The times., 1898-08-04
METEOROLOGICAL vIc1oUsNEss
The Weather Bureau Man Is Not
Wholly Responsible.


The reporter who was assigned to inter-
view the official forecaster and ask him
what he means by this weather, found
the chief prophet after searching him out
from among his charts. instruments and
other evidences of discomfort. and here is
what he (the reporte) learned:
Cooler tomorrow, with probable show
ers," means it is not going to get any
hotter, which ii could not.
Slightly lower temperature, with va
riable winds,'' means the perspiring pub
lie is going TO spend the next day in the
association of electric fans.
.For the District of Columbia thunder
storms and cooler" means it is going TO
look like rain all day and get hotter than
ever at night.
These definitions are well understood at
the Weather Bureau. although they are
given publicity here for the first time.
The men who print those small cardboard
punches of disappointment commonly
known as weather forecasts sometimes
manage to twist other combinations into
their prophecies. but in substance they
all mean the same thing-one of these
days it is going to cool off.
But the forecaster defends himself. He
admits that coolness is an atmospheric
condition peculiar TO an ideal state of
existence and quite necessary TO public
happiness, but for the very life Of him
he cannot understand why Washington
should be so neglected by the weather
al large. There is no scientific eXplana-
ton of IL, he says, yet the fact remains
that the Capital has been ignored by
every little insignificant breeze on the
continent for these three weeks. The
forecasters in other places have been
appealed to repea tedly, and times beyond
reckoning they have given safe con-
duct" to showers and cool winds, with
the understanding that they were to
| have "stop-oyer privileges" at Washing
| ton, but all with strange accord have
| gone astray. Only yesterday a real re-
! spectacle thunder storm scheduled TO
reach here early in the afternoon got
| lost in Philadelphia, where it rained
| three and one-haif inches in an hour
and then concluded Washington was toe
| far out of the way to be considered for
| a minute. Rains and cool winds frequent
| ly come within hailing distance OF the
! Weather Bureau observatory. and then
| dance off down Rock Creek or along the
| GOtOmdc, leaving nothing Deuluu IAOEe
| than a few stray flashes of lightning
! and a vast load of chagrin on the mind
! of the forecaster. who had pledged his
reputation on their appearance in Wash
| ington.
These are facts, not funnyisms. Never
| before in the history OF the city has
hot spell sen more aggravating and neve
| before have so many rain storms been 81
close without getting here, or SO fickl
| in their promises.
| Just because it is hot there Is some sa {
| isfaction in knowing how rain storm de
velops. On some particular sand s retcl
the sun beats down with more tl.an or
| binary ferocity there arises in conse
quence a column of exceedingly heate'
air. which gradually eniarges 10 the pro
| portion Of vast atmospheric whirlpool
! or eddy which attracts local winds 10 i
| and creates a center OF disturbance
| When this has become strong enough tC
| resist the flow of southern winds 1t act:
| independently and rises TO a cooler clouC
level. where a natural process of con
densatiOn produces rain. The last cen
| ter of dis urbance appeared in Kansas
| three days ago. and moved east as fal
| as the Mississippi spreading rain over
| six STATES, but no District of Columbia.