Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-15
WINTER
By d. @. PEATTIE.
Weather Maps.

In this, our hypercivilized, life 1t is
only in the Winter months that weather,
pure and simple, remains a part of wild
nature. Even In an apartment you can
not quite escape knowing that there
u blizzard, or an ice storm, or thaw.
In country house or even a suburban
one weather violently intrudes itself
from December to March. The coal
in the coal bin melts extensively away
the harder the wind blows. The tracks
of little hungry creatures Of an early
morning, are seen at the back door,
where they have come prowling in
search Of scraps, in the piteous hope
that something will have been tossed
out TO them. Your friend, the dog,
bounds into the house with his fur
smelling Of the clear, frosty air; the
cat walks gingerly about. on the snow
and returns with disguised expression.
Poultry endures real suffering. The
children, blowing on their nails, report
the Sruesome neighDornood news-so
many ladies with broken legs from
slipping on the ice; so many youngsters
with frost-nipped feet, and 50 forth.
Little by little, you learn to look
at the weather map in the newspaper
or at your ONCE building where usually,
in washington, it is posted, and watch
with an anxious eye the great arcs OF
the storms and the cold waves as they
sweep, like the raids of whirlwind
Kurdish bands, over the continent. And
II you like you can try your hand at
weather predicting and test out how
much wiser you are than the Weather
Bureau.
It is really quite a simple affair, and
the daily maps and statistics give you
all the information as q basis for
weather prediction possessed by our
esteemed citizen, Mr.. Mitchell, chief
official weather forecaster for the Dis
trict. He has. Of course, the advantage
II long experience, but even experience
does not make one superhuman, and
nothing Is trickier than weather pre-
diction right here in washington. MY
esteem for Mr.. Mitchell is high;
don't know how he does it.
The first essential in reading a wealth.
er map land, by the way. there Is a
fascinating weather map in colors in
glass in the Union Station) is the
ability to interpret pressure lines Most
of us amateurs merely look at the
temperatures, but in great part the
temperatures are merely tied to the
flying chariot wheels of the eddies
Of high and low pressure From q
high-pressure area the winds swirl
away; toward a low area they swirl
inward.
In general "high" means what we
call blowing of clear and cold: It
will bring q hardening Of the ice, a
drop in temperature, consequent kill
ing of cold germs, and generally re-
stored feeling of energy and bodily
vigor. It may also bring broken legs,
bursting water pipes, and, If you already
have a cold and don't dress warmly,
1t may bring pneumonia.
But the fellows to dread are the
Flows" With them come deceptive
thaws, slush, muggy, sunless weather,
overheated, overdried houses and COM
monty an increase of colds and grip.
They may also bring ice-storms. espe-
cially when a low" gets stuck over
an area; then fine old trees are split;
street cars cease to run. cars skid and
smash UP, and everybody'S temper goes
TO the bad. Nothing worse in the
weather can happen, except when a
tropical storm jumps its track, makes
a raid up our coast, and, as in the
Knickerbocker disaster, blankets the
ettv under deem SNOW