The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-04-27
WEATHER MAY BE
 PREDICTED ONE
 WEEK IN ADVANCE
Accurate and Long Dis- tance Forecasts in the Opinion of High Standing Meteorological
By FRANK MURPHY Initpd PreSg StaM COPrQaDOn6ent1 !

United Press Stan COrrespOndent)
 Canton, Mass, April 27.-tUP)- Accurate, long-distance weather forecasting promises to become matter-of-fact mathematical pro- |cess-something like predicting the time it'll be high tide at Coney Island on the Fourth of July-in the opinion of Henry Helm Clayton of this town.
 logist. holds that increases and de- chiefly responsible for weather changes. He explained to the United Press to-day, how. by taking into consid eration data used in ordinary forecasting and also observations about solar radiation. or heat. he is able to make specific week-in-ad- vance predictions which he claims come true in most cases.
 Variations in the heat shed by the sun are not haphazard, but follow a we'll ordered plan. according to Clay ton. As knowledge of this plan grows, he says, the distance at which definite prOgnostications can be made will increase proportionately.
 The Canton scientist is native of Tennessee. Of medium build and gray haired, he looks much younger than his 70 years. He has weak ness for macaroons.
 It was while employed as chief lmeteorologist for Argentina from l1913 to 1922 that Clayton learned or
 the close relation between sun-heat
 variations and weather changes. pr Charles c. Abbot of Smithsonian In-
 stitute had perfected an instrument L n,.a af were measured at Montezuma Ob- servatory in Chile. Clayton resolved ltot determine whether these fiuctua- Itions in any way paralleled shifts in weather.
 Now atmospheric pressure is known to be an important direct cause of weather conditions. Thus when atmospheric pressure IS low cloudy, rainy weather, with high |temperatures, is likely. And high Atmospheric pressure usually brings clear weather and drop in tenn perature.
 Clayton found that the contrasts in Atmospheric pressure conditions throughout the world were intensi. lied with changes in the heat of the sun. Increased solar radiation, he learned, caused drop in the already low pressure in the equatorial belt land made pressure in temperate re- gions higher than usual. Rainfall at the equator and clearer and colder
 weather in temperate zones resulted. Decreased solar radiation brought op- posite effects.
 The high and low atmospheric pressure areas that affect day-to-day weather conditions in the United States form, for the most part, over
 the northern Pacific ocean. accord- ling to the Canton forecaster. They drift from west to east across the
 country. he says. normally taking
 about a week in travelling from coast to coast.
 By study of daily differences in
 solar radiation Clayton claims that he can anticipate the formation. over
 the Pacific. of these high or low
 pressure clots, which alter weather lconditions as they move toward the
 Atlantic. From this fore-knowledge land from reports on actual present lconditions Clayton is enabled to
 make forecasts several days in ad-
 vance of the government weather bureaus,
 | Reports on variations in solar
 radiation are cabled daily from Mon-
 tezuma Observatory to Smithsonian Institute, and from there Clayton
 gets them by telegraph or post. To finance his research he con
 ducts weather service to which
 some 50 clients. mostly industrial lconcerns, subscribe. Clayton be- lieves the government will adopt his Iforecasting system when 1t appre- lciatcs and understands It."