Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-01-17
TRAIN YOUR WEATHER EYE
How to Foretell Storms
By Frederic ]. Haskin

Just as the west wind is your best
friend in the matter of weather,
- bringing clear, cool days, so the
east wind blows before a storm.
We have seen that the anticyclone
is q great cone of cold air, moving
across the country from the west and
at the same time circulating like the
hands of a clock, so that all over
North America it produces a west
wind. The phenomenon known as
cyclone, which brings the storms, is
the exact opposite in every way. 1t
is mass of moist warm air which
usually forms somewhere In the west
or Middle West. The dry, cold air
which surrounds it, being heavier,
rushes in around its base, squeezing it
to a point, and circulating round and
round it. Thus the cyclone is an in
verted cone of warm, moist air circu-
lating in the opposite direction from
the hands of clock.
If you are going to understand the
weather you must make no mistake
about the size and action of these
cyclones and anticyclones. A cyclone
is usually. oblong. 1t may extend from
far into Canada to far cut in the
Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic
Coast to the Mississippi Valley. There
fore, as it revolves across the coun-
try, it brings east winds, and these
Also because of the great difference
of temperature between the anti
cyclone and the surrounding air, these
winds are apt to develop great
violence. So the cyclone is the pre-
cursor of almost everything unde-
sirable in weather. The northeasters
on the Atlantic coast that kick the
surf up mountain high and wreck the
boats, are almost invariably cyclones
that originated somewhere in the
Rocky Mountains, although you will
have hard time convincing the long
shoreman that they do not come
across the water. In summer, when
a long spell of hot, muggy weather
settles upon the land, sapping your
energy and running your disposition,
it is due to the presence of a torpid.
slow-moving cyclone. So that when
ever the wind comes from the east,
winter or summer, you may be sure
the weather is going to change for
the worse.
The Weather Bureau has been
watching every storm that has cross
ed the United States for great many
years, and it has found that there is
a regular cycle of these movements.
Every year, about 110 storms cross
the country and about 103 of these
are born in the west, while the
other seven usually come from the
Eastern Gulf States. Fifteen storms
q year start in the West Gulf States,
especially in Texas Twelve originate
in the Colorado Rockies. The West
ern Plateau States start about ten
storms every year. The Weather
Bureau knows approximately the
course that each of these will follow.
For example, both the Gulf and the
Colorado storms usually shoot across
the country northeastward to the st.
Lawrence Valley. That section gets
about two storms a week. all in all.
About the best thing you can say for
the weather in the st. Lawrence VAL
ley is that it never lasts long.
Occasionally, any of these storms
may deviate slightly from it's usual
path. The result will be a storm in
some section where clear weather
was predicted. 1t is these little de-
cause every man who left his umbrella
at home to say unpleasant things
about the Weather Bureau.
Occasionally, two cyclones will
move across the country at the same
time, and if they happen to run to-
gether, combining their moisture, a
very heavy rain is the result.
The brisk cyclone that brings a
stiff east wind and driving rain or
snow, is the least undesirable variety.
1t is the slow-moving cyclone, bring
ing moist, muggy weather, that is
most to be dreaded. In the winter it
takes the form of fog, which rests
upon the earth until the cold, heavy
air of an anticyclone comes and
pushes it away. In the summer it is
a heat wave, which usually lasts
until it is relieved by a thunder
storm.
AS we have said, the surest indica-
ton of an approaching cyclone is a
wind from the east. This tells you
that II ia coming lust before II ar
rives, you will see a number of thin,
wispy clouds high up in the air and
moving rapidly south and west. They
are what the scientists call cirrus
and the sailors mares tails"
These cirrus clouds are about the
most reliable indication Of the i'm
mediate approach of the storm within
the observation of the amateur. They
are caused by bits of vapor that fly
off from the whirling cyclone and are
caught and condensed by the cold
prevailing westerlies of the upper
spaces These are the winds above |
the weather that move majestically
from equator to pole, and they carry |
the little clouds swiftly ahead of the |
storm, warning all that look up
ward.
There will usually be at least sew
eral hours between the first appear /
ance of the cirrus and the beginning |
of the storm, while the larger storms /
are usually advertised at least one
day and some times two days in ad- |
vance by these ragged, fast-fiying |
danger signals.
If a big storm is approaching, the |
day before it breaks will usually be !
especially fine. with soft air and a |
higher temperature than the day be- |
fore Cirrus will be thick in the sky |
by the middle of the afternoon, and |