Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-23
ALL KINDS OF STORMS
AStraightening Out of Terms Accord
ing to Meteorological Usage
CYCLONE THAT TRAVELLED $4,000 NILES
Some of the Signs Of the Storms
Progress.
WEST INDIAN HU MES

From tho Philadelphia Public Ledger
K Time and again have devastating hurfl-
canes swept over the West Indies ana ieit
death and destruction in their paths. pul
,be renorts Of such devastation have served
TO arouse but a temporary interest III 'he
sad caIamfties on the part of the American
public Although near at hand. these
storms have ravaged foreign shores. but
since our Cuban campaign and the acquisl-
ZION of West Indian territory these hurfl-
! canes have become as il We're. a home
! product and all America is Interested III
any work of destruction accomplished ny
! Them This is particularly the case with
! the present hurricane, winch mas just
! swept over our new West Indian posses
! sIons and has since been blowing It's way
/ Through the atmospheric ocean 10 otii
! mainland Seldom has any storm eXclteo
I such interest as The present one party
because II is the first severe one OF lhis
. kind which we have experienced since az
curing our new possessions, party because
II has carried death ana destruction among
a paope whom We feel bound 10 PfoteG'
/ and aid. and partly because IL FURNISHES
| tbe first graphic Illustration of the success
! of the recent extension or our "eathei
bureau system among the West Indian
islands. ,;.a,,o
/ The terms cyclone. tornado. hurricane.
etc are So indiscriminatAiy applied 10 such
storms that great confusion mas ARISEN III
the reports which have been written Gun i
rernfnt. these phenomena. 1he term cy
clone : applied by meteorolog1sts TO an
kinds of atmospheric disturbances III W., III
. 1he bar,metric pressure decreases iowa
q central region and there is a spiral IN
ward movement of tlrS air toward lhls GU t14
ter So that all atmospheric whlris Oh .n1S
nature receive the generic name cytlo'ie.
yybPf her they are OF idi &c u
small extent
CYCLONES of the Torrid Zone
There arr, cyclones Of the torr1d zone
(which in their greatest developments are
called in the West Indies hurricanes ana III
tn, East Indies typhcuns. These atmos-
Dhsri. whirls are nearly all circular In
form. and vary from few miles to seV-
eral hundred miles in diameter, ana they
are chava-tt rized by great violence OF wlnd
and cnpic,ls rainfall. The present west
Indian hurricane belongs to this class;
Their, are cyclones of the temperate anu
polar zones. which are usually elhpucdi III
form and cover a region at least several
hundred miles and sometimes one OF Two
thousand miles in diameter 1heY are OF
less Intensity than the hurricanes, and are
tn, areas If low ba r"metrC pressure Whlch
sweep across the United States. usually III
an easterly direction. at Intervals OF Two
or three days. and give us our ORDINARY
y
frequently accompanied by secondary cy-
clones nf limited extent. but intense en-
ersy which are callr@: t"rladoes- ihe al
ameters If tornadnes vary from only few
feet M, to perhaps a mile but within these
limited dimensions they are by Tar the
most destructive Of any storms.
There seem to he certain regions on the
earth's surface which are veritable cyclone
breeding belts. and of these lies just
t. the east of the West Indian Islands. The
warm. moist air Of this region during the
months OF July. August September ana &c
1nber seems 10 he in condition or unstahle
equilibrium which is just suited TO the for
nation Of atmospheric whirlwinds or cy-
clones from - to 2op or 800 miles in diam
eler.
These Vest Indian cyclones have circu-
lation or the air around the center IN a di-
rection opposite 10 that of the hands of a
watch held horizontally and face up. Our
American meteorological. William Farrel,
proved that this direction of the whirl-
wind the result Of the action of the
earth's diurEal rotation, and that cyclones
IN the southern hemisphere would have
wind circulation in a direction with the
hands If watch. The barometric pressure
a the center Of this whirl may be two
three inches less than on the outer bound
AIRY; that is, the air density at the center
il reduced about IL per cent. and the air
pressure increases from this center toward
the outer boundary, hut at some distance
from IN" center there is a ring narrow
zone of abnormaliy high barometric press
ure The wind velocity increases from the
outer boundary of the hurricane toward
The ceI.ter and here il becomes very great
but directly at the center there is an area.
usually several miles in diameter, where
there Is a calm.
Clear Sky at the Center.
The hurricanes are accompanied by dense
clouds and immense quantities of rainfall
but directly at the calm center there is very
frequently a clear sky, which nleteurolo-
Eist- haze called the eye of the storm
Hurricanes do not remain long stationary
nor do they move in any hap-hazard direc-
ton Those of the West Indies appear to
drift al ,ng in the great equatorial westerly
current, and they have movement of
translation a little 10 the north of west
and an average velocity of perhaps ten or
twelve miles an hour. bur as they approach
thr American continent they assume a more
n"rtherly course. and finally veer around
toward the northeast. Sometimes they go
almost due west. and. crossing the Gulf of
Mexico, are either diSsipated In Mexico or
are turned nnrthward up the Mississippi
valley But usually they are turned north
ward near our South Atlantic coast and
pursue northeasterly course. either along
the coast or some hundreds of miles inland
or over the Atlantic ocean at some distance
from the coast With the northward pro-
gross of the hurricanes. they gradually in
crease in dimensions or lateral extent but
thtfr intensity decreases and when one of
them reaches the latitude say. of Boston
II Is hardly to be distinguished from a
strongly developed cyclone of middle lati-
tudeS which has crossed the United States
from the west When these hurricanes pass
along the coast or 1t they give US the
terrible storms which we sometimes experi-
ehce III the late summer or early fall
months When they pass along far out at
sea We know nothing of them except
through the reports Of vessels in their
tracks. and the high ocean swell which 10
observed all along the coast when there is
apparently no wind TO produce IT.
Sometimes these hurricanes last hut j..
Few days and traverse but short TRACKS
sometimes they last for weeks and pursue
paths thousands of miles in length 1t NAV
be remarked just here that the typboons
OF the Philippine Islands and the eastern
AstatiC coast are but the counterparts of
our West Indian hurricanes. The Manila
typhoou Of September. 1882 had a forward
movement of but five miles an hour when
II left the Philippines but when IL reached
the coast OF Japan. few DAYS later II was
progressing at the rate of thirty-three miles
an hour: but this movement Increased 10
over nifty miles an hour Just east of Japan.
thence it passed along the AIeutian island
TO Oregon. which 1t reached in about two
weeks after leaving the Philippines: thence
II moved through the northern United
States. Canada, Hudson bay and Labrador
10 Greenland, crossed the north Atlantic
. ocean, and TO the west of Ireland united