Evening star., 1941-12-07

more independent Of Washington than
in the old days. If conditions change
rapidly local bureaus can make up their
own forecasts. They can even put out
a special forecast in between times if the
occasion warrants it.
As Reichelderfer put it: The local
official in charge has full authority 10
interpret the forecast in the light OF his
local knowledge
Your Weather Bureau at present makes
observations al 325 airport and city Of
fees, has $500 special stations for OBJ
serving river stages. frost conditions and
the like, and about 5000 cooperative
Genealogical stations.
Airways stations make observations
and telegraph reports hourly. Collec-
tive synoptic reports also are exchanged
with meteorological centers of other ma
tions-though not so generally since the
war as before.
In IS cities where there formerly
were small Offices at both the airport and
in central-city location. Offices have
been combined with the airport to pro-
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bureau recently also has taken to the air
with daily "breakfast broadcasts' of its
early morning outlook.
There are nearly 100 stations at air
ports which are manned entirely by
staff of Weather Bureau employees, rem
dering "a hours of service daily. Hourly
and more frequent weather reports are
nd tropSroittpI hy te1ptynp
weather maps are prepared every six
hours. and airWay forecasts and upper
air pilot balloon and radiosonde reports
are posted for the guidance of pilots.
Besides airport stations fully manned
by Weather Bureau personnel, the bu-
reau has 80 partly operated by such en-
ployes, and more than $50 additional sta
tions equipped with teletype to send and
receive hourly. These are augmented by
many others which transmit reports by
teletype every six hours.
Let's assume that German raider is
sighted somewhere off the coast by a
Navy surface vessel. Some distance away
the raider sees fog and makes a dash for
cover. 1t slips into the fog, throttles
COWIl. IlOpCS Nv lCCIilS llS way ll4lOuSiI
near-zero visibility to lose the Navy pur-
suer
What the German raider doesn't know,
because 1t has been unable to receive
weather reports available to Navy ships,
is that the fog mass into which it has
steamed is only 20 miles wide, and less
than 10 miles long.
Il, La for occ
has been charted by its aerological units
on nearby aircraft carriers, on tenders,
battleships and some cruisers. Already
Navy planes and destroyers are ready to
skirt the edge of the fog and wait for
clearing weather or emergence of the
raider.
This hypothetical but certainly plaus-
ible example, one of many which could
be cited, indicates the Importance of
aerology in naval warfare. Yet such has
been the progress Of the science IN the
last two decades that the Navy would
not have had this information during
the World War.
Before that war no nation except Ger
many foresaw the need for meteoro-
logical information in warfare. Even so,
during the World War weather fire.
quently retarded the movements and op-
erations of the German as well as the
other fleets.
In cooperation with the Weather Bu-
reau the Navy takes its own radiosonde
observations along a network of so or
more stations.
Even in peacetime, and in these days
of a national emergency, the Navy aero
logical units have been able to save sur
face ships, particularly aircraft carriers,
many hours time in carrying out patrol
operations