Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-06-11

but don't look for them, yet II you
must know when to take to the cellar
there are indications well worth not
ing. Both cyclones and tOrnadOes are
circular movements IN the alr-atmos-
pheric whirlpools. A cyclone is a
very large whirlpool, tornado is a
very small one Cyclones pass over
Wisconsin every few days. They are
nothing more than the Flows" or cen
tiers of low barometric pressure that
you see pictured on the weather map
hung up in the pOstoffice and else
where The diameter Of these wind
circles is measured in hundreds or
thousands Of miles On so large a
track the wind trots about quite calmly.
But at sea, where these big circles are
reduced to a diameter of fifty or hun
dred miles, as in the West Indies, the
speed made is far more rapid. A West
Indian cyclone is never popular with
yachtsmen.
Now, a tornado has a diameter at its
smallest part of only 100 feet or
thereabOut and it cultivates a speed
correspondence terrific. If you want
to understand the difference between
tornadoes and cyclones, pull the plug
out of a washbasin and watch the water
waltz On the outside the circular
movement is very leisurely; in the
middle, where the little vortex or macs
from is forward, the schedule is as
swift as sin.
AS often happens, it's easier to de-
scribe cyclones and tornadoes than to
explain them. But all these circular
movements in the atmosphere are due
to opposing currents and opposing con-
ditions. That is, an air current NOV
going in another direction; cold air
meets hot air; dry air encounters moist
air Then, in an attempt to attain
the equilibrium which is the absence
of life, circular movements of the at
mosphere set in, usually on a grand
scale.
And in the spring time, when the
earth is still cold and the air is being
heated up by the sun; when the dry,
northerly air currents from the Pacific
come down into the center of the con-
tinent and meet the moist, hot currents
from the Atlantic, then we have the
necessary contradictions of movement,
temperature and humidity Big circu-
lar currents are started. These are
true cyclones. IN addition, for reasons
we don't understand, little eddies are
thrown off from the big current. These
eddies are the tornadoes, the so-called
cyclones.
Every tornado forms a vertical fun
mel tapering towards the earth, and
moving around and around opposite to
the direction taken by the hands of a
watch The funnel is also a travelling
vacuum. Being vacuum, it violently
attracts air from the outside II the
top of the funnel should be 5000 feet
across, or example, the air there might
be going no faster than seven miles an
hour. But if, as is probable, the lower
end of the funnel, near the earth, was
only 100 feet across, the movement
might be increased to the rate of 200
miles an hour. In fact, some obserya-
lions taken by photography and geom-
etry of cyclone off the Massachusetts
coast in 1896 showed that the rotary
speed of the funnel at sea level was
$50 miles an hour. This explains why.
during a tornado garden spade has
been driven six inches into a tree. and
why straws are frequently shot like
nails into oak pIanks.
Another movement in upward
direction follows, from the tendency of
the hot air to rise towards the cooler
currents. 1t is the sudden condensa-
ton of the warm air that causes the
electric discharges so often reported.
The same condensation creates the
moisture that makes the funnel visible,
so it looks like a whirling cloud
Occasionally tornadoes move from
south to north AS rule they go from
the southwest to the northeast. On
its southern side the funnel exerts a
dangerous suction, but not on it's
northern side. So, unless the funnel
is a considerable distance north of a
spectator, he had better hurry away.
with dignified speed, toward the north
and west. If he hasn't brought his
cyclone cellar with him he should seek
the cellar of a frame house, not of a
brick or stone building. Otherwise
he should get clear of houses and
trees, lie fiat down on his face. take a
very long breath, and wait until the
procession has moved by.
In the west we have about twenty
five tornadoes year-they are not in
creasing in number as some people
Imagine. They seldom occur before
May l or after July 1. But if YOU en-
counter one in April or August. don't
stop to ask questions. In the course
of year we don't have. on the aver
age, more than three tornadoes that
are highly destructive
Almost everybody can tell a tornado
on sight, and that's practically the onIy
warning that it gives. Of course. it's
easy to explain the favorable condi- |
tions-a hot, muggy day with a great
deal of moisture in the air. Yes q |
day when the water pipes and water
coolers are dripping wet. The sky |
seems to indicate storm, though if
may not be especially cloudy. On such
days, in May or June, and between 2
O'Clock p. m and shutdown, a cyclone
might be possible almost anywhere in |
this latitude. Still tornadoes come at |
other seasons sometimes, and at other