The herald., 1897-06-29
NO CYCLONES NEED APPLY


California, and nothing even approach
ing the simplest whirlwind in violence?
Simply because we cannot.
| There are not many things that Cali
fornia makes failure of. but cyclone
she can never raise. 1t Is strange to say
we lack the climate, but that is exactly
the trouble.
An artificial cyclone In Temecula can
yon in the fall of 1889 was produced by a
brush fire so small in comparison with
the twisting power developed that the
great wonder is not the number Of cy-
clones in the east, but that any part of
the land should be free from them at
any time of the year. Live oak trees
foot in diameter in the middle were
| twisted off and carried several hundred
| feet, and one sycamore top, carried
much farther than that, was over a foot
| through where 1t was twisted off. The
| toughest kind of chapparal bushes were
| twisted and torn as IL bronco had been
| testing his picket rope on them Tor
week and even the tough scrubby live
oak brush, but three feet high, showed
great power had been exerted upon 1t
| within foot of the ground. I was on
| the ground neXt'day, but those who saw
| the fire told me that there was not at any
| one time over 200 acres of brush on fire.
and most of the time less than that.
| Knowing the canyon as well as did,
and having seen hundreds Of such fires,
| could readily believe 1t. This cyclone
! was in a place where the walls Of the
canyon were narrow, but, though that
might have aided 1t In starting. it
probably had little to do with the power
when once in motion.
This proved the theory Of cyclones
quite we'll. They are caused by layer
| of warm air breaking through layer OF
colder air. Generally this would pro-
| duce no whirl but the two would simply
mingle like gas of different density.
But If above the colder layer there
should happen to be one little warmer,
and the lower one in trying to reach 1t
should break through the colder layer
in some one spot whirl is almost az
certain as in water passing out Of hole
in the bottom of a tub. The whirl at
Temecula canyon shows that the force
of rotation thus acquired is far in excess
of the conditions that cause 1t. That
cyclone was on clear, hot day and the
power of the rising air could not have
DSGU SIedl, dS COilpdlC0 GU Win ehS PC"SA
it should have at lower temperature
of the surrounding air. 1t shows that
great wind power may arise from slight
conditions The same thing may be
seen on a small scale in the little whirls
that on hot day wander over the great
interior plains. One who has been in one
knows their force but as the hot sheet
of air next the ground is very thin and
the one above it is not so very much
cooler, no violent results are possible.
The reason, then. why California has
no violent cyclones is that there is never
a body of very cold air above into which
the warmer air from below can break.
The same thing explains the absence OF
any polar wave to sweep down upon us
in winter All our cold spells come from
a gradual lowering of the temperature,
with special lowering sometimes by
snow on the mountains and sometimes
by increased radiation of heat from the
ground by an intensely dry air when this
days are the shortest and the nights the
longest. Then the temperature falls
toward daybreak from radiation only,
increased in the valleys by the cold air
sliding from the hills. This is increased
again between daybreak and sunrise by
the most rapid rate of fall we have
caused perhaps by the sun rays striking
and expanding the upper atmosphere
and diminishing the resistance to rad1-
alton caused by the greater density
This theory is somewhat violent, because
air does not heat much under the sum-
but as it is the best we have in stock the
reader should be thankful for it.
If there were a sheet Of cold air over
lying US very near We should certainly
have those polar waves that the east
suffers so much from in winter and that
make it freeze all day sometimes Tar
in Florida Here freezing temperature
is unknown by day except in the noun
tains or high plains. The air heats up
the moment the sun strikes the earth.
and low temperature can happen only
when the air is clear.
1t has long been known that there was
an overcurrent from the east along the
greater part of the coast. Most Of this
must be warm as it rises from the grea.
dry countries over the mountains, but
we would suppose that as it expands in
rising it must lose heat, and rising into
a region where it is very thin must lose
much heat by radiation into space as
air does everywhere. 1t certainly must
do both these things according to we'll
known laws. But it is certain that there
is considerable heat still left init. When
we get into this overcurrent on the high
mountains we find it far from cold, al
though intensely dry. So far as I know,
no one ever carried thermometer in 1t
until farmer from Ventura, who had
grown rich raising beans to be sent to
Boston to can to send back to us to eat,
tried to prove that he could raise or
lower balloon with screw wheels and
move and steer it with common paddles,
all worked by hand. He fitted up very
good ballon some six years ago and
made two ascents from San Diego. He
started at nine o'clock in the morning
of the 18th of July, reached five thousand
two hundred feet, went some ten miles
inland and come down about eleven
O'Clock. According to most all known
analogies from other countries he should
have risen into a constantly falling
temperature. It was exactly the re-
verse and at one mile above the earth 1t
was % degrees higher than at the top
of the building from which he started.
The upward trip was made in very
few minutes, during which the temper
ature at the ground could not have risen
over two degrees at the greatest. Com
ing down he found the change the same,
striking the cool layer at about two
thousand feet and finding the tempera-