The New York herald., 1922-10-01
Hurricane Season Is Here.
Storms Caused by Polar Air Waves
Striking fhe Tropics.

To THE NEW YORK HERALD: The sea-
son for West Indian hurricanes is hero
again and people along the Gulf cand
Atlantic iittorals as well as sailors ON
the north Atlantic are on the watch
Tor them. Up this way interest in them
is not so strong. although the oldest
inhabitant has not forgotten the tales
OF the hurricane that passed from New
London. Conn. to Montreal a century
ago.
hurricanes are generally known as of
the West Indies and of the China Sea
others are reported from the Indian
Ocean and Mauritius. The Samoan hur-
ricane is historical. The Fiji ISLANDS
are also visited by these storms. The
TACT is that hurricanes occur in tw'
peits on either side OF the equator anu
generally follow parabolic paths. Thes
belts girdle the earth. Formed in "
tropics. hurricanes move westward usIo
the drift until they are flung polewnp
| and recurve to the eastward in ~
temperate drift.
The hurricane is formed by the over
tapping polar air waves following the
sun. The major wave happens about
once in three weeks. The hurricane,
like everything else, attracts attention
only IL 1t interferes with man. just as
many form off the ives: coast of Mexico
as Off the West Indies, but as they
rarely recurve onto the Californian
coast and rarely meet ships. their repu-
tation is confined to the Hollywood
scenarios. And. anyway, after a hurri-
cane has recurved It has become an
ordinary storm of the temperate lati-
tudes. though some Sof the equinoctial
northeasters play mischief with Atlantic
City boardwalks and other summer
property along the north Atlantic coast.
Further south, as-at Charleston and
Galveston, they sometimes strike land
before recurring.
One OF the tenets of meteorology has
been that a storm lives on water like
n steam engine. But the air over the
ocean could be saturated and the
weather remain fair unless there was
temperature contrast. The northeast
trades blow fair over the ocean until
the polar wave gets down strong enough
to upset things.
Hurricanes occur only in the fall In
north latitudes because the continents
heat the air and cut Off the polar waves
the rest OF the time. For the same rea-
son hurricanes do not form where the
belts cross the land. In the southern
hemisphere. with its area mostly free
water surface. hurricanes may occur at
any time.
Give a storm temperature contrast and
It will keep going without water. If
storms are dry over land 1t is because
the mountain ranges usually bordering
land areas have condensed their mois-
ture. The winds remain and the ba-
rometer is. often very low despite the
mountains attempt to wreck the whirl.
The hurricane when young may be
ten miles high and only fifty miles in
diameter. The wind may blow upward
Of 200 miles an hour to the tornado's
500, but that is enough. 1t blew more
| than 170 miles an hour at New Jersey
coast station before the thermometer dis
appeared and the storm had turned at
that. In Barbados a hurricane blew n
cannon several hundred feet. But the
great damage Is caused by the ocean
overfiowing the hand, as at Galveston.
The storm known as the great Septem-
Der gale drove ships through the streets
rot up country. The hurricane when
new Is sometimes seen as a massive
thunder bank towering out of blue sky.
but as It grows 1t becomes rapidly SUR
rounded ny clouds.
The hurricane is nowadays kept track
OF by wireless, so its path may be
guessed at A more scientific way
would be to refer to the location of the
nearest rain period. with a knowledge
Of such periods intensity. If the rain
period nearest Is normal and to tho
eastward the storm in the Atlantic will
recurve and pursue a normal path. TX
IL happens to be within touch to tho
westward the storm will be drawn that
way. A dry rain periodical rain
TO the eastward might allow 1t to swerve
from It's course, not having much infiu-
ence neither would Il attract much if
TO the westward. This is the cause of
the sudden. unexpected storms that
arise on the coast. even as late as
northeasters at Thanksgiving one such
storm sank the steamship Portland with
100 passengers. That OF March. 1888,
drew a storm clear across Connecticut.
1t was known as the March blizzard and
e.
as the north Atlantic States from Phil
adelphia to Montreal.
In the center OF hurricane the Sky
may be clear and the observer look
around at a revolving wall of cloud. The
sailor calls this the eye of the storm.
When the wall goes over him again ho,
says II has commenced to blow great
guns once rnore--that Is the way the
wind blasts sound. One might recog-
nize lightning, but hardly thunder.
| After a hurricane passes nature sets
10 work with tropic resiliency and, so
far as she Ia concerned, soon has its
ravages repaired with new vegetation.
The hurricanes of the north Pacific
that recurve generally reach the Aiss-
kan coast az ordinary storms. as tho
Atlantic gales reach Great Britain.
II hurricane gets into the Gulf o.
Mexico u Is trapped and IL usually
heard from when II strikes land But
most OF these birds are too wary to
be caught. AID. ELME.
| BosroN, September 20.
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