Evening star., 1941-01-14
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In. Laboratory, Field
And Study
Bu Thomas r. Henry.

Dy 1ItOHtuo ~. ACftf y.
For two winters in succession nature
has played a malevolent trick on the
hungry, war-torn European continent.
With weather reports from across the
Atlantic entirely cut off, except from
Lisbon, experts of the United States
Weather Bureau are able to construct
weather maps from meager hints in
news dispatches.
The basic pattern of European weather
is as follows:
Masses of dry, cold air build up over
Eastern Siberia, usually in the neigh
borhood of Irkutsk. This Siberian high
is semi permanent. 1t is fed constantly
by frigid air from the North Pole. 1t
constantly tends to spread westward.
Masses of wet, relatively warm air
cross the Atlantic from Northern New
England and Newfoundland They
usually have come either from the Gulf
of Mexico up the Eastern Coast of the
United States or across the Great Lakes.
Ordinarily they pass over the British
Isles and Iceland and penetrate the
continent until they smash into the
westward spreading Siberian high. When
the two meet there is snow or cold rain.
About once every decade this Siberian
high. as one weather expert puts it.,
"swells up like toad" 1t reaches about
20 miles high. 1t spreads to the edge
of the Atlantic. 1t is so heavy that the
relatively feeble lows from across the
Atlantic smash against it in vain They
are either diverted straight northward
into the Arctic or southeastward across
Southern France, Spain, Italy and the
Mediterranean.
This relatively rare phenomenon, as
the United States weather experts re-
construct the map, happened last winter
and Is happening again this winter. 1t
accounts for the almost unprecedented
SnoWstorms in the neighborhood OF
Vichy, for snow in England for tenn
peratures of 40 below recently reported
from Moscow. 1t is the reason for the
severe storms In the Albanian noun
tains which have contributed, perhaps
more than any other single factor. to
the Greek successes.
Much can be deduced for areas of
Europe from which there are no weather
hints Germany and polani must be
having an almost SnowlcSS winter of
unprecedented cold. The cold must be
intense in occupied France, Holland and
Belgium. Probably, however, there is
little sleet or snow The Siberian high
contains little moisture. From one point
of view, the experts say, it is a good break
for England. Her unusually stormy
weather hinders German air operations
many helps her own aviators. On the
other hand the inclement weather
makes life harder for her own harassed
people.
Last year the spreading Siberian high
was the best possible luck for Finland.
Temperatures of 40 below were the worst
enemies of the invading Russians, forced
to live in the field while the defenders
had comfortable quarters. This year
it has struck with double force against
Italy. In Albania she has been in much
the same position as Russia in Finland
and in addition has faced extremely
stormy weather at home.
There is every reason to believe that
the condition will last most of the
winter. The more extensive and heavy
a Siberian high becomes the harder it
is to break up The lows mist mount
above it. After crossing the Atlantic
they have not enough energy left to
climb over an air iceberg 20 miles high.
They can only follow the course of least
resistance and skirt around it.
1t was probably just such weather
phenomenon. the experts point out,
which caused Napoleon's disaster in his
Russian campaign. The intense suf-
ferings of continental Europe this
winter may be equally portentous for
Hitler. The building up of similar
high last spring, however, greatly aided
his invasion of the Low Countries and
France.
During exceptionally cold winters
North America Is subjected to a similar
continental high, but with lows" shoot
ing at it from all directions it is more
easily broken up. The Siberian high
seems to have stagnated this year to an
almost unprecedented degree. Until it
is broken up Southern France and Italy
can expect more snowstorms.
I'VE expect these stagnant highs every
few years." says Weather Observer
Charles L. Mitchell, but I cannot re-
member two in succession before. 1t Is