Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-08-30
SCIENCE OF STORMS
An Address by Chief Of the Weather
Bureau Moore.
OUTLINES THE FUTURE OF THE SERVICE
Its Relations Regarding the Coun-
ty's Science and Industry.
BITIONS AND AIM S

AN BITION AND AIM S
At the meeting at Springfield Mass, to-
| day of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science Mr.. Willis L.
Moore, the chief of the United States
weather bureau, delivered an address on
| the subject of 1.-THE Relations of the
| Weather Bureau to the Science and Indus
| try of the Country" in which he said:
1T is a matter of much pleasure to me
| that 1 am allowed the privilege to speak
| ut joint session of this association, rep
] resenting as it does within the confines { f
| its admirable organization the scientific
| thought of our country. This is the mecca
! toward which annually journey all those
who wish each to contribute his mite to
/ the sum of human knowledge; each in
spred with an ambition to add even one
| Pickering ray to the great luminous orb,
| which today is shedding its benign light Of
| wisdom even unto the uttermost recesses
| of the earth; sub1uing the barbarous in
stincts of man and warming and invigor-
ating into life the better impulses Of his
nature. Thus is civilization advanced, and
thus is humanity elevated TO higher and
higher planes of existence.
II hope to be worker in the ranks OF
this great army. and rs the science OF
meteorology can hardly be said to have
passed beyond the embryonic state, I feel
that the realms Of investigation are bound
less. and that the opportunities are cor
respondingly great.
"As the chief of the greatest meteorolog-
ical system in the world, and with the
power to control, under the direction of
the honorable Secretary of Agriculture
not only its executive functions, but the
lines of future scientific investigation,
f11I 1izo f,a nncN ifyy hot
rests upon me, and that, at the bar OF
public and scientific opinion, 1 shall, in the
years to come, justly be held to strict
accountability for my stewardship.
Before considering the line of investiga-
ton which consistently can be prosecuted
by the weather bureau it will be well to
note the law which prescribes the duties
of the chief. It may be found in Statutes
at Large, Fifty-first Congress, page 65s
by an act Of Congress approved October
l, 1890: Section 3. 1t is provided that the
chief of the weather bureau, under the d.
rection Of the Secretary of Agriculture, on
and after July 1, 1891, shall have charge
of the forecasting of weather, the issue of
storm warnings. the display of weather and
flood signals for the benefit of agriculture,
commerce and navigation, the gauging and
reporting of rivers, the maintenance and
operation of sea coast telegraph lines and
the collection and transmission of marine
intelligence for the benefit Of commerce
and navigation, the reporting of tempera
ture and rainfall conditions for the cotton
interests, the display of frost and cold
wave signals, the distribution of meteoro-
logical information in the interests of agri
culture and commerce and the taking of
such meteorological observations as may
be necessary to establish and record the
climatic conditions Of the United States, or
as are essential for the proper execution
Of the foregoing duties.
The Philosophy of Storms.
'It will be seen that the main object for
the existence and continuation of this
bureau Is to give warning of the approach
of storms, and therefore that the proper
line of investigation should be for the pur-
pose of determining the true philosophy of
storms. The goal to be striven for is the
improvement of weather forecasts, and
surely one Of the prerequisites to determine
existing conditions.
ITO those who have read every important
treatise on meteorology, and who have
studied every text book upon the subject,
1t Is painfully patent how extremely ig-
norant we are of the mechanism Of storms,
of the operations of those vast and subtle
forces in free air which give inception to
the storms, and which supply the energy
necessary to accelerate cyclonic action
when formed, or to dispense the same when
once fully in operation. We know that
great atmospheric swirls In the shape of
high and low pressure areas alternately
drift across the country at Intervals Of
two or three days: that the atmosphere
flows spirally into the cyclonic or low pres
sure system and outward from the anti
cyclonic or high pressure system; that the
indrawn east and south winds on the front
of the storm are warm, and that the in
wardly flowing north and west winds are
cold.
by the theories of Redfield, Espy, Loomis.
Terrell and others. our great storms are
composed Of immense masses of air gyrat-
ing about a vertical, or nearly vertical
axis, drifting eastward and at the same
time drawing warm easterly currents into
their fronts and cold westerly currents at
their backs, and from the commingling of
the two as they rise to greater and greater
elevations, near the region of the cyclonic
center, throwing down volumes Of rain or
snow. and that. as precipitation occurs
with the ascending currents, the heat of
condensation energies the cyclonic circu-
lation; that the air at the center Of the
storm Is relatively warm, is rariffed by
cen trifugal force, and by reason of less
density, it rises to a great elevation, and
near the topmost limits Of the air flows
away laterally to assist in building up the
high pressure areas on either side.
1.-The high aud low pressure areas are
supposed to be carried eastward by the
general easterly drift of the atmosphere in
the middle ATTITUDES, somewhat as eddies
are carried along by water in running
stream.
Difficulties That Confront Observers.
But unfortunately for the complete ac-
curacy of these theories the forecaster
often finds heavy down pours of rain with
out any cyclonic circulation, and no con-
vectional system in operation; again, over
immense areas of our country, especially
in the Rocky mountain region, for many
mon his in the ear condensation occurs not
at all In the warmer easterly currents flow
ing into the storm center, but do occur al
most exclusively in the north and west
quarters of the storm area, where the cold
north and west winds are flowing in.
Again, many investigators today have
good reason to doubt that the center Of the
storm is warm 10 any great elevation, or
that cyclonic circulation obtains to the top
of the air
I'm outlining, in a rough and general
way, the line of inveStisa tiol. which in my
Judgment promises to give the most prolific
results, not only to the cause of meteoro-
logical science, but in the making of more
accurate forecasts for the benefit of agri-
culture and commerce, will say that we
MS~NASmn MorrAmmOSno<A