The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1914-01-29
How the Weather Bureau
Forecasts Storms, Frosts
and Floods.

Washington, ID. ts-MGny people
have an idea that there is something
mysterious and occult about the work
of the Weather Bureau IN forecasting
the coming OF storms, frosts ana floods.
Not a fev think that the Observers
must necessarily get their data BY read
ing the planets. the stars and the moon.
A. matter Of fact the iorecsster Of
the Bureau f0retells the coming Of die
turhances iu bgsiuesslike way. very
similar 70 that in which a man Who has
ordered q shipment % goods would
estimate the date Of its arrival.
suppose business man has orlered
acsrload a Of pineapples from the Ha-
waiian Islands tie would know the
average time Il would take the steam.
er to make the trip to the Pacific port,
the average time for unloading and
loading into refrigerator cars. and the
average number oi days 20 be allowed
these cars for their trip across the con-
tinent 10 New York. His estimate
however. would be- subject 20 error be.
cause the steamship might Be delayed
b. fog, or The cars might meet With an
accident
Storms, like pinespples. a. rule do
not originals 10 the United States.
They come TO us, some from the Philip
pines Japan, Siberia, Alaska, Canada
or the Gulf Of Mexico The Weather
Bureau gets cable, telegraphic or wire
less notice Of a foreign storm. Station
after station, or vessel after vessel re
ports the storms arrival in its neigh
borhood. 80 that the general direction
aud rate OF progress can be determined
very early. In fact, the arrival Of
some storms can be foretold ten days
10 advance.
The forecasters watch for the region
Of low barorseter which is the storm
center around which the winds blow Z
This whiri or eddy moves bodily for
ward with the general eastward Drift
o. about $50 miles day in our lati.
tudes. As the lines OF equal pressure
Gsobars) around the low center crowd
closer together, the winds attending
the storm increase in force. The fore.
caster determines the direction OF
movement Of the storm and its velocity.
When weather disturbances are re-
ported, the forecasters know from ex-
perience about how long it takes them
TO reach our Pacific Coast and then
low long after they will reach the At
latic Coast. For example, il storm
coming from Siberia drifts eastward
around the North Pole and reappears
in Alaska, it should appear in Wash
ington and Oregon IN about two days
should get to the Great Lakes in SIX
days and the Atlantic Coast 10 seven
or eight days.
Unexpected conditions may delay
storms or divert them from the straight
track just as a refrigerator car may be
thrown OF its schedule time or be-
shipped by accident on wrong road
some Of these storms deplete them.
selves by running into regions Of high
barometer which are Of greater magni.
tudc and extent than the storm itself.
Some OF them. however, travel com.
p'etely around the world
To keep tab on cold waves that come
into the United States from Canada
and Alaska, the Weather Bureau stud
les the Canadian Weather reports.
England sends reports from leland
the British Islands and Continental
Europe, and daily reports come from
81 Petersburg on the conditions in
Russia and Siberia
The same businesslike system used /
IN tracing the track Of q storm is ap-
piled 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
Ji streams that cause floods are covered
by telegraphic reports sent by local
observers. As this rain reaches the
main channel the height Of the water
in the channel is determined by sue
cessiye guageing stations. Past re-
cords establish how much a height. say
OF 20 feet at Dubuque, Iowa, will pro-
duce at Davenport, another station so
miles down the Mississippi. This plan
il followed all the way down the river.
and at each point tull allowance is
made for the effects Of water from
tributaries, and from additional and
local rainfall. As a result Of these OBJ
in the recent food, the peo-
pie OF Cairo had warning a week OF ten
lays in advance. The Pittsburgh dis
rict can be given only u to "a hours
iotice, because flood is upon them
Within "a hours after a heavy rain !
torn.