The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-09
STORMS OF ALL KINDS
BRIEF DISCUSSION OF CYCLONES,
HURRICANES, TYPHOONS AND
TORNADOES
STRENGTHENING OUT TERMS

According to Meteorological Usage
One Zephyr That Travelled $4,000
Miles in About u Month-A Billion
Horse Power Represented in n
West Indian Blast in IS44-Pro-
lection of Shipping.
Time and again have devastating hur-
ricanes swept over the West Indies and
left death and destruction in their paths,
but the reports Of such devastation have
served to arouse but a temporary inter-
est In the sad calamities on the part Of
the American public. Although near at
hand, these storms have ravaged foreign
shores, but since our Cuban campaign
and the acquisition Of West Indian ter
ritory these hurricanes have become as
1t were, home product and all America
is interested in any work Of destruction
accomplished by them says the Phila-
delphia Ledger. This is particularly the
cases with the hurricane which has just
swept over our new West Indian possess
through our atmospheric ocean to our
mainland. Seldom has any storm ex-
cited such interest as this one, partly
because it Is the first severe one of this
kind which we have experienced since
acquiring our new possessions, partly
because it has carried death and de-
Struction among a people whom We feel
bound to protect and aid, and partly be-
cause 1t furnishes the first graphic Illus
tration of the success of the recent ex-
tension of our weather bureau system
among the West Indian isles.
The terms cyclone, tornado, hurricane,
etc, are so indiscrlminately applied to
such storms that great confusion has
arisen in the reports which have been
written concerning these phenomena.
The term cyclone is applied by meteor
ologists to all kinds of atmospheric dis
turbances in which the barometric pres
sure decreases toward d central region
and there is a spiral inward movement
of the air toward this center, 50 that
all atmospheric whirls of this nature
matter whether they are of large or
small extent.
BLASTS IN CIRCULAR FORM.
There are cyclones of the torrid zone
which in their greatest developments are
called in the West indies hurricanes and
in the East Indies typhoons. These at
mospheric whirls are nearly all circular
in form and vary from g few miles to
several hundred miles In diameter, and
they are characterized by great violence
of wind and copious rainfall. The pres
ent West Indian hurricane belongs to
this class There are cyclones of the
temperate and polar zones, which are,
usually elliptical in form, and cover a
region at least several hundred miles in
diameter. They are of less intensity
than the hurricanes and are the arias OF
low barometeric pressure which sweep
across the United STA es, usually in an
easterly direction, at intervals of two
or three days, and give US our ordinary
storms Of wide extent These cyclCn 9
are frequently accompanied by secondary
cyclones of limited extent, but intense
energy, which are called tornadoes. The
diameters of tornadoes vary from only
a few, feet up to perhaps mile, but
within these limited dimensions they are
by far the most destructive Of any
storms.
the earth's surface which are veritable
cyclone breeding belts, and one of these
lies just to the east Of the West Indian
islands. The warm, moist air of this
region during the months of July, August
September and October seems to be
condition Of suitable equilibrium which is
just suited to the formation of atmos-
pheric whirlwinds or cyclones, from
twenty-five to 200 or 300 miles in diameter.
These West Indian cyclones have a cir
culation of the air around the center Of
a direction opposite to that of the hands
of watch held horizontally and face up.
Our American meteorologist, William
Farrell, proved that this direction of the
whirlwind was the result of the action
of the earth's diurnal rotation and that
cyclones in the southern hemisphere
would have wind circulation in direc-
ton with the hands Of a watch
The barometric pressure Of the center
of this whirl may be two or three inches
less than on the outer boundry; that is,
the air density at the center is reduced
about 10 per cent, and the air pressure
increases from the center toward the
outer boundry, but at some distance from
the center there is ring or narrow zone
of abnormally high barometric pressure.
The wind velocity increases from the
outer boundary Of the hurricane toward
the center, and here it becomes very great,
directly in the center there is an area,
usually several miles in diameter, where
there is calm. The hurricanes are &C
companied by dense clouds and immense
quantities of rainfall, but directly at the
calm center there is very frequently a
clear sky, which meteorologists have
called the eye of the storm.