Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-03-30

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ways available, why not practice the
thing on each other. just OF get the
habit? :,
THE GREAT STORM.
/. sunday. March 2s. will long be>re-
membered as a day Of great storms.
other; storms have wrought greater,
damage in given localities than any
reported frbm a particular piece from
Sundays storm which swePt'throuSh
several Of. the central states, but there
is probably no cas- on record In which
. series Of vicious tornadoes having a
common origin spread such great de-
VISITATION over a wide
The center Of the STORM which in
f1icted the greatest damage, that
which wrecked the city Of Egin, HI
nois, seems to>havep passed just north
OF the city limits of Chicago, missing
by 4 narrow margin the heart of that
great city, with its hundreds of square
miles of: closely packed buildings and
its millions of inhabitants. A,change
In the direction of the storm 30 slight
as to be almost imperceptible would
have resulted in loss of life and de-
struction Of property with which moth
ing since the great Chicago fire is
comparable.
In the absence OF specific data one
can only speculate on what actually
occurred. There were At least two
great districts where storm conditions
prevailed. One of these covered gen
orally severals of the~-central~stake
Illihow, INDIANA and Ohio, and at least.
parts Of Michigan ana Wisconsin,
Another was in the southeast, taking
in partitions Of Georgia and Alabama.
Whether these were included in n
great storm area Or we're parts of two
distinct storms rs not yet clear.
Evidently the northefn> storm was
marked by conditions which frequent
" prevail, and WHICH are often mis-
understood. There was one great
storm movement, but in the area COW
cred several destructive torpadoes de-
ve34ped, one. destroying a large por-
ton of Elgin and then passing north
eastward striking the northern sub
urbs Of Chicago. and going on across
Lake Michigan and the southern part
Of the state Of Michigan, while others
traversed sections of Indiana and
states still farther, east
Where a great storm develops con-,
flicting stories are often told of the
movements Of he. comparatively
small tornado centers which are
formed within 1T and in which the
greatest damage is done. The move
ments of the tornado are often de-
scribed AZ exceedingly cratic and 1t
is often said that the storm, after
passing ' = place apd blowing
things in one direction, returned and
blew them in the other. The great
air movements which are technically
known IS cyclones. and which may
cover thousands Of niles are immense
circles within which the flow Of the
air may be compared to the current
in y river. Within that current very
mall, but exceeding violent whirls
arise. These are the tornadoes, fvs-
duently. misc&lled cyclones, and they
may he compared to the little eddies,
tor whirlpools, &htch~may be seen in
any rapidly moving streAm. The
course Of these tornAdoes Is fairly<reE-
ular. They move generally with the
course Of the treat current out Of
which they. develop, although their
course may vary somewhat. They do
not return. That they appear to do 10
is due to the fact that the air in i
tornado 10 moving rapidly in . circle,
while the whole circle il mavinx for
ward. When . locality 10 in the clutch
- OF mi OF these aonsfers, il IT is
directly in the path OF the center Of
the storm, the wind will blow from
one Objection ana then, after the cen
ter hAs paaSsd, Will blow from the
Opposite direction.
Sundays storm peemss to h4ve de-
yslopcdsa number OF tornadaea. all
Etfavsling Along approximately parallel
lines an lsvytns their toll Of death.
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