The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1925-04-07
ANNUAL SEASON FOR
TORNADOES NOW HERE
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY is ONE
OF THE WORST TORNADO
ZONES OF THE WORLD.
AIR CURRENTS ARE TO BLAME

"S+reans" From Warm Cult OF Mexl-
co Meeting Winds From the Cold
Rocky Mountain Peaks Cause the
Destructive Tornadoes.
The annual spring tornado season
:, the United States has been ushered
=, bv the greatest storm disaster IN
tbe history of the country. With more
+ban 800 dead and several thousand
injured, and property damage estimat-
Cd at several hundred million dollars
southern Illinois is the theater of the
first tornado tragedy of the year. Again
the Mississippi valley has lived up to
IFS reputation of being one of the worst
tornado zones in the world.
History tells the stories of the tor
nadoes which regularly each spring
visit the middle west and in some
cases the south central part OF the
limited States. In late spring or early
summer and in late autumn or early
winter. but most frequently in late
snring the tornado takes its toll
There are usually only a few, although
there are records of more than score
during a single season.
Scientists have explained the causes
of the tornado and also have advanced
theories which they hold explain why
the Mississippi river valley, particular
" in the middle west, suffers the most
from the terrible twisters.
Currents in the Air.
Every one has observed the currents
in A stream of water. The scientists
have learned that there are just such
currents in the air, the air moving IN
strata, cold air in one layer and warm
er air in another.
In the spring, when most OF the
twisters occur, warm air from the
south, in particular from the Gull OF
Mexico. flows northward throughout
the Mississippi valley. At the same
time air currents from the PACING
coast. chilled in crossing the high,
snow-covered peaks of the Rocky
mountains, are moving eastward.
In the middle west, particularly IN
Missouri and Kansas, these two cur
rents one of cold and one OF warmer
air cross and there a tornado may
be formed
Warm air. because it is lighter, has
= tendency to rise So narrow col
umn Of warm air arises and p1erces the
strata of cold air. Other warm air
PUSHES in to take the place of the lost
air, and whirling motion is the re-
suit This is the beginning OF a tor
nado
Vacuum in Air.
The action of the winds in whirling
produces a vacuum in the air where
the two currents mingle, and the TO
tation of the column causes II to be-
gin moving, usually in a northeaster-
" direction. The column Of air soon
sucks I'D dust and takes the form OF
funnel, the wide part in the clouds
and the narrow part touching the
earth
Once the tornado begins moving
destruction is in the ofing. The path
OF tornado may be only few rods
wide but it probably will be hun
bred miles long. The air in the Jun
nel' attains a speed of about $50 miles
an hour, and so a pressure OF Zoo
pounds is exerted per square inch on
any surface which resists its move
ment.
Does Great Damage.
Then the tornado, strangely "bounc-
ing as much as a mile or more at a
time, touches earth here and there and
does great damage. Many lives are
lost, and hundreds of persons are IN
jured The tornado continues until ITS
force has been spent. The tornado
occurs usually during the warmer
hours of the day and is most frequent
scientists say, in the Mississippi val
ley because there the air conditions
are more unstable and likely to prove
the necessary crossing of cold and
warm air currents.
1t is the vacuum generated III the
heart of the funnel-shaped twlster that
does the damage 1t may tear down
large buildings, carry off huge To-,
conceive anG let light wagon stand
untouched, carry bodies and debris
many miles, dry up small lakes and
ponds and even drive slender straws
through blocks of wood.