Evening star., 1897-03-13
BIRTHPLACE OF STORMS
Weather Disturbances Originate in the
e Selkirks.
A Pen Picture of a Catnclysm Of the
Upper Afr-AcrOss the Con-
tinent.

Written eor The Evening Star. Copyrighted.)
Today, according to the traditions of our
fathers. the last great storm of winter is
due 1t does not always arrive exactly on
schedule time. but 1t comes without fail
such, at least, is the mistaken faith of the
American farmer.
But it is not the purpose OF this article
to discuss the validity of the popular be-
lief about the equinoctial, but rather to
show the birthplace of that and the whole
brood of storms to which 1t belongs. For
it is a fact however surprising it may
seem, that there is a birthplace of storms
in this country as well defined as the wheat
belt. corn region or orange district.
Ycu can place your finger upon it on the
map as easily as you can point out the
head waters of the Mississippi.
Take any chart Of North America and
look at the Selkirk mountain region of
British Columbia. The barren, rocky sum-
mits of these mountains are the favorite
playground of whirlwinds. Of little storms
Just born that leap from glacier to glacier.
gathering strength, and then go sliding
down the eastern slopes Of the mountains
and across the vast plains of Canada and
of Montana, and the Dakotas. growing into
mighty cyclonic tempeStS as they advance
These are our cold waves
But what gives rise TO Sucn SlOTIn dt
first? Look at your map again. Upon the
North Pacific coast blow from the west
ward the warm winds of the Japan cur
rent. These make mild climate in west
ern Oregon and Washington. where snow
and ice are seldom seen and the cold waves
which visit the rest of the country are un-
known.
Now such abnormally high temperatures
so fer north must produce some kind OF
meteorological disturbance. AS the warm
winds are forced up the slopes of the Cas-
cade range ard across the lofty Seikirk
mountains they meet the icy air of those
frigid heights. The warm air. being the
lighter, rushes upward. This tends to form
a vacuum, toward which rushes the cold
air fl ON the snCw fields and glaciers.
In the Sclkirks.
The region where this occurs is the Wild
est in America; it has fit surroundings for
the birthplace Of storms. Down in the
deep valleys of the Seikirks, and where the
Canadian Pacific railway winds its sinu-
course, all is calm; the thick mantle
of snow falling upon tree trunks and rocks
is rarely drifted by a breeze. Heavy clouds
shut out of sight the hoary submits that
II wer one or two miles straight up toward
heaven. Yet above this quiet lower world,
in a region rarely seen by human eyes,
are enacted some of the grandest phenom-
era of nature.
Those barren peaks. rising from nine
level. mount so high into the region
of eternal frost that in winter they are
almost as cold the north pole itself.
All around, over stretches Of hundreds of
miles. lie the glacial fields, cleaning with
steely blue. Away to the north ard north
east are the sub-arctic plains of the Ca
madam northwest territories.
Down from these ncrthlands sweep the
polar winds. and here upon the Selkirks
they meet the warm airs from the Pacific
and the Chinook breezes that creep up
from the mountain valleys of the south
Then storm center Is formed.
Like the Roar Of the Ocean.
The noise of one of these storms when
forming is like the distant crash of ava
lanches or the roar of the ocean on a rocky
beach as heard far inland. The sight of
one of these cataclysms of the upper air
is something appalling. / saw one of them
four years ago while in British Columbia
at kaslo In the month of March. l was
VISITING q mine at great elevation, when
heard dull. distant roar as if the frs
or whole mountain side were bending un-
der gale: there was also a cracking
noise, like split thunder. Then. as 1 look
ed over the snowfieldS toward the north
east, mantle of white seemed lifted up
INTO the sky. 1t spread out Ike cloud
then corner was caught UP skyWard and
CURED round and round drawing the lower
part after it, until it moved swiftly off in
swaying spiral column, and soon van
ished.
The wind, which had been blowing with
mad energy on the exposed height where
kr eit-for l could not stand against its
Icroe-became calm and the roaring ncis.
dled away. Then l knew that | had seen
the birth Of a blizzard.
The cloud of white was vast mass of
SLOW which had been drawn up in the vor-
tex like the spray sucked UP by water
spout The terrific winds and the deafen-
ing roar were caused by the air currents
or the outer circles of the cyclonic storm.
Great storms take the same form at their
start as the little wnirlwinds of dust seen
on city streets and country roads-only the
fcrrer is on vastly larger scale
The Whole Nation Shiverinr,
lrstead of being a ch:ld's plaything that
PICKS up feathers and papers and whirls
tfem few yards a!oft, it is a mad vortex
OF air that circles about over hundreds of
square miles of bleak snowfields, and then
sWoops down to carry its snow and chill
across the continent and set whole ma
ton shivering
NOR has 1t expended its force when II
reaches the Atlantic coast, but sweeps on
over the sea, and sometimes it even pre-
serves its momentum and low temperature
till !: raches the shores of Europe. giving
the English and French a taste of Yankee
weather"
Experience shows that about three ont
or ten of our cold waves reach the other
SIDE OF the Atlantic producing abnormalIy
cold and stormy conditions there So our
birthplace of storms not only makes the
weather for this country. but exports its
product to EuroDe besides.
1t matters little what it is that you want