The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-12-29
|Eais] z132I =
How the Weather is Manufactured at
the Salt Lake Station.
Some Reasons Why the Forecaster Does
Not Always Hit 1t Right-A High
Percentage Attained.

81 want to know why there was not q
cloud in the sky all day yesterday, when
you had predicted rain and snow. And
want to know why it is storming so hard
today, when you forecasted fair weather. "
Assistant Observer Maxwell of the
weather office laid down his pen, leaned
back in his chair, and, wagging his fore
finger impressively at The HERALD man,
said:
s'The public don't give US much credit
for what we do do, but 1t is mighty quick
to notice what we don't do. Well, that
is human nature, suppose. As matter
of fact, our forecasts for yesterday and
today were right for a greater portion of
the period covered by each.
tsYcu see. our forecasts are made up at
10 a. N. each day and cover the time I'M
til p. m. the next day Thus they over
lap each other. THE HERALD of course
cannot publish the forecasts until the
next morning, when two-thirdS of the
time they cover has already elapsed Our
forecast made at 10 a. m. yesterday pre-
dicted fair weather. The weather was
fair for the first twenty hours of the
thirty
"a great many people don't know what
is meant by fair weather. We do not
mean by that term that there viii be no
clouds. What we do mean is an absence
of precipitation
"How often can you strike it with your
forecasts?''
During the month of October,'' re-
piled the observer, s'94 or 90 per cent. of
our forecasts were correct. During No
vember SO per cent. This month it will
&c considerably lower.'
''Can you average 80 per cent. the year
ROUNDUP
sWeII, hardly. They can't do that at
Washington, where they receive reports
from all over the country. They did have
forecasteT at Washington once who could
average 80 per cent. That was Captain
Dunmoody. He was the best they ever
had"
"Why have you been thrown off more
frequently than usual this month?''
''It is based on scientific reasons. The
weather here in this valley at times is
greatly influenced by local conditions.
and we cannot base our predictions on re-
ports from outside stations. This is not
The rule, but it occasionally happens. The
lake and the surrounding mountains have
much to do with it. Frequently warm
air current striking the snow covered
hills will give us rain or snow, according
to the temperature.
ssWhen we make q forecast that partially
fails, the public is very quick to make a
note of it, but they apparently lose sight
OF the high percentage of forecasts that
are successful
1t may not be out of place to mention
in this connection that Salt Lake now has
a first-class weather station, equipped
with every instrument and devise for re-
cording observations that can be found at
any other station. On stands and tables
in various parts of the room are very Gu
nous and costly mechanical contriv-
ances in glass cases. The most expensive
and most complex, perhNps, is the triple
self-regulator, which records on a cylin-
der the deviation and velocity of the
wind and amount of rainfall every five
minutes. 1t is run by clock-work and is
connected by electrical wires with the
vane and other instruments on the top of
the building.
Then there is the paragraph, which
when wound up, records the atmospheric
pressure for a week without further at
tention. There is also thermograph for
recording the temperature, and on the
roof are self-registering thermometers,
which record the highest and lowest tenn
peratures.
The Salt Lake station is in charge of
Observer George Il. Salisbury, with W.
d. Maxwell as assistant. All the fore
casts for this region are made up at this
station