Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1914-02-19

bureau foretells the coming of dis.
turbances in a b~usinesslike way, very
similar to that in which a man who
has ordered a shipment of goods
would estimate the date of its arrival
Suppose a business man had order.
ed a carload of pineapples from the
the average time it would take the
steamer to make the trip to the 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 triI
across the continent TO New York
His estimate, however, would be sub
ject to error, because the steamship
might be delayed by fog or the cars
might meet with an accident.
Storms, like pineapples, as a rule
do not originate in the United States
They come to us. some from the Phil.
ippines, Japan, Siberia, Canada, or the
Gulf of Mexico. The Weather Blu.
reau gets cable, telegraphic or wire.
less notice Of a foreign storm. Station
after station, or vessel after vessel
reports the storms arrival IN it's
neighborhood, SO that the general di-
rection and rate of progress can be
determined very early. In fact, the
arrival of some storms can be fore
told 10 days in advance.
The fo~recasters watch for the re-
gion of low barometer which is the
storm center around which the winds
blow. This whirl or eddy moves bod
forward with the general eastward
drift of about $50 miles a day in our
ATTITUDES. The f~orecaster determines
the direction of movement of the
storm and its velocity.
When weather disturbances are re-
ported, the fOrvcasters know from ex-
.perience about how long it takes them
to reach our Pacific coast, and then
how long after they will reach the
Atlantic coast. For example, if a
storm coming from Siberia drifts
eastward around the North Pole and
in Alaska, it Should appear
Washington and Oregon in about
.wo days: should get TO the Great
Lakes in six days and to the Atlantic
coast in seven or eight days.
Unexpected conditions may delay
or divert them from the track,
Just as a refrigerator car may be
off it's schedule or be shipped
by accident on a wrong road. Some
If these storms deplete themselves by
into regions of high baro-
meter which are of greater magnitude
and extent than the storm itself. Some
If them, however, travel completely
the world.
To keep tab on cold waves that
into the United States from
Canada and Alaska, the Weather Blu
reau studies the Canadian weather re-
ports. England sends reports from
iceland, the British Islands and Cen
mental Europe. and daily reports
come from st. Petersburg on the con
litions in Russia and Siberia.
The same b~usinessNke system used
IN tracing the track Of a storm is ap-
pied to determining. the arrival of
Flood forecasts are made in much.
the same way. Information as to the
amount of rainfall at the head waters
of streams that cause foods are, 0 V
cred by Geographic reports sent by
local observers. AS this rain reaches
the main channel, the height of the
in the channel is determined by
successive guaging stations. Past rec
nrds establish how much a height, say,
20 feet at Dubuque, Iowa, Will pro-
duce at Davenport, another station
miles down the Mississippi. This
plan is followed all the way down the
river, and at each point full allow
.nce is made for the effects of water
tributaries, and from additional
and local rainfall. AS a result of these
observations In the recent flood the
of Cairo had warning a week
or 10 days IN advance. The Pitts
burgh district car be given only II to
"a hours notice, because a flood IS
upon them within "a hours after a
heavy rain storm.
He Has Cot Iahn