Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-05-15
HOW HE TELLS IT
Foster Explains His System of
Weather Forecasts
COMPARATIVE FIGURES QUOTED
Showing Thst He Hits II Oftener Than
He Misses It-Proof of the Facts
Provided-The Weather.

Mr.. Foster says in his last weather
bulletin: My last bulletin gave FORE
casts of the storm to cross the continent
from May IA to Is. The next will be
due to reach the Pacific coast ahUut
May 10. cross the western mountains by
the close of May 20, the great central
valleys from May 81 to 25, and the
eastern states about May "a. This will
be a very dangerous storm. l cannot
say where 1t will develop its greatest
force, but probabilities point to the
country between the Mississippi river
and the Rocky mountains on May 81
or %. The cool wave will cross the
great central valleys about May "a, and
frost may be expected in the northern
states accompanying this cool wave.
Much unsettled and stormy weather
may be expected in the northern states
during the last half of May.
Weather Hindcasts.
For the purpose of my weather fore
casts, divide the United States into
six divisions running north and south,
and averaging about sixteen degrees in
width. The storm waves do not move
around the geographical, but around
the magnetic:north pole which 10 near 20
north latitude and 81 west longitude.
or northwest of Bafiin's bay. The
magnetic north pole being about
twenty degrees south of the eartn's
geographic north pole. it will be readily
seen that the magnetic mendians aud
parallels are not the same as the
GEOGRAPHIC, therefore when / use
the word meridian in reference
to storm waves, have refer
ence to the magnetic meridisns.
The centers of my weather divisions
run nearly north and eouth. not far
from the following points, beginning in
the west and proceeding eastward az
the storm waves move: First division,
Olympia, Washington. and Fort Assine-
boine in British America; second dlvis-
ion, Los Angeles, California and BOISE
City, Idaho; third division, Santa Fe.
Black Hills an Qu-Appelle; fourth d.
vision, Galveston, Kansas City and
Winnipeg; fifth division, TAMPA, Flor
ida, Cincinnati and Manistee, Michigan;
sixth DIVISION, New York City and
the south end of Hudson's Bay.
storm Wave Barometers.
Each of these divisions represent the
average movement eastward of the
STORM waves for one day, aud the
range of the continental storm waves
lies between twenty-five and sixty de-
grees north latitude. The ATTITUDES of
the storm centers and their running
mates. the high harometers, are gov
erned by the positions of the tropical
storms and the sun, moon and planets.
The storm wave, consisting OF q pair
of high and low baromcters, tied to-
gether at their tops and bottoms by an
electric cord constituting their energy
and motive power. 10 the key to all
weather changes, and IL matters not
where the storm ccnters cross these
magnetic meridians, whether 1t Calves
ton or Minneapolis, they caase the per.
1 iodicai weather changes from warm to
cool and back 10 warm again about
every six days, which every observant
! person must have noticed. There are
other storm wave periods, however, in.
tcrlocked with these six day storm
waves. that greatly comphcate the
weather problem.
Predictions veeifsa.
The most important feature In MAX
! ing weather forecasts Is 10 determine
when the storm wave will cross the
weather divisions described above. II
we can know when the storm wave will
reach the Olympia magnetic meridian
on the PaciIic coaet. we know that il
will cross one of my weather divlsions,
on an average. ABOUT every day, pro-
viding always that il is not interfered
with by that. system Of tropical storm
waves which Wet the gulf of Mexico
and the West isdies. These storm
waves move entirely across the United
| states from west to east in five or SIX
days with a few exceptions. Taking
the governments daily weather maps as
standard authority as In past weather
| events, | find that out of my 1882 pub
| iished local forecasts for Anrll, 12s2
were verified and 300 were not. Below
l give the numier OF each class OF fore
4 "a ~ for rfta he x~as.tts.