The Savannah morning news., 1903-06-06
WORRIED ABOUT ToRNADoES.
weather Man Talks About Them and
Nervous People.

Weather Man Talks About Them and
Nervous People.
"You have no idea" said Forecaster
Boyer, in the. Weather Bureau yes
terday, how many people are worried
whenever there is a cloud in the sky.
The day following the Gainesville tor
nado, there was a fine banking up of
clouds in the west and fanciful cleo
trio display and the way folks in this
neighborhoOd kept our telephone ring
ing was a caution. OF course l don't
remember all they said, but great
majority of the inquirers were ladies',
and they were very nervous. l assured
them that they had nothing to fear
from the Gainesville storm or any other
that we knew anything about, and as
it didn't even rain they probably think
that | am a pretty good forecaster, and
l am glad of it.
There is nothing to indicate that
Savannah will be visited by any tor
nadoes, and at the same time no as
surrance that it won't. There's no use
to worry, however, and as there are
only a few usually during the late
spring and early summer, why all dam
ger will soon be over. June is a month
that generally gets a few of these I'M
welcome visitors and the West Is the
most frequent place for their visits.
Probably some Georgians have read
about cyclone pits and cellars, and
maybe they have laughed over the
comic pictures of families trotting to
get underground before the tornado
gets them. 1t is no joke, however. On
the prairie the cyclone pit is as inn
portant as any feature of a mans
dwelling and often saves the lives of
whole families.
About predicting or sending word
ahead for tornadoes? Well, it
is practically impossible to foretell a
tornado. which, by the way, is very
different from a cyclone and much
more severe. The mistake of calling a
tornado a cyclone is very commonly
made. The tornado forms on the out
er edges of a disturbance and the
whrling funnel dips down and at
velocity estimated at 200 miles per
hour, tears everything away in it's
track. The center of the funnel is
vacuum and a popularity of its effect
on houses or buildings too strong to be
blown down is that they sometimes
explode. That is, the vacuum sur
rounds the building and the air in
side the place forces the walls out,
and the roof falls fiat on the founda-
tons.
"Tornadoes, as have said, occur in
frequently in the late spring and early
summer. They form almost always in
the afternoon, and the most reasonable
suggestion that they give of approach
is a stiffness and feeling of oppres-
sion. The direction of movement is
almost always from southeast to north
west. Differing in this from cyclones,
the tornado has a clean cut path and
buildings, persons or trees distant, say.
200 feet from the actual track of the
wind will not be injured. 1t goes so
rapidly that it does not disturb the
atmosphere a little distance away from
it's track. Following the tornado is
generally heavy rain, and severe light
ming. 1t is quite common also to note
hail in the wake of a tornado.
THE tornado is a short-lived demon,
and after traversing a space of a few
miles. perhaps. dissipates, and is heard
of no more. In this respect, it is also
very different from the cyclone, which
is often followed across a continent
or ocean and has a charted history
covering period of several days"