The Winchester news. [volume] (Winchester, Ky.) 1908-19??, 1909-03-16
THE STORM OF
MARCH FOURTH
Willis L. Moore, Chief IT, S. Weather
Bureau, Writes of Work of
the Service.

The chief of the weather bureau
Willis l.. Moore, has issued the fol-
lowing explanation of the bureaus
work regarding the storm of March
4 in Washington:
WASHINGTON, ID. C. March 10
at is not usual to answer criticisms
of the forecasts of the Weather Blu
reau, but the hundreds of press clip
pings that have been received since
March 4 containing adverse criticisms
of the Bureau seem to call for this
statement from me.
Forecasts Of the Weather Bureau
are before the public every day in
the year. In the past about one pre-
diction out Of ten failed to be verified
and it may be expected that the same
ratio of failure will be maintained UNI
til meteorology can be made, what Is
not now, an exact science.
'In. the case of the storm that Wis
/ tied Washington on the 4th Of March
last, the fact is that the disturbance
began here on the morning of the
Sd, and was accurately forecast the
day before. The Bureau anticipated
that the storm center would pass over
the Middle Atlantic States during the
night of the Sd, and that northwest
winds and falling temperatures would
leave a clear day for the 4th. The
center past precisely as forecast, the
wind shifted and the temperature fell,
but instead of the northwest wind
clearing the sky as it does in nearly
all cases. precipitation in the form Of
snow occurred and continued for
twelve hours after the storm center
had past eastward. No forecaster
could foresee this. Were we to fore
east fall of snow following the pas
sage of storm centers that move from
/ the northwest, we would have hun
dreds of failures charged against US,
instead of an occasional one, for it
is rare that snow falls in the Middle
Atlantic States except with the APP
proach Of a storm from the south
west, which causes northeast winds,
and it is extremely rare that any
storm in this region that begins with
rain ends with snow of any cOnsid-
cradle amount. On the contrary,
many storms that begin as SNOW end
as rain.
"The forecast in question was
made by one of the most experienced
forecasters of the Bureau and was
concurred in by all of the forecas-
ters who were conversant with the
conditions, and the same forecast
would be made today if similar con
ditions existed.
"The forecasters of the {. S.
Weather Bureau are the equals, if
not the superiors, of any others in
the world. and their predictions of
frosts, cold waves, floods and marine
storms, although subject to error In
the proportion of about one to ten,
are of such value to the industries
of the nation that if one of the news
papers than now freely criticise be-
cause two unverifed forecasts for the
District Of Columbia have fallen on
Inauguration day were to omit from
its pages the daily predictions of the
weather, its readers would compel it
to restore them, and if the Depart
ment or Congress we're to close sta
ton Of the Bureau in any part of the
United States the property interests
would demand its restoration. This
would not be the case if the hysteri-
cal abuse that is now being INDUCED
in was justified.
'WILLIS l.. MOORE,
"Chief T. S. Weather Bureau"