Smyrna times., 1903-04-08
FREAKS OF WEATHER
FOGS, WINDS AND STORMS OF VA
RlED PECULIARlTIES.

Wind of Switzerland and the Fe-
rOciOus "Purga" of Siberia.
| In mountainous countries, such as
Scotland. fog usually forms at the
top of a hill and works downward.
| The cold mountain top, cooling warm
! current of wet air, renders its moisture
visible, and this cold fog, being Of low
/ er temperature than the air below and
| therefore heavier, drops gradually to
| the valley. Colorado, however, can
/ show an exception to this general rule.
/ There in winter the frost OH the low
ground is so intense that Il fog often
forms in the valleys and works slowly
| up the mountain side This is known
| ~ tie Indian name of ''pogOnip."
PeIu has hundreds of square miles
along its coast of rainless country. In
/ this tract rain is never known to fall
from one centurys end to another. Yet
the region is not entirely barren of veg
| citation. Some parts of it, indeed, are
/ cOmparatively fertile. This is due to
the extraordinary fOgs known as ga
ruas." They prevail every night from
! May to October after n summer that is
sultry and extend up to level of 1,2OO
feet above the sea. Above l,200 feet
| rain falls.
The "calina" of Spain is fog we
may be grateful that we do not have.
1t is a dry. yellow mist which some
times hides the sun for days at Il time
over vast tracts of country and makes
/ the sky look as though covered with
/ leaden gauze.
Another peculiar freak of weather
! we must be thankful to escape is the
/ "williwau." This form of storm is
confined to that farOff island TERRA del
! FupgO. The coast is indented with
deep fords crowned with high noun
tains. Down from their gorges drops
| the ''wlliwau" A low, hOarse mutter-
ing is heard in the distance. Sudden
/ ly, without the least preliminary puff.
| a fearful blast of wind drops upon the
sea- The water is not raised into
/ waves. but driven into fine dust For
lunately the shock lasts but ten or
twelve seconds. and calm follows at
once, for no vessel could stand such
wind for even half a minute. During
/ the coming and going of 'williwau"
/ the barometer may be watched to drop
q tenth of an inch or more and rise
again at once.
/ Similar in name if not in nature Is
the willy willy" with which KalgOOr-
lie gold diggers are acquainted, to their
cost. Dust devils" some people call
them. Half Il dozen may be seen dane
/ ing harmlessly along over the desert
/ when suddenly one will dive into the
city and fill all the shop windows in
/ Hannah street with dust and sand,
binding every passerby. The willy
willy is a thief of the worst kind. 1t
will steal the washing from line or
the roof from a she'd In some parts of
the country wire ropes are anchored
over the roofs of huts to save them
from the attacks of these odd little
whirlwinds.
Most people have heard of the "fohn'
wind of Switzerland, that warm, dry
gale which comes over the mountains
and in spring will melt two feet of
snow N a day. Its cause is most pc
culiar. The "fohn' comes from the
south. AS it strikes the Alps it is wet,
like most gales which have crossed the
sea. but the south face of the noun
tains receives its rain. and as it crosses
the SUBMITS it is dry. The moving air
current is also compressed and there
fore dynamically heated. AS it falls
into the northern valleys in a cataract
Of air it gains heat at the rate of half
a degree for every 100 feet of descent
1t usually blows for two or three days
causing great suffering by its dry heat
and oppression. While it lasts the TEN
perature is about thirty degrees above
the average The chinook of Brit
ish Columbia and the western side Oi
the United States is very similar to the
"fohn."
England has adopted the American
word blizzard" for a gale with snow
But the blizzard, however, must yielC
to the ferocious Duran" of the centra
steppes of Asia and the 'purga" o.
northern Siberia. To be caught in gales
such as these means death in very
few minutes, however warmly clad TO
the very air becomes unbreathable. $,
filled is it with spikes of ice drift
"Khamsin" is the hot wind from tn,
desert which blows out of the Sahar;
upon Egypt The word means fifty
from the idea that it lasts for fift,
days. The "khamsin" is terribly ho
and dry and sometimes brings pest
lence with it.
Red snow we have all heard of. l
is caused by a microscopic infusoria
growth and only occurs in snow tina
has lain unmelted for long time. L
Spitzbergen recently green snow ha
been noted tinted by similar organisms
"Gold DUST snow has often bee
seen but only in spring At one tim
it was a mystery how the surface Q
new fallen snow came to be strew
with a shining yellow deposit. Now
is known to be due to the pollen G
rafno Nrooc