The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1907-08-17

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The territory included In the States
Of Missouri. Kansas, Iowa and Ne
braska, the center of maximum fire.
quency being near the point of union
Of these. four States, or about hun
dred miles east Of the geographical cen
ter OF the United States is the tornado
area. According to the reports Of the
United States weather bureau, lorna
does occur more frequently in May.
April, June and July, in the order
named, the most violent ones thus far
recorded having happened in April and
the greatest number In May. Already
In this territory, accompanied by much
damage to property and loss of life.
A tornado Ia the concentration Of
storm energy. 1t Is the most destruc-
tive and the most sudden In appear
ance Of all forms of atmospheric dis
turbance, and Is least easily recog-
nized in it's early stages, even by the
expert. A tornado and an electric
storm arise from the same general
conditions, and in the beginning can
not be distinguished one from the
other. They often are identical up to
a certain point and are DETECTED into
the one or the other by local condi-
lions with which the general cyclonic
storm comes In contact In Its passage
from one point to another.
Tduyo I'd II pnxxyIa ohlaS 80 Tho &c
Louis weather bureau, has made a
special study Of the subject of lorna
does and Is in a position to speak with
authority regarding them.
II think" said he, "it would be well
10 bring out one point in the begin
ming Of this subject, and that is the
difference between tornadoes and cy-
clones. The sort of windstorm that Is
popularity called cyclone is not cy-
clone at all, but Is a tornado. The
tornado is the storm that makes its
appearance In the form of funnel
shaped cloud, while the cyclone Is a
general storm, or an area Of low
barometrlc pressure. The word cy-
clone means revolving wind, It is
true, and cyclone Is revolving wind,
only the revolution covers a much
greater area than that Of the so-called
'twisters,' or tornadoes. A cyclone may
be thousand miles in diameter, while
tornado may not be more than
hundred feet.
THE CYCLONE
The cyclone Is the parent of the tor
nado. 1t Is the general condition that
produces the tornado. There Is al
ways cyclone somewhere in the Unit
ed States Without It this country
would dry up, for the cyclones bring
"a our rains. If you examine a wealth
or map you will see certain sections
marked low These are the areas of
low pressure, the storm centers or cy-
clones, and IL you will look further
you will find that all the little arrows
which show the direction of the wind
In the different localities around this
low region point In a direction gener-
ally slanting toward the center of the
area marked low circling from right
to left, or opposite to the hands of n
clock. That means that the euuiilib-
rum of the atmosphere Is disturbed
but not violently, and that the motion
Ii In a generally rotary direction. but
horizontal rather than vertical. These
storm centers move across the country
from day to day. in generally north.
easterly direction, and the atmospheric
conditions which they encounter en-
route are the Immediate causes OF yio-
lent storms Of one kind or another
Sometimes 1t Is severe thunderstorm
and sometimes 1t Is tornado. These
storm centers, or cyclones, extend over
large areas, varying from 800 or 400
miles to a thousand or more miles In
diameter.
WHERE roRNADoEs ORIGINATE.
'Tornadoes always originate In the
southeast quadrant Of these areas Of
low pressure, usually due southeast of
the center at distance of from 200
TO 225 miles, and they, IKE the parent
cyclone, travel in generally north
easterly direction.
The tornado travels ten or a hum
dred miles. and Is dissipated in a few
hours. while a cyclone may travel for
days and cover thousands Of miles of
territory In Its progress. The Calves
ton hurricane Is an instance of this.
That storm was first observed south
east OF the island OF Porto Rico on
September l. 1t moved westwardly
with the general drift OF the air, was
detected from its normal course up
the Atlantic coast by a bank of cold
air over the eastern States. and on
September 10 was, In northern Texas.
1t then recuryed toward the northeast,
passed over the great lakes and the st.
Lawrence valley as a storm OF marked