Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1914-02-27
NOTHING MYsTERIeue Asouf IT
How The Weather Bureau Forecasts
Storms, Frosts and Floods

something mysterious ana occult
about the work of the Weather Blu
reau in forecasting the coming of
storms, frosts and floods. Not a few
think that the observers must neces-
sarily get their data by reading the
planets, the stars and the moon. AS
a matter of fact the forecaster of the
Bureau foretells the coming of dis
turbances in businesslike way, very
similar to that in which a man who
has ordered shipment Of goods
would estimate the date of it's arriv-
al.
Suppose business man has or
dered a carload of pineapples from
the Hawaiian Islands. He would know
the average time it would take the
steamer to make tn trip to tn Pa
cific port, the average time for un-
loading and loading into refrigerator
cars, and the average number of days
to be allowed these cars for their
trip across the continent to New
York. His estimate, however, would
| be subject to error because the
steamship might be delayed by fog,
or the cars might meet with an &C
cident
Storms, like pineapples, as a rule
do not originate in the United States
They come to us, some from the
PHILIPPINES, Japan, Siberia, Alaska
Canada or the Gulf of Mexico. The
Weather Bureau gets cable, teleg-
raphic or wireless notice of a foreign
storm. Station after station, or YES
sci after vessel reports the storms
arrival in it's neighborhood, so that
the general direction and rate of pro
gress can be determined very early.
In fact, the arrival of some storms
can be foretold ten days in advance.
The forecasters watch for the re.
storm center around which the winds
blow This whirl or eddy moves bod
| lily forward with the general east
ward drift of about $50 miles a day
in our ATTITUDES. AS the lines of equal
pressure Gsobars) around the low
center crowd closer together, the
winds attending the storm increase in
force. The forecaster determins the
direction of movement of the storm
and it's velocity.
When weather disturbances are re-
ported, the forecasters know from ex-
perience about how long it takes
them to reach the Atlantic Coast.
For example, if a storm coming
from Siberia drifts eastward around
the North Pole and reappears in
Alaska, it should appear in Washing
ton and Oregon in about two days;
should get to the Great Lakes in
six days and to the Atlantic coast
in seven or eight days.
Unexpected conditions may delay
storms or divert them from the
straight track just as refrigerator
car may be thrown off it's schedule OF
be shipped by accident on wrong
road. Some of these storms deplete
themselves by running into regions
of high barometer which are of great
er magnitude and extent than the
storm itself. Some of them, however,
travel completely around the world
To keep tab on cold waves that
come into the United States from
Canada and Alaska, the Weather Bu-
reau studies the Canadian Weather
reports. England sends reports from
Iceland, the British Islands and Con-
tinental Europe, and daily reports
come from ST. Petersburg on the
conditions in Russia and Siberia
The same businesslike system used
in tracing the track of a storm is
applied in determining the arrival of
frosts.
Flood forecasts are made in much
the same way Information as to the
amount of rainfall at the head waters
Of streams that cause floods are COW
cred by Geographic reports sent by
local observers. AS this rain reaches
the main channel, the height of the
water in the channel is determined
successive gaging stations. Past rec
ords establish how much a height,
say of 20 feet at Dubuque, Iowa, will
produce at Davenport, another sta
ton 80 miles down the Mississippi.
This plan is followed all the way
down the river, and at each point
full allowance is made for the eff
fects of water from tributaries, and
from additional and local rainfall. AS
la result of these tributaries in the
recent flood, the people of Cairo had
warning a week or ten days in adj
vance. The Pittsburgh district can
be given only IL to "a hours notice,
because flood is upon them within
"a hours after a heavy rain storm.