The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-06-22

hurtling into thunderstorms to learn the secrets of It's turbulence, icing, hail and high winds; its violent up and down drafts which result in current velocities measured as high as POO miles per hour; winds which rip tear and destroy planes, property, lives.
 A tornado devastating a local area such as Detroit and it's Ca- nadian neighbor, the city of Wind- sor, Ont, is a phenomenon which may be witnessed only once in c life time, if that. However, every thunderstorm which roanlS the continent is a potential killer" should it meet the rare and pe- culiar set of geographic and cli- matic conditions that unleash It's full cyclonic force.
 Once this occurs the storm fac- tory" really steps up production. Its whirling finger reaches down, from the dark clouds that mask its fury and it begins to cut path of devastation.
 A destructive transformation results are weather'S atomic bomb cloud" concentrates the full effect of the extraordinary low pressure built up within it which has re- suited from the battle between warm and cold air masses for supremacy at the surface in that locality. The cold air front line marks the battlefront of collision (see illustration) and the peak turbulence occurs just along its foremost angle where the anvil top cloud or "Thunderhead" rears it's towering mass.
 HUNDRED-MILE BANK
 The Detroit Windsor "twister" was produced under frontal condi- tions similar to those illustrated. Such frontal thunderstorms often form a bank of clouds hundreds of miles along front.
 According to Edward F. Stapo- wich, New York Weather Bu- reau meteorologist, the Detroit Windsor disaster was preceded by an extensive high pressure area which covered most of central and eastern Canada and the outflow of cool air from this high" streamed southward across the border into the northeastern and Great Lakes States. This cold wedge of air was rapidly replacing the warm humid air from the Gulf of Mexico that occupied the northeastern and Great Lakes States, resulting in numerous thunderstormS of mod crate to severe intensity develop ing along the cold front.
 The atmospheric conditions near the Detroit area became very un- stable around sunset June IT, due to the marked contrast in tenn perature between the cold Ca- nadian air and the warm, moist tropical air. A very turbulent con- dition developed, the sky dark ened from gray to black and soon an elephant trunk-like cloud was seen. A tornado was born. Torren- tial rains occurred and winds reach- ing nearly 100 miles an hour velo- city whipped the area.
 This cold front continued its southward movement but atmos- pheric conditions were not favor able for the development of tor nadoes elswhere, Stapowich ex- plained. However, Tuesday after noon the front did reach Balti- more, Md, he added, and again a violent thunderstorm occurred, ac- companied by a 42-mile-and-hour gale, and binding rain. This storm was also shortlived for in less than half an hour it was all over, but the atmosphere became less turbul- ent and as the cold front pushed southward no severe storms de- veloped.
 Ivan R. Tannehill, Chief of the Synopitc Reports and Forecast Division of the U. s. Weather Bu- reau, at Washington, disclosed that the normal number of tor nadoes reported in the United States for any given year is ap- proximately 75 and he pointed out that the death toll from them is small in comparison to automobile accident fatalities.
 It has been estimated that in those areas where tornadoes are prevalent only one can be expect. ed any year in any one 1000 square mile area.
 Because of the purely local char acter of tornadoes 1t has not been found practical for the United States Weather Bureau to attempt specific forecasts of them.
 LIKE VACUUM CLEANER
 When tornado forms, the whirl is started by upward motion and contributes strongly to an increase of up-draft currents in the thun- dercloud. These formations are most frequent in the central United States because in that region cold Canadian air, moving southward, meets warm, moist air moving