Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-10-03
RUNS THE WEATHER.
HOW THE OFFICIAL FORECASTER
MAKES PREDICTIONS.
Signs by Which Our Forefat: ers Used
Solemn1y to Prophecy as to Coming
Storms Are Brushed Aside by More
Modern Methods.

Evening red and morning gray
Sets the traveller on his way;
Evening gray and morning red
Brings down rain upon his head.
Such was the way in which our
grandparents foretold the weather.
If it was noticed that the old tabby
washed herself by rubbing her paw
over her ear, or that the little tree
toads trilled their mournful little songs,
or the tirefies fitted low among the
flowers and the vines, the old folks
shook their heads and spoke of rain;
or If grandmother's feet ached the lit
tie folks grew sorry-not because
grandmother had pain, but because it
| meant bad weather ON the morrow.
Strictly speaking, our weather bu-
reau is made up of great many build
ings scattered all over the United
States, and the one at Washington is
the central station that governs and
directs the smaller ones, and to which
they send In their daily reports; for 1t
is by getting reports from all the diff
ferent sections of the country that
Uncle Sans weather makers are able
to make their predictions. There are
one hundred and eighty towns and
cities In the United States where there
are observation stations, having the
same instruments and apparatus as the
Washington bureau. Now, the observ-
ers at these one hundred and eighty
stations do not spend their time wait
ing for spiders to crawl out of their
holes or looking at the sky to see
whether 1t is red or gray In the even
ing. They look at their thermometers,
barometers, thermometers, and so on,
which are far better guides than all
the other signs put together.
At eight o'clock in the morning and
at eight o'clock In the evening of
every day the observer at each one Of
these weather stations from Maine to
California looks at his different instru-
ments and carefully notes what each
of them marks. Then he takes look
at the sky, to see whether 1t Is fair
or raining or showing, and to see what
sort Of clouds may be sailing about.
According to the Weather Bureau,
there are seven different kinds of
clouds. and 1t is important that the
observer should see what particular
kind Is lowering around, for each kind
means some special sort Of weather or
some particular state Of the atmos-
phere. When he has finished his OBJ.
servation and noted all the indications
he telegraphs his report to Washing
ton.
sIn that way, then, the Washington
station receives an account of the
weather at all parts of the country at
the same time, and, as you may easily
believe, 1t keeps the four telegraph
operators busy receiving the messages
that come pouring in soon after eight
o'clock. AS each message Is received
in the telegraph room 1t Is carried by
a messenger across the hall to the fore
cast room, or room where predictions
are made, and handed to the translator.
AS the translator reads aloud the
cipher reports from the different sta
tions, other men in the room mark
what he reads upon a map of the Unit
ed States. so that when the last mes
sage has been translated the map
shows just what the weather Is at each
one OF the one hundred and eighty sta
tions. The map Is then turned over
to the official who is to make the pre-
dictions.. In order to get his bearings,
he traces across the map the differ
ent places throughout the country
where the temperature Is the same
and the places where the barometer is
the same. The one he marks with red
lines and the other with black lines,
and If you will look at a weather map
you will see these red and black lines
wriygling and twisting all over the
country.
When the reports from the North
west show a great fall in temperature
he knows that cold wave has start
ed on a journey through the United
States and he keeps lookout to see
how fast it reaches the different sta
tions in the West. Then he calculates
how rapidly it is moving and what
kind of weather it has to encounter,
and perhaps when he has worked out
the problem he will telegraph the fol-
lowing bulletin: Hoist cold wave
flag; thermometer will fall thirty de-
grees in next twenty-four hours" and.
sure enough, by next day Jack Frost
has got hold Of our noses and toes, and
the cold wave flag is almost tearing it
self to pieces with delight. But some
times the cold wave does not come as
was expected-it is switched off on a
side track or 1t melts on the way-and
then the cold wave flag drops in shame
Clifford Howard, in st. Nicholas.