Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-13

pidity While no instruments have ever
made a record i'm the immediate track of
one ii has been possible To calculate the
speed of this twisting motion from tia
results produced ON objects. Thus II -
an easy mathematical task To inquire out
what would be the least velocity of an AIR
current powerful CROUCH to lift n rock
weighing half ton, or to pick up ana
carry thrashinS machine a quarter OF 4
mile through the air
There are conclu sive proofs that the
velocity Immediately in the vortex of the
tornados funnel is ut least two hundred
and fifty miles an hoslr, and there rs eVi-
dence that il has reached five hundred
miles Some claim that certain of these
'twisters.' as the tornado is familiarly
termed by the dwellers in the west, reach
a velocity OF one and even two thousand
miles per hour When one recalls that
fifty miles an hour Is a stormy gale and
that the tropical hurricane rarely exceeds
"A hundred miles to picture the whiring
speed Of the tornado strains even tho
most elastic imagination.
"A second motion of the tornado is its
course through the air. This Is in gem
eral direction from southwest to north
east This motion is at varying speed,
but the ordinary tornado proceeds at
about the speed of the common storm
cloud. which is about forty or fifty miles
an hour. In this course across the coiln-
try the tornado occasionally makes leaps
of from a few feet to many miles the
fatal cloud-funnel being drawn up into
the air as if to clear certain areas Why
it makes these leaps is not known since
1t is not at all detected by any natural
obstruction, such as mountains water
courses.
THE tornado also has slightly wab
bling motion from side to side-a rocking
of itself as IL We're; it always returns
however. to its chosen direction. Tor
nadoes are always accompanied by thun-
der and lightning, they occur gem
orally in conditions of most abnormal m
stability of the atmosphere"
as il at all possible for the weather
bureau to make any prediction of given
tornado that would be of any practical
value?" Uncle Sans weather forecaster
was asked.
None whatever as to any particular
tornado was Mr. Bowies reply. Its
formation is too sudden and entirely too
dependent upon swift local changes for US
to forecast its occurrence. 1t is n matter
of a very few hours. perhaps minutes
Furthermore, the tornado, unlike its
far-fiung parent, the cyclone, covers, rela-
lively. very minute space. 1t rarely
runs a course of more than fifty miles
and the whole area of disturbance is sell
q
at this" and Mr.. Bowie drew, with his
pencil, delicate mark, about half an
inch long on the weather chart This
cyclone area, you see extends more thar
a foot across this map; the Omaha tor
nado would be just about correctly rep
resented in length and breadth by this
lead pencil mark
what we can do. however. is to fore-
f,af "a
vorable to tornadoes. Thus we know alb
solutely that there can be no tornado ex-
cept under the condition OF a cyclonin
storm. We know, furthermore, that tho
probabilities are all in favor OF It's occur
ring in direction southeast of the storm
center and as the storm center moves
slowly across the country, this locality or
probable tornadoes moves accordingly.
The locality most liable to tornadoes Is
the section from two to four hundred
miles from the storm center-southeast-
We know. Also that tornadoes are most
liable to occur after very hot day ana
to form in the late afternoon, from . 10 .
o'clock.
Therefore, it may be taken as assured
that there will be no tornadOes in any
given locality except when those coudi-
lions are all fulfilled, namely, that there
is a storm center from two To four nun
bred miles northwest, that there nave
been some hours of oppressveiN hot,
damp weather and that it is In the IA ter
part of the afternoon. But when thesa
conditions obtain look out!
cit is a mistake to imagine that far-
ests, or the destruction of them, nav
anything to do with tornadoes .sca7
sin, the most thickly wooded oi ~
states has had more tornadoes than an
other state, though none OF them Wer
very destructive. Missouri which i I'VE
times as well wooded as her nelehpoTS
Kansas and Nebraska. has surpassed
both of them in the number ana Nloiehce
Of, her tornadoes.