The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1914-04-09
SOLVING The WIND
One Big Problem That Bothers
= the Weather Forecasters.
CURRENTS THEY CAN'T STUDY
Atmospheric Conditions Away Above
the Earth Are Beyond Thei' Reacf.
and Are Consequently Unknown Fac
tors-Methods of the E.ncients.

and Are Consequently Unknown Fac
tors-Methods of the Lncients.
The art of predicting the weather Is
one in which it seems ut first sight the
modern scientist ought easily to sur
pass his ancestors. Yet it may he
doubted whether he is really more
successful in it than they were. Tn.
meteorological department hoastesl
some time back that their forecasts OF
weather as published in the daily press
were justified by the result in ~ per
cent of the cases recorded. AS the per
centage of correct guesses in a snfii
ciently extended list. however. would
exactly equal the incorrect. this does
not show Il very grcat superiority for
scientific methods over pure conjec
ture.
Yet the meteorological department
enjoys the advantage. as our ances
tors. of course. did not. of elaborate
and accurate recording Instruments
like Secehi's meteopgraph. together
with lelegr,phic reports from weather
stations dispersed nearly all over the
surface of the globe. It's relative nun
success shows perhaps that there is
| still IL fnetor in the problem which it is
| ut present impossible to estimate.
This is the more extraordinary be
| cause the modern method of forecast
ing the weather differs entirely from
| that practiced by the ancients. With
| them it was simply question of tim,
and season. or. what is the same thing
of the appearance or disappearance of
certain SIa1.S. -
When Hpsiod's husbandnIan saw the
! to begin his harvest. and when the.
j set forty days later his pl0wing This
| might still be Il good enough rule fui
countries near the equator Wi9re tht
prevalence OF trade winds. which blow
nninterruptedly IN the direction III
and where the monsOons. which in the
countries east Of Suez blow for siA
months the other way. help to keep til,
| weather. If not constant. yet regular
/ In other attitudes. however there il
no such help, and he who would pre-
dict the weather must therefore con
fine himself to linding out what wind.
are blowing in other parts Of tlis
world and when they are likely t
reach him.
As to this. modern science still de
pends mainly on the observations mad,
hy HALEY. who discovered in the sew
ellteenth century during Il voyage II
the tropics how tho sun so warmed th,
air at the equator that the heated mir
rising after its manner dispersed itsel
toward the poles and was replaced b.
Il rush of cold air from the region
farther from the SIM
This. which explains the phenomenon
Of trade winds. was really the founda
ton Of modern netenrology. although
it was reserved for Haley. some .ift
years later to point o,lt that. thanks I
the rotation OF the earth nn its awl
axis, both kinds Of winds stray some
what from their apparent objective
Later Doves law Of rotation" wa
discovered. which declares that in Gel
tain attitudes the wind will nearly n
ways follow the suns motion-i- e.. wi
pass from n through n. E.. and froi
S. E. to s., completing the circle b
passing from 5. to n. through til
west. but will very seldom move tn
reverse way.
Finally. there comes in what
known as the law of Busy Railo
which is that. in the northern hem
sphere, if one stands with ones bac
to the wind the line of lower pressul
is always on ones left hand.
This enables us to understand VIII;
il meant by the cycIonic and ant
cyclOnic disturbances which are {
frequently mentioned in the otIici
forecasts as approaching US. genera
~ from the Atlantic.
If Within any particular spot Il
pressure is lower than 1t is outside
the wind blows round it in the co
trary direction to the hands OF
watch and is called cyclonic from Il
similar behavior of the West lndi;
hurricanes named cyclones. This
because the lowest pressure to al
ono standing with his back to the vii
is always OH ones left hand. Ii. h0'
ever. the pressure within the are;l
question is higher than outside it. Z
wind blows round it clockwise and
called anti-cycIonic.
One circumstance against mode
methods of forecasting the wealth
correctly outweighs all those in th'
favor. The winds that can be q
N served are all those blowing close
tile earth's surface. What Is the
4. feet Of the currents prevailing at ev
II n few miles above it, where. as nv
in tors constantly declare there are ev
.'hoIes'' and pockets" in the atm
u phere: Until there is more inform
m tion OH this. nleteoroiogy will not
pr an exact science.-Detroit Free Pres
id Wished He Hadn't Spoken.
Id The bored youth turned to his din
II partner. with Il yawn.
rs "Who is that strange looking n
n,.nr tt,aro who StoroS af mo al mlle