Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-11-24
THE WEATHER BUREAU
Some Facts Taken From Professor Hoores
Annual Report.
Saving of Life and Property ms the
Result ef Warming. Sent Out
New.FeatnEes, IPtEoduced.


weather bureau. has submitted to the Sec
rotary OF Agriculture a report of the opera
tioEs of the bureau during the fiscal year of
his administration. The report deals large
ly with the forecasts and special warnings,
the extension of the service In the interest
OF marine, commercial and agricultural in
terests, and the experimental work in ref
erence to the development of appliances for
the exploration of the upper air.
or the forecasts and warnings Prof.
Moore says:
timely warnings of all severe storms
llkeiy TO cause injury to shipping were sent
TO all maritime stations and resulted in al
most fncalcula5le benefit. In the harbol of
buHalo, alone, during six Of the most Sc
we're storms of the past winter a total of
over loo vessels, asgregating in value up
WARDS or $l1,U0O.OJO, and having on board
ABOUT 1,SGO persons, were detained in port
ny reason of the weather bureau warnings.
Three West Indian hurricanes swept the
Atlantic coast line from Florida to New
England and two passed northward Off
snofe, put near enough to the coast line to
seriously endanger craft abnut to leave our
ports Danger signals were displayed at all
ports We'll il advance of the storms, and as
result no lives were lost and but little
property destroyed. -- =
N cold wave or frost of unusual intens-
ity mas occurred without forewarning, and
there are numerous specific instances OF
record where these warnings have resulted
IN saving from destruction thousands of
dollars worth of property.
NO disastrous floods occurred during the
year, but the sudden melting of snow at the
head waters Of the Allegheny caused a
moderate flood In the Ohio during the latter
part OF March and beginning of April
Early IN July there were unusually heavy
rams In the south and middle Atlantic
states, causing floods in the Carolina, Vir-
ginia and West Virginia :rvers.
"a
OF the bureaus forecasts during the year
was 81. an improvement of "a per cent
over that Of last year" The failures to &C
curately forecast the weather are briefly
noted
New Features Introduced.
Among the new features introduced Is
the corn and wheat region service, estab-
lshed In the principal corn and wheat pro-
ducing states of the central valleys and
the northwest. Another improvement was
the introduction at nine Of the principal
stations Of a small printing plant for the
purpose Of issuing daily weather maps
weekly crop bulletins and other meteoro-
logical reports More prominence has been
gwen to the subject of aerial inves tiga lions
IMAM to other experimental works Con-
certed cloud observations In cooperation
Win foreign countries have been made at
a number of stations. From these it is
hoped to gain information regarding the
ger eral circulation of the atmosphere par
tlcu'arly during stormy weather. 1nvesti-
cations nave been made of The reiative
humidity OF several sections Of The country
as affecting the spinning and weaving of
cotton.
The observations at Pixies Peak and
Colorado Springs, to determine the upper
air conditions i'll relation to storms, are the
subject of a.. special report. Kite c;:peri-
ments are reviewed at length
The unusual destruction by tornadoes dur
a iC COZ tod
follows: ~. :, ;,
1T is not believed that there has been an
increase, either in the frequency or severi-
ty of tornadoes. Unfortunately those of
the present year have swept through popu-
lous sections of the country, occasionally
through the midst of small villages ard
towns. and once through the heart of one
Of our great cities. Three hundred and six
persons lost their lives in the storm of May
q, 1896. more than the aggregate less by
violent winds during the two years. 1891
and 1898, and more than during any single
year of which We have authentic records
except 1893"
The fiscal affairs of the bureau receive
short notice. The expenditures were less
than during any year of the last fifteen,
except one, and in that one, although the
distribution of forecasts and The beneficial
results attained were much less than dur
ing the year just ended, the expense was
substantially the same.
The Recent Tropical Storms.
The report concludes: Reports received
from the weather bureau tations and wind
signal display stations show that during
the three severe tropical storms that have
occurred during the present fall season,
and for which hurricane signals were or
dered by the weather bureau. VIZ: On Sep
TENDER $40. September $3.50 and October
1912, about 20OO vessels Of all classes, Eav-
ing on board upward of 1000 persons, and
representing with their eargoes a value of
more than S2O.OOO,CO, came into or re-
manned in port on our eastern gulf and At
lantic coast during the periods for which
the warnings were issued. or these YES
sells it is probable that large proportion
sought and remained in shelter rs 4 result
of the warnings. and it is fair 10 assume
that had they not done so large numL err
of them would have encountered the
storms and have been more less dam
aged, if not entirely lost"