El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-11

TO OTHER country has such an
M extensive system Of weather in
veshGation and forecast as the
United States. Spending more than a
million and a half dollars a year TO
be weatherwise. Uncle sam is learning
many secrets Of the atmosphere that
nave perer been known before. The
Mount Weather station Of the weather
bureau situated in the Blue Ridge
mountains Of Virginia, has been equip
ped with every sort Of instrument hui
man ingenuity can devise to pull down
the secrets Of the upper air.
The weather bureau gets reports
from more than $500 land stations, 1000
ocean vessels. and some so foreign STA
lions The information which comes
TO the weather bureau from all these
places enables the forecaster to venture
a prediction about what the weather
wiz be for the next IS to 48 hours, and
d in general way for a week in advance
1T is said that more than 50 percent
Of the winds, rains and storms follow
beaten paths. behaving upon establish
ed principles, and doing just as the
weather man expects them to do some
times. however storm VIII refuse 10
follow the beaten paths and ii is then
that the weather man fails. The aver
age man remembers the one failure
which is miss rather than the 1--WE
I'm which the weather man correctly
predicts the weather The weather
forecasts are based upon simultaneous
observations OF local weather conditions
taken daily at o'clock in the morning
and at S o'clock in the evening, eastern
time, at about 200 regular observing
stations throughout the United States
and the West Indies, and from the
reports received daily from various 9TH
er places in the western hemisphere
The results Of these ObserVa lions are
teiegraphed TO the weather bureau al
Washington, where they are charted
for study and Interpretation by eX
perts.
Whole Country Advised.
A complete Geographic report in
oludes data describing the temperature, /
atmospheric pressure, precipitation, d.
uection Of the wind, state Of the wealth
er, wind velocity. the kind and amount
OF clouds. and the direction OF their
movement. From these data the fore
caster. by comparison with preceding I
reports, is able TO trace the path of
the storm area from the time Of their 4
appearance TO the moment Of Observa-
ton, and approximately to determine ]
and forecast their subsequent courses /
and the occurrence OF other weather I
conditions Forecast centers are also I
established at Chicago, New Orleans, /
Denver. san Francisco and Portland I
Oregon
Within two hours aften the morning I
observations have been taken the fore I
casts are telegraphed from the forecast !
stations TO more than 2300 principal dis D
tributing points where they are further I
disseminated By mail, telegraph and {
tel ephOne. The forecasts are Imailed TO 4
1S5 eco addresses a day and delivered to /
nearly 4,000, 900 telephone subscribers
within an hour from the time the pre-
diction is made
IN addition to this service there is
what IS known as the china tological ]
service. which collects data with refer
snce to temperature and rainfall and
crops season conditions. During the
winter months a publication known as
The snow and ice bulletin IS issued,
showing the area covered by the snow,
he depth Of the snow. the thickness of
ce in rivers, and other ma tiers report
ed upon from every section Of the
country. This publication is OF especial
interest to those interested in the win
sr wheat crop, to ice Dealers TO the
manufactures Of rubber goods, and
lther articles the sale OF which IS
argeIy affected by the presence or alb
ence Of snow and ice.
Affects Daily Life.
The extent to which the work OF the
weather. bureau affects the daily life
q the people is very great, and is said
q be increasing yearly Perhaps the
most directly valuable service rendered
! that of the warnings Of storms and
urricanes issued for the benefit OF
7arfne interests. These warnings are
fsDlaved at nearly 500 points along
7e Atlantic. Pacific and Gulf coasts
~ he shores of the Great Lakes, in
Iudfne every port and harbOr Of any
,rsi5erabIe Importance. Scarcely q
.orn of marked danger to maritime