The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-11-09

Weather Service mas nad a pnenoIheha'
| growth during the past four years
ExPANsE OF THE ATMOSPHERIC
FIELD SURVEYED Fly THE FOR
CASTER.
| It is wonderful picture of atmos-
pheric conditions that is presented
twice daily to the trained eye Of the
weather forecaster It embraces an
area extending from the Atlantic to
the Pacific from the north coast of
South America over Mexico, the ISL
ands Of the West Indies and the Ba-
hamas, northward to the uttermost
confines of Canadian habitation. 1t Is
a panoramic picture Of the exact air
conditions over this broad area that
Is twice daily presented to the study
of our experts Hurricanes, cold
| waves, hot waves, or rainstorms are
shown wherever present in this broad
area. Their development since last re-
| port Is noted. and from the knowledge
thus gained their future course and in
tensity is quite successfully forecast
Every twelve hours the Kaleidoscope
| changes. and a new graphic picture or
weather conditions is shown. Nowhere
else in the world can meteorologists
find such an opportunity to study
storms and atmospheric changes
TANGIBLE RESULTS OF WEATHER
BUREAU WORK.
Has the Weather Bureau won its
way into the hearts and confidence or
the American people, and do we feel
that the expenditures made for its sup
port are wisely made? Let us an
swer this question by giving some facts
| A.. ,r ri
| industries that are daily in communi-
cation with the Bureau In our At
lantic and Gulf ports. alone there are
floating over $3O.000,000 worth of craft
on any day of the year: and at every
port, whether on the Atlantic. on the
Pacific, or on the Lakes, there is either
full meteorological observatory or
else a storm warning displayman who
attends to the lighting of the danger
lights on the storm warning towers
at night to the display of danger flags
by day. and to the distribution or
storm warning messages among vessel
| masters. This system is so perfect that
| the chief Of the Weather Bureau. or
the forecaster OH duty at the central
| office. can dictate Il storm warning
| and feel certain that inside of one hour
a copy Of the warning will be in the
hands Of every vessel master in every
port of material size in the United
States. provided that it is his desire
| that complete distribution of the
! warning be made. AS a matter of fact
| the storm warnings usually go only
to limited portion of the coast at one
time. While the daily predictions Of
| rain or snow, by which, as previously
stated, the public measures the value
| of the weather service. are subject to
Il considerable element of error name
| ly about one failure in five predictions
| the marine warnings of the service
have been so well made that in over
six years no protracted storm has
reached any point of the United States
without the danger warnings being dis
played yell in advance. AS result Of
these warnings the loss Of life and
property has been reduced to mini
| mum. being doubtless not more than
| % per cent of what it would have been
| without this extensive system. which
comes daily. and almost hourly, into
communication with mariners. The
| public does not appreciate this part of
| the service that. as a rule these
| warnings do not appear in the news
| papers because it is not desirable to
! publish them so far in advance as to
unnecessarily hold shipping in port.
We only aim to place warnings twelve
to sixteen hours in advance of the
! coming of the storm, and then we COM
| municate by telegraph. by messenger.
and by warning lights and flags di-
| rectly with the masters of vessels. 1t
is a notable example of the utility of
the new West Indian weather service,
|
tinuing as perpetual instrument of
| peace the service organized to meet an
emergency of war. that the Galveston
| hurricane was detected on September
|. at the time of its inception. in the
ocean south of Porto Rico, and that
! the new system of West Indian reports
gave us such complete simultaneous
data that at no time did we lose track
of the storm. and everywhere, as it
progressed northward. such full infor-
| nation was given that. notwithstand-
ing the extensive commerce of the Gulf
| of Mexico, little or no loss of life or
property occurred upon the open wat
ers of the Gulf, and the destruction at
Galveston was many times less than
| ii would have been without the pre-
| monition that was given and the ac-
| tivity of the Bureaus officers in urg-
| ing people to move from the low ground
of the city to it's more secure portions.
| Again, as this storm recurved and
passed over the Lake region. the storm
warnings We're so well distributed that,
Notwithstanding that the energy of the
| storm was so great that few vessels
| We're stanch enough to live through it's
| fury, shipping remained safely in har-
| Dor and there was not Il life lost These
| are some of the utilities of which the
general public is not thoroughly in
formed.
COLD WAVE WARNINGS.
When a marked cold wave develops
| in the north plateau of the Rocky
Mountains and, by its broad area and
great barometric pressure, threatens
to sweep southwark and eastward with
it's icy blasts, the meteorological sta
| tions of the Bureau are ordered to take
observations every few hours in the re-
gion Immediately in advance of the
cold area and to telegraph the same to
Headquarters BY this means every
phase Of the development of the cold
area is carefully watched, and when
the danger is great each observatory
in the threatened region becomes II
distributing center, from which warm
ings are sent to those who have pro-
duce or perishable articles of manufac-
ture that need protection against low
temperatures. In such cases the sys-
tenn of distribution Is so perfect that
it is not uncommon for the Bureau to
distribute 100000 kilograms and mes
sages inside of the space of one or two
hours, SO that nearly every city, village