The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-02-04

AND STORM
High Sea Levels
and Ocean
Streams.

M PSYCHOLOGICAL conditions in
W the Pacific have been so greatly
AVA disturbed during the past year or
so that experts are awaiting with some
degree OF interest an investigation into
the causes of the changed currents and
weather In the opinion of Prof. Ly-
ons 1t would be a work of not only In
tense interest but Of perhaps unexpect-
ed value, If the meteorological socie-
ties would take up the matter and, US
ing the reports which come for instance
to the British Society, make a study
of the entire matter
Following the unparalleled hot
weather which was experienced here
during 1900 and part of last year there
came the heavy rains on Hawaii and
! then the dryest January on record, or
| rather the dryest month on record dur
ing January just passed, all Of which
indicated the presence In this ocean OF
some condition, which from the date at
| hand would go to prove disturbances
which may never be thoroughly known.
Not of the least Importance in consid-
ering these conditions is the fact of the
extraordinarily high sea level in this
region during 1901. The Hawaiian rains
inches of rain fell in 2S hours. while the
record is 40 inches in "a hours.
What effect this latter element may
have upon the reports of counter cur
rents discovered where there had never
before been such a condition, will be
one of the hardest things to estimate,
| but in this connection the reports of
! the levels of the sea here are of inter-
est. The investigation of the sea lev
els was begun ten years ago. The plan
was to fix a stated mark, which was
assumed to be ten feet below the mean
level Of the sea. once this was estab
lished there was then the task of COM
| putting daily the level in comparison
with this fixed mark. The mean levels
for the year were then taken from the
| daily data secured from observation.
The result of these studies are as fol-
lows: 1892. 1859; 1898, 9.S44; 1894, 975S;
1895, 9.6SS; 1896. 9.S4S 1897. 1859; 1898,
$3.50; 1900. 1881; 1901, 1O.171. But even
this record is not sufficient to show the
great height scored by the sea during
last year. for there were occasions
when the record was as great as 10.5.
In the opinion of Prof. Lyons, this fact
| may have much to do with the record
of changing currents. He said yester
day:
"The fact that the sea level was so
greatly increased here during the past
year may have much to do with the
currents wherever they may have
shown changes. From what has been
printed there might be an explanation
| of the change in the appearance of the
| equatorial current farther north than
is its usual course. This current, as is
| the case with most currents, starts it's
| course proceeding toward the East. 1t
| crosses the ocean to the coast and then
turns north and joins the current which
is sometimes known as the Japan cur
rent, which crosses around the south
ern end of the Aleutian chain of islands
and comes down the coast, and they
cross back with these islands in their
track.
THE disturbance of the sea level to
any great extent producing a piled up
sea as was the case here last year is
believed to proceed from low barom-
eter somewhere in the vicinity. Thus it
may be that there was an area south
of the group which depressed the level
there and made it correspondingly hign
here. This could hardly have come to
pass without changing or affecting the
currents. Then, too, the peculiar
weather conditions here could hardly
have proceeded from other than new
weather conditions in the vicinity. of
the islands,"
1t has long been the accepted theory
on the coast that there is an intimate
! relation between the presence of the
Japan current close to the California
coast and the rainfall of that State.
| Thus, for instance, there is always
cport of the current being compare
lively close in shore when there is
| heavy fall of rain throughout the
State The contrary is just as true ac-
cording to the statistics OF the Weather
Bureau in San Francisco, and from the
fact that there is reported rainfalls of
some size in California there may have
been during this year such a change in
the route of the Japan current which
would account for the presence of new
mid-ocean streams of warmer water.
The course of most storms which
cross the Pacific is to the East. Ac-
cording to the charts of the ocean pre-
pared by the American Photographic
Office the usual storm forms in the
south OF Japan, moves to the east
across the Pacific just south of the
Aleutian islands and then sweeps down
the northern coast and eastward across
California, In one instance there Is a
record of storm which had its origin
to the west of Shanghai. and which
was traced without a break, across the
ocean and country clear to the great
lakes. This is hardly usual as the
storms dissipate at sea, usually within
four five