Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-01-11
Train Your Weather Eve
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN

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 mme
late approach of the storm within the
o~bservaticl. of the amateur. They are
caused bv bits of vapor that ny on
from the whirling cyclone and are
caught and condensed by the cold pre-
, vailing westerlies of the upper spaces.
These are the winds above the wealth
er that move majestically from u
tor to pole, and they carry the little
clouds swiftly ahead Of the storm
warning all that look upward.
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 sometimes two days in advance
by these ragged, fast-nying danger
signals.
II 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
the heavier, blacker, cirro.stratus Will
begin to pile up in the west so that
the sun goes down behind a smoky
veil. Sometimes there is a marked
halo about the sun, and then you may
, be almost sure hat rain will fatf
within twenty-four or thirty-six hours;
for long observation has, shown that
! this sign is right about ninety-three
times out of a hundred. If there is a
moon on the night before the storm,
it will be very likely to have a halo,
which is an almost equally good in
dication that rain is coming within
thirty-six hours. II you BET on the
halo about the moo regularly you
will win about eighty-seven times out
of a hundred.
AS the storm draws closer and
closer, you must be more and more
watchful if you would prophesy its
movement and regulate your own
accordingly.
The great black clouds that pile up
! in the summer sky are not dangerous
in themselves. A grey patch, known
as the nimbus, always forms before it
begins to rain. Don't let the big black
clouds bluff you out, but when the
grey nimbus overspreads the sky, it
is, time to seek shelter. .. =. j.. e
In, winter, If it is going to snow,
the sky will be ar absolutely uniform
grey without a seam or a crack. From
that sort OF a sky you are sure to get
snow. But If there is any flaw in it's
perfect wool, the storm will take the
form of rain no matter how cold 1t is.
From this it will be seen that the
cirrus clouds are the most reliable in.
dication Of when the storm will ar.
rive, after the east wind has announc-
e. its approach. A few scattering
cirri are not very significant, but if
the procession grows rather than d.
minishes the chances are about eight
to one that a storm is approaching.
Sometimes the cirri are ~forerunners
of a storm which is passing north or
south Of you, in which case you can
usually see that tho center Of cloudi-
ness is far away and that you are not
threatened.
II the cirrus have foretold Alright,
they will gather to form a GIRO stra-
tus. This is the fine, feathery sort of
! cloud that covers the sky as though
with cotton batting combed out thin.
Sometimes the cirrus will develop into
what the sailors cali a "mackerel
sky" in which the lights and shades
j of the clouds resemble the scales of
4 fish. Either Of these skys generally
indicates an increasing moisture and
a rapid approach of the storm. o.
%casionally. however, a mackerel sky
is an indication that the moisture Is
drying up. In this case the little
clouds will quickly begin to shrink.
After cirro-stratus, or mackerel sky,
the clouds rapidly thicken and turn
grey until the first flakes of snow or
( drops Of rain begin to fall. .
These, then, are the storm signals
that you can read for yourself and rely
upon. First, an east wind, then cirrus
clouds speeding westward; then warm
er weather and perhaps the sun with
a halo about it, or the moon, il there
is one, may wear a similar decoration.
II all or most of these signs concur,
you may safely count on stormy
weather. ~"