The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-04-04
WHERE OUR WEATHER
COMES FROM

products since the beginning OF the
world war, and now sends out more
articles and products than other
countries send in," says a bulletin
issued from the Washington, D. c.,
headquarters of the National Geo.
graphic Society, "there is one COM
modify for the main supply Of which
we look beyond our borders and
probably always will, 1t is our wea-
ther--a necessity in our daily life
but one that perhaps we do not al
ways appreciate.
"a certain part Of our weather, to
be sure, might bear the brand,
made in the u. S. A. but it is only
minor portion. For the most part,
our supply of rains, SHOWS, blizzards
cold waves and hot waves, tornadoes
and tempests come Stumbling in from
the northwest and the west. A
smaller percentage come from the
north and the southwest, and a few
storms from the Gulf Of Mexico and
the South Atlantic. But it is worth
noting that none Of our weather en-
ters the country through the
stretch of the Atlantic coast north
of Cape Hatteras, the section into
which pours the vast bulk Of our ma
terial imports. -t">
Though the United States proper
does not brew its own weather, there
is some consolation to enthusiasts
for the made in America movement
in the fact that the great majority Of
the disturbances that enter the
States originate in Alaska or in the
great warm caulron Of the North
Pacific between the Aleutian Islands
and Hawaii, which is almost Uni
ted States sea.
"Weather disturbances which en-.
ter the United States accompany
lows and 'highs'-separated areas
OF low and high atmospheric pres
sure as registered by the barometer
which drift in general from west
to east. Atmospheric pressure is the
result of the weight Of the great sea
OF air COMPRISING the lower por-
ton. Naturally, in regions where the
air is rarified and is rising, the
weight, and therefore the pressure
is relatively low; where the air Is
contracted and is sinking the weight
is greater and the pressure is reNa-
lively high. Heat is the chief factor
in starting air to rise over a low
and once the start is made the move
ment is contributed to by various
causes, notably condensation into
cloud and rain that gives out to the
air the original heat of evaporation.
Thus a sort of Chimney for rising
air is established, and at its bottom
the pressure is reduced.
"The areas of disturbance-Flows'
and 'highs'-made familiar to large
numbers of people by the rough cir
cles and ellipses that indicate them
on the daily weather maps of the
United States Weather Bureau,
cross the continent normally in
three or four days. Usually rain or
snow falls in the low areas OF
slightly in advance of them. The
rains that occur in the arid parts of
the west, however, usually follow
the passage of lows
"In winter the great factory for
lows is the extensive body of warm
water south of the Aleutian Islands
and in the Gulf of Alaska. This re-
gion is kept warm by the Japan cur
rent. The air over the water is
warmed and tends to rise. This re-
duces air pressure and maintains
permanent area of low pressure
practically throughout the winter.
From time to time such large area
of low pressure is developed that
fragments of the area, so to speak
break off and drift with the pre-
vailing winds to the east. It is some
what like bubble of air under thin
ice breaking off from larger bub-
bic and finding it's way with the
flow of the water to another loca-