New Britain herald., 1930-08-08
miners promptly named the hot
winds brickfield ars.
Th,hderstOrms Almost ITniyarsaI


winds brickfield srs.
Th,nderstorms Almost Universal
Australia supplies curious nick
names to all its breezes. Besides
brickfielders and southern bursters
there are willy willies. the FIRE.
mantle doctor and Cock-eyed Robs,
| Willy vilies are hurricanes that
play tag DIP and down the northwest
coast; the Fremantle doctor is
Perth's afternoon cooling breeze
from the sea; Cock-eyed Bob is a
thunderstorm.
Few countries on earth do not
have thunderstorms. africa in Chile
does not have them, indeed it does
not have rain storms of any kind
year on end. The United States has
a fair number; the cameroons
which lie in Africa's armpit, are the
second most thunderous lands of
earth. while the true land of the
thunderbolt is Java. At Buitenzorg.
Java. lightning flashes and thunder
growls 322 days of the year.
The Patron Wind Of India
Ancient Greeks erected an eight
sided temple to the winds. each side
sacred to the wind from that corner
o. the compass. Weather observa-
tories have supplanted the Greek
temple and a different type of
classification has replaced the Greek
weathervane method Now it is
L.rnu-o ha
city street is a type of nearly all
storms. Waterspouts, thund erstorms.
tornadoes. billiards. from northwest
Canada, are all swirls of winds of
greater or lesser diameter. But
separate cubby hole has to be re.
served for the monsoon. The mon
soon is different; the unique posses
sion OF the Far East, although a
baby monsoon, the chubasco, has
been found in Central America.
In India the monsoon dictates
politics, drives Englishmen to the
hills, and saves the whole peninsula
from being another Arabian desert.
Monsoon rains stopped a political
demonstration in Bombay a few
weeks ago and have called a halt
to salt gathering. Salt pans that
were scenes of disturbance are now,
with the coming Of monsoon down
pours, muddy pools.
How the Monsoons Flow
The monsoon can be understood |
without going to India if the kitch-
Ell. stove can take the place of a |
10,009mile sea voyage Anyone who |
has looked at the kitchen range. |
felt the heat and even seen the heat |
waves rising from its top, knows
what happens in India. Tibet, north
of India. is the worlds largest nat
ural stove, a huge block of land |
raised up in the sky two miles above
sea level, bare to the hot summer |
sun,
Heat waves rise from Tibet and |
to take the place OF the rising air |
new air, called the monsoon, comes |
i'll from India. If the air were smoke
colored th- monsoon winds could |
he seen approaching the tip of In
dia in a ract storm. Upon reaching |
the tip the stream divides, part of |
it rolling up the east coast, the rest |
Ut the west. Then the monsoon air |
streams strike inland, the eastern |
stream moving up the Ganges VAL
ley. In northern India the divided |
streams converge again and the re-
united monsoon rises over the Hima-
laya Mountains, shedding its rain as
it goes ever rushing on to feed the |
summer demand Of the Tibetan
stove for more air to warm.
During winter the monsoon goes
into reverse, retracing its course
through India, But it brings no rain |
from rainless Tibet, only dry. clear, |
cool weather to the peninsula
The Nettest Place on Earth
"India's monsoon carries on the
wings of wind the worlds greatest
burden of water. On Cherrapunji, at
the head OF valley in the Htmalaya
fccthills. the monsoon drops more
rain than does any other wind any
where in the world In summer
lives in nature made
shower bath. On it fall 424 inches
Of rain a year, enough to fill an
open tank 35 feet high In August.
lS4l, it rained 80 inches day at
ChcrrapunJi for five consecutive