Evening star., 1933-03-03
BY THOMAS Z. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
TINE weather demons have been
tossing dice for the last three
days, with the worlds Northern
L Hemisphere as gambling table.
There has been plenty to
worry the Washington weather fore
casters with the eyes of the country
upon them as Inauguration day ap-
proaches with its rather sinister record
Of inclemency, and Forecaster Charles
L. Mitchell was a weary man last night
when he finally folded his maps, with
their tangle Of cabahstic isobars,, after
having made the first cautious forecast
of fair" for Saturday.
All that Mr. Mitchell could say was
that the probabilities were for fair
weather. But the set-up of the highs
and lows over the Northern Hemisphere
was such as forecasting was exception
ally difncult and various contingencies
might arise which would upset the best
calculated prediction. The state Of the
weather in such far-od points as Nova
Zembla, Spitzbergen, Northern Siberia,
Greenland and Northern Canada, as
well as Arizona and New Mexico, COM
plicated the problem. Saturdays Wash
ington weather is being made at the
North Pole, the Hemisphere's great
weather factory.
Here is about the mess Mr.. Mitchell
confronted as the weather map took
shape last night:
Low-Pressure Area.
There was a big low-pressure area
centered over the Atlantic over Nova
Scotia, whose influence extended over
80 xI4 1f,,n
which was responsible for the rain and
snow which visited u greater part of
the East during the night. If 1t re-
manned where 1t was or was pushed
southwark or westward by high pres
sures the outlook for Saturday was bad
If it broke up and moved northeast
ward there was nothing else in sight
which threatened the prospects.
Now, Mr.. Mitchell explained, for
some time past conditions have been
abnormal over the Arctic, with ex-
ceptionally steady high pressure over
Norway. Iceland, Greenland, Alaska,
Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen.
Normally the prevailing winds Of the
upper atmosphere over Nova Zembla
and Spitzbergen, which denote the d.
rection Of the moving high pressures,
are eastward. OF late the trend has
been westward. This has tended to keep
up the steady high pressure over the
Amog1can Arctic. This Arctic high
pre11ure has extended, somewhat wedge
shaped, far down into the North Ameri-
can continent, practically to the north
ern boundaries of the United States.
Now If 1t was surrounded by high
pressures in all directions that menacing
low-pressure area of Nova Scotia could
not move far IN any direction. 1t would
be caught In q trap. The weather would
be "stagnant," as the weather men say
That is what has happened to other
lows which have developed over the
Western Atlantic In the past few days,
direct result. The last one just turned
while.
In Bad Fix.
While such q condition remained
there wasn't much the weather fore
caster could say many hours In ad-
vance. He was In q bad fix. Such q
somersaulting low might do about any
thing, depending on unpredictable con-
dttions. That was why Mr.. Mitchell
absolutely refused to make even the
most cautious sort Of prediction Of Sat
urday's weather on Thursday. 1t would
have been little more than pure guess
Last night the situation began to
clear q little. Reports from weather
observers in Greenland showed that the
abnormally high pressure over the great
ice cap was giving way to low pressure.
A northeastward road was being cleared
for the Nova Scotia low. 1t was being
pressed on the west by the high-pres-
sure wedge extending downward through
Canada and its way of escape lay to-
ward Greenland and the North Atlantic