New Britain herald., 1928-09-04
SEA WATCHERS ON
 HURRICANE GUARD
Ships Glha Reports Which Are Pllshod to nlrinels

vatchdogs of the sea help to protect American coastal cities from unpre- I paredness against the hurricane ssason for the Atlantic and Gulf coasts in August September and October.
 The 50 watchdogs are the steam CTS, mostly American vessels. which ply the commercial routes of the Gulf of America, the Caribbean and South America. War started there hurricane forecasts. and develop ments of American shipping com pleted them.
 The first regular hurricane re- ports gathered py the United States weather bureau were during the Spanish American war for the needs Of the battle fleets. Since then protection of coastal cities and of shipping has spread watch net over the home of the West Indian hurricanes 90 perfect that nowa- days not one escapes being caught near its inception and charted in advance throughout its path. This seasons first storm was caught days in advance.
 The autumn storms In the West Indies are thought sometimes to start as far to the eastward as the African coast. They follow the di- rection of the warm stream of the North Equatorial current. through the northern part of the Caribbean. sometimes through the Yucatan channel and again through the Straits ot Florida and recurve to the northeast, following the course of the gulf stream and the direction of the mountain ranges. They very rarely pass to the westward of the meridian of New Orleans.
 In the month of August they are likely to take the most northern track from St. Thomas, through the Bahamas extending in a wide path over the gulf stream in the Atlan- tic and eastward about 400 miles from the coast.
 In September the storms are more likely to enter the Caribbean between Barbadoes and St. Thom- as. passing over the eastern part of the straits of Florida and the At- lantic coast. Those of October form tn the eastern part of the Carib- bean. Their advance is very slow, sometimes being delayed near the same place for several days.
 A peculiarity of some of these tu U. s. Photographic office:
 Tt is generally difficult for mas ters of vessels to anticipate these storms with accuracy. because the barometer falls so slowly at first. The earliest indication is the move- ment of the sea. for the swell ap- pears sometimes before the storm, and it may even be against the di- rection of the wind prevailing at tho time. but when 1t does appear 1t is sure warning. The August storms give the most warning. the October storms the least"
 Their origin. says Charles I. Mitchell of the Washington fore cast district. is dependent upon the existence of number of condi- tions. not all of which have been adequately defined owing to the in- sufficiency of direct observations at sea. It has been established. how ever\that the point of origin must bs far enough from the equator for the defective force of the earth's rotation to affect the winds and that . center of high humidity, high temperature and low pressure must exist in reasonably close proximity to an area of sharply higher pres- sure to the north.
 Just what sets the cyclonic dis turbances in motion has not been ascertained. but the evidence dis closes that the belt of the doldrums is especially adapted to their for nation. This belt wavers with the change of seasons long an irregu. lar line few degrees north of the equator and is caused by the meet ing of winds emanating from the so-called permanent areas of high pressure which hang over the oceans in latitude 90 to 70 degrees, north and south. throughout the summer.