
feet, Of Wyoming G,OO0 feet. and of New
Mexico 300 feet. 1t will thus be seen
the area Of Montana covers u great de-
preston in the Rocky mountain system
Through or over this depression the
northeast trade winds. which blow IN
rom the eastern coast of Asia, pass 10
he eastward. But before reaching the
Pacific coast these trade winds must pass
'ver the great Japan current, a warm
tream Of water whose temperature never
ais below 81 degrees Fahrenheit. and
become heated rs it were by the contact ,
winds, when not cut Off by cross ;
currents Of air or met hy cold waves =
rom the north, become the chinooks of T
1t soft, warm wind before ,
'hich the snow upon the plains and hill 7
ldes. and sometimes even upon the ,
mountain tops, disappears like frost under /;
July sun. \
The chinook exercises a powerful in Y
uence upon the climate of Montana. G
is constantly battling against the cold a
waves aud though often de d
ated it occasionally gets in its work it
when it does the snow and ice turn Il
water and leave it monarch of all it al
But at all times the chinook Il
the climate of Montana. 1t 81
ay not be felt in it's primitive warmth st
ut it is felt in the modification of the
.mperature. Look at yesterday morn Vi
g's TRIBUNE's dispatches. Forty de- n
'ees below at Red Lake, Minnesota; in
below at Grand Forks: 40 below at a!
'innipeg and b below at jamestown. p
orth Dakota. No such weather al p,
reat Falls, and snow melting to slush h'
sterday. The chinook is at work. tr
hen it gets fairly down to it the little II
ow upon the ranges of northern Mon &C
ma will be licked up and gone between pr
n and sun. of
The weather prophets at Washington In
II never hit Montana weather right eff
ring winter months unless they take cr
10 accoun the probable effect of the Of
rtheast trade winds. Their effect is be
own in the isothermal line that is an tn
Iaginary line over the carth's surface, re
ssing through points having the same it.
annual temperature. This line
ops from the western portion OF thu
itish Possessions, where the warm liz
ence Of the japan current is felt. into "
and from fbapce paaacs e'