The Cook County herald., 1903-10-31
THE ] ). WEATHER r MAN.. Il
How he Knows When It Is Going
=" to Storm or Clear.
Official Map Made Up from Reports
from Observation Stations in
Cities and Towns of the ':ri
Country. -.

Strictly speaking, our weather bu-
reau is made up Of a great many build
ings scattered all over the United
States: and the one at Washint on is the
central station that governs and di-
they send in their daily reports; for
it, is by getting reports from all the
different sections CT the country that
Uncle Sans wea ther-makers are able
to make their predictions. There are
$50 towns and cities in the United
States where there are observation
stations, having the same instruments
and apparatus as the Washington bu-
reau. Now, the observers at these
$50 stations do not spend their time
waiting for spiders to crawl out cf
their holes or looking at the sky to see
whether it is red or gray in the even
ing. They look at their thermome-
ters, barometers, thermometers, and
SO on, which are far better guides than
all the other signs put together.
At 8 o'clock in the morning and at 8
o'clock ~in the evening of every day
the observer at each one of these
weather stations from Maine to Cali
fornia looks at his different instru-
ments, and carefully notes. what each
of them marks. Then he takes look
at the sky, to see whether it 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 it is important that the observer
should see what particular kind is hoy
ering around. for each kind means
some special kind of weather or some
particular state of the atmosphere.
When he has finished his observati ion
and noted all the inGica ticns. he tele-
graphs his report to Washipg gton.
In that way. then, the Washington
station receives an account of the
weather at all parts CT the country
at the same time. and, as you may eaS-
lily believe, it keeps the four telegraph
operators busy receiving the messages
that come pouring in soon aft
er eight o'clock. AS each mes
sage is received in the telegraph
room it is carried by messen-
ger across the hall to the forecast
room, or room where predictions are
made, and handed to the transla tor.
AS the translator reads aloud the
cipher reports from the different sta
tiohs. other men in the room mark
what he reads upon a map Of the United
States, so that when the last messa ge
hoe lot o1 Io
just what the weather is at each one
of the $50 stations. The map is then
turned over to the official who is to
make the predictions. In order to get
his bearings, he traces across the map
the different places throughout the
country where the temperature is the
same and the places where the Daron-
etor is the same: The one he marks
with red lines and the other with bla ok
lines, and if you will look a t the wealth.
er map you will see these red and
black lines wr1ggling and twisting all
over the country.
When the reports 'from the north
west show a great fall in temperature,
he knows that Geld wave has started
Ona journey through the united States,
and he keeps lookout to see how fast
it reaches the different stations 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 following bulletin:
'"Hoist cold wave flag; thermometer
will fall so degrees in next "a hours, -
and, sure enough. by next day Jack
Frost has got hold of our noses and
toes. and the coldwave flag is almost
tearing itself to pieces with delight,
But som etimes the cold wave dsoes not
come as was expected-it is switched
off on a sidetrack or it melts on the
way-and then the cold-wave flag
droops in shame.