The Opelousas courier., 1901-07-27
THE DEADLY HOT WAVE.
OUR WEATHER BUREAUS STUDY OF
SUMMERS CHEF TERROR. :

This is the season of the year when
, the weather bureau ~endeavors to CO.
operate with the department of agri-
culture in the. effort to furnish the
farmer with some intimation Of the
kind Of weather he may expect from
day to day, writes the Washington
correspondent apthe New York Com
mercial Advertiser. While this is a
matter of dollars and cents with the
farmer It is oftentimes a question OF
life or death with the dweller in cities,
and is of equal interest at least. No
damage results in town or country
from average summer weather, even
though it may be considered some
what torrid. 1t is the hot wave"
which ruins the farmers prospects for
a bountiful harvest and brings death
and suffering to prisoners within the
Lefty blocks.
Mr.. A. T. Burrows, the weather bu-
reau expert on hot waves, modestly
summarizes the results of many years
of investigation in this particular di-
rection by saying that the only posi-
tive knowledge which has been &C.
CURED is that during q HOT rave the
eastward circulation of the atmos-
phere, both upper and lower, Is for
the time being almost totally suspend
ed and that radiation is at that time
at a minimum. He takes occasion.
however, to puncture the reputation
of several we'll known long-distance
weather prophets by declaring that
while it is quite practicable to fore
cast high temperature for a period
of from four to five days. predictions
for a longer time are the merest guesa
work, and not entitled to credepce.
The hot ave occupies the most i'm
portant position among all weather
phenomena in the destruction of life
and property which follows it's wake.
A summer hailstorm may destroy con.
siderable property over a limited area.
a high wind may III damage OF
more serious nature and a tornado Is
still more destructive of property, and
usually accompanied by loss Of human
life, but all these are local in their
effect and of short duration. Even
a hurricane sweeping up from the
West Indies carrying death and de-
~vastation in it's path affects but q
relatively small portion Of the Unitei
States. A general hot wave, however,
with its blighting and death dealing
temperatures, leaves a trail of ruin
so widespread and so great that it
cannot be actually measured. The
loss to the farmers OF Iowa in the de-
struction of their crops from O single
hot wave which visited that section
in 1894. amounted to i've $50, 900 900,
or nearly twice as much property as
was destroyed in the Galveston flood,
and several of the adjacent states
suffered nearly as much.
AS for the suffering Undergone by
the millions Of humanity day after day
in these hot ray periods there is no
record nor is one possible. Statistics
may be secured as to the number of
regarding the sick whose deaths are
FASTENED by the abnormally heated at
mosphere. The weather bureau def
milton Of a hot wave is a period of
three or more consecutive days during
which the temperature reaches or
passes 80 degrees, and with few ex-
ceptions they occur during the months
of June, July, August and September.
OF the great crops of the country
corn and cotton r most liable to
injury from overheating. In most
cases the mere lack of rain Is but par
TALLY responsible for the blight. as
the cooking and firing effect of the
intensely heated atmosphere is the
source of most of the damage. Crops
a recover from a drought, but the
destruction OF their life-giving proper
ties by a hot wave is fatal. The far
mers of the west estimate that during
a summer of average heat the occur
renee Of a hot wave lasting from three
to six days will reduce the harvest
yield Of the country fully 20 percent.
The most dangerous time for these
excessive temperatures to occur Is
during July and August, both in the
effect upon the crops and upon the
health of iwellers in cities. a.
A careful study Of the records of
the weather bureau covering a period.
of 80 years fails to reveal the regular
recurrence of summers of excessive
heat or that hot waves occur On the
same days in succeeding years. The
conclusion is that these visitations
may be expected at irregular inter
walls, the numbers and intensity vary
ing greatly each year. The maximum
ally comes within 48 hours after the
first so degrees is recorded. The num-
Der of successive days of abnormal
heat varies and may range as high is
36 or IL. Two or more periods may
come in close succession, and in the
popular mind these are associated as
one long spell, as for example. the
month Of August and the first part of
September in 1900.
1t is a very exceptional summer
when at least one of these hot waves
does not sweep the country. Fewer
occur in June than In any other sum
mer month. July furnishes the great
est number and August and Septem-
Der are not far behind. In the last
two months a hot wava is likely to be
longer than in the earlier part of the
season. No part of the United States
escapes this scourge. 1t times only
one section of the country is affected
and at other times half the United
States suffers under the same heated
term.