Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-02-17
nov weatber Forecasts ere Made.

Mapy people have an idea thatther 70
.omethine mysterious and occult about
the work Of the Weather Bureau IN fore,
casting the coming OF storms, irosts ana
foods. Not few think that the ooserv'
ers must necessarily get their data BY
reading the planets, the stars. and the
moon. As . matter Of fact the forecast.
ar of the Bureau foretells the coming OF
disturb Dances in businesslike way, very
similar to that 10 which man who has
ordered shipment OF goods would estl'
mate the date Of its arrival.
Suppose business man had ordered
a carload OF pineapples from the Hawai-
Ian islands. He would know the aver.
age time It would take the steamer to
make the trip to the Pacific port, the
average time for unloading and loading
into refrigerator cars, and the average
number OF days to be allowed those 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 accident.
Storms, like pinespples, a. rule do
not originate In the United States. They
come to MS, some from the Philippines,
Japan, Siberia, Alaska, Canada or the
Gulf OF Mexico. The Weather Bureau
gets cable, telegraphic or wireless notice
of foreign storm. Station after station,
or vessel after vessel reports the storms
arrival in it's neighborhood, 30 that the
general direction and rate Of progress
can be determined very early. In TACT,
the arrival of some storms can be fore
told ten days in advance.
The forecasters watch for the region
of low barometer which is the storm
center around which the winds blow.
This whirl or eddy moves bodily for.
ward with the general eastward drift OF
about $50 miles day In our ATTITUDES.
As the lines of equal pressure (isobars)
around the low center crowd closer to-
pether, the winds attending the storm
increase In force. The forecaster deter.
mines the direction Of movement OF the
storm and its velocity.
When weather disturbances are re-
ported, the forecasters know from ex-
perieuce about how long it takes them
to reach our Pacific coast, and then
how long after they will reach the At
lautic Coast, for example, II storm
coming from Siberia drifts eastward
around the North Pole and reappears In
Alaska, it should appear In Washington
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 a refrigerator car may be
thrown off its schedule or be shipped by
accident on q wrong road. Some OF
these storms deplete themselves by run
ming into regions of high barometer
which are of greater magnitude and ex
tent than the storm itself. Some oil
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 Bureau studies the
Canadian weather reports. England
sends reports from Iceland, the British
islands and Continental Europe, and
daily reports come from St. Petersburg
on the conditions in Russia and Siberia
The same businesslike system used IL
tracing the track Of storm Is applied Ii
determining the arrival Of frOsts.
Flood forecasts are made in much thu
Same way. Information as to TIT
amount Of rainfall at the head waters OIL
streams that cause foods are covered by
telegraphic reports sent by local Obssrv
srs. As this rain reaches the main chan
mel, the height of the water In the chan
uel is determined by successive gaginf
stations. Past records establish how
much height, say Of 20 feet at Du
buque, Iowa, will produce at Davenport
another station 80 miles down the Mis-
sissippi. This plan is followed oil TIT
way down the river, and at each poin
full allowance Is made for the effects o
water from tributaries, and from add
tional and local rainfall. As . result o
these observations in the recent food
the people of Cairo had warning week
or ten days In advance. The Pittsburgh
district can be given only IL to "a hours
notice, because a flood is upon then
within "a hours after heavy rail-
| storm.