The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-04-07
The weather Man protect.

INC 6,ultor OF me Times Dispatch:
| local office OF the Weather Burenu lie IL
me me forecasting. OF flood stages in James
River Conditions preceding and at
tending floods. therefore have nat
! uraliy been the subject OF close study
on the part OF this office, and in the
ing which these forecasts have been
ISSUED, as required, we. have learned
s,GGmethsins of the varying conditions
mat affect the stream, from the un :
cquai per cent OF run-on. or DRAINAGE
Sleided by dense soils like clay as
| sandy loans. to the varying per cent
or run-off occurring at different sen
/ sons or tho year, due to "a retarded or
in turn results from differences il, the
1enperature of air and OF soil at such
have. therefore. read with some in
,cfest me account in your Sunday Issue
OF our local Hood conditions In this
II il stated that the rise was ereater
than predicted. and that ..at midn;nSt
! the gauge stood at eighteen feet anu
rising steadily."
this eighteen foot reading was taken.
ana from what source II any. a pre-
diGtion Of less than seventeen feet as
tainly ncithcr the one nor the other
came from this Office
", om init, lhe telesraphic warnings
We sent out Thursday evening and Fri .
DAY morning 10 Columbia and TO Lynch >
nurs' VIC ISSUED by telephone to local
interest,", narhl rs, on Friday morning preiimi-
stage Of water here. and advised ali
parties likely TO be affected by such "a
rise TO get threatened material out OF
the way. No change in this warning
was made until late Saturday night
when supplemental Information that
seventeen feet, and possibly 10 eigh-
teen feet as a maximum, late at night
or early sunday morning, WAS issued
The readings of the river, AS taken
from the Weather Bureau gauge ut
the Southern Railway bridge, showed n
continuous slow rise Saturday IN slow
rise was. predicted by this oiIicc). and
~ midnight the gauge was slightly
above seventeen feet and still rising
feet, NJ 3 a. N. Sunday and rcmaining
at stand IT that height until 9 \. NJ
Sunday, when II began to fall slowly
feet at l.. NJ.
Your article is somewhat misleading
ana indirectly does this office an inius-
,ce. since it does not exclude us from
the general statement that the frcshet
went higher than was predicted, and
was eighteen feet and rising at mid
night Saturday.
There are thousands Of your readers
IN Richmond who do not receive food
warnings directly from This Office. hui
get their information from, your col
umns. and TO such it will no doubt
appear that we have made an error in
our noOu prediction. when, as & matter
OF TACT, we forecast the exact height
TO within a few inches nearly fortv-
nOuTS 3ncau Oh lis occurrence
and gave the hour Of occurrences IA
closely as ii is possible to estimate
such data.
Prediction OF the maximum height
that may be expected In times OF nood
-? difficult under the most favorable
CIRCUMSTANCES. and wiii not Always
verify as closely as did this present
one.
Will you not kindly extend the conr
tesy OF space in your columns for this
communication. and At the same time
Indicate what gauge the eichteen-f foot
rising ut midnight was taken from:
also from what source prediction OF :,
maximum height ot less than seven
teen feet If any. was obtained?
This Office Is mapping contour lines
for freshets Of various heights in the
lowlying sections of the city. These
lines arc based on the zero of tho
" Gather Bureau gauge, and If there
is any other gauge having a zero
thought to he reliable. it Is important
that the difference In the height of the
zeros be ascertnined and taken into
account in mapping the food planes
EDWARD a. EVANS.
Richmond.