30 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. JANUARY, 1906
Mr. D. S. Lanclis, Assistant Observer, Fort Worth, Tes.,
under date of February 21, reports that on January 10 the
class in physical geography from the Fort Worth High School,
accompanied by the science teacher, visited the ofice, ant1
was shown how the recording instruinents work and how
maps are made; also by a series of maps the clevelopiiient and
progress of cyclones and anticyclones WRH followed On .Jan-
uary 23 Mr. Landis gave an illustrated talk on the weather,
lasting half an hour, to the senior class of t,he Cleberne, Tes.,
High School.
Mr. G. A. Loveland, Section Director, Lincoln, Nebr., re-
ports that on January 20 lie delivered an address before the
meeting of the Nebraska Association of RIutual Insurance
Companies on ‘‘ Electricity in the atiiiosphere. ”
Mr. H. W. Richardson, Local Forecaster, Duhith, Minu.,
reports under date of January 11 that about 25 members of
the senior class of the State Noriiial Scliool. Superior, JVis.,
visited the oEce, and were addressed on the subject of
weather forecasting and tlie value of the Weatlier Bureau.
Mr. W. J. A. Schoppe, Assistant Observer, Iola, Iianx., under
date of January 99, reports that on the 17th and lSth the
class in physical geography. and on the 23d the pliysics class
of the Iola High School visited the Weather Bureau office.
where the instruments, the weather map, and the general work
of the Bureau mere explained to thein.
DIr. J. P. Slaughter, Section Director, Oklahoma, Okla.,
under date of January 7 reports that after moving into new
quarters he will confer with the president of Oklahoma Uni-
versity in regard to the advisability of a course of instruction
in meteorology.
Mr. J. Warren Smith, Section Director. C!oluiubus, Ohio,
under date of February 9, 1906, reports the followiug educa-
tional work done a t that station during the month of Janu-
ary, 1906: January 1, regular lectures were begun at the Oliio
State University a t 4 p. ni.; they are to be continued on Tues-
days and Tliursdajs a t tlie saiiie hour during the minter teriii
of thirteen weeks. January 12, an illustrated lecture was
delivered before the Bogs’ Club of the South Congregationnl
Church a t 7:30 p. m. January 25, his Ohio State University
class of 40 men visited the Weather Bureau office and were
given a lecture upon the instruments and general work. On
January 26, 30, and 81 classes in physical geography of about
30 members each, from different city high schools, visited the
office ancl were given a lecture on tlie instruments and general
work of the Bureau.
Mr. P. H. Smyth, Local Forecaster, Cairo, Ill.. reports that
the class in physical geography of the Cairo High School
visited the local office on January 10, 1906, and were given
instruction in the use of instruments, preparation of n i a p ,
and methods of forecasting.
Mr. James H. Spencer, Observer, Dubuque, Iowa, under
date of January 30, reports that on January 23 he gave an
illustrated address on the weather map before the Fellowship
Club of St. John’s Episcopal Church of that city.
Mr. Chas. Stewart, Observer, Spokane, Wash., reports that
on December 23, 1905, 20 pupils froin Holmes Gminiiiar
School, accompanied by their teacher, visited the Weather
Bureau oflice and had the meteorological instrumentma eshibited
and esplained to them. Similar visits were made on January
8 and 17, 1906, by parties from the class in physical geography
of the Spokane High School.
RIr. W. P. Stewart, Assistant Observer, in charge of the office
at Escanaba, Mich., under date of dannary 21, reports that on
the 19th he delivered a lecture on the work of the Weather
Bure:iu before tlie English Club of that city.
RIr. A. H. Tliiessen, Section Director, Raleigh N. C., under
date of Januarj 29, reports that on January 25 the class in
physics of the Baptist University a t Raleigh visited the Weather
Bureau oflice; that he gave theill an informal lecture on in-
struments ancl the method of forecasting the weather; particu-
liir attention was given to the barometer.
RIr. J. R. Weeks, Observer, Binghamton, N. Y., under date
of January 97, 190G, reports the delivery of the following
lectures: November 16, 1905, a t Public Library Lecture Hall,
on ..The weather in general;” November 17, 1905, a t Western
Presbyterian Church. to the Men’s C’lub on I‘ The weather;”
No\ ember 23, 1905. a t the Public Library, on “ Special types
of htornis;” December 7, 1905, a t the Public Library, on
“Cliniate;” January 8 and lo, 1!906, an informal talk to tlie
physiography class of Binghamton High School, in two divi-
sions, ou ‘‘ Instruments and work of the Bureau ;” January 11,
lt906. at First Presbyterian C’hurch, to the Men’s Club, on
‘L Storms and weather forecasting.” The formal lectures were
all illustrated with stereopticon views.
Rlr. Ednwcl L. Wells, Observer, Boise, Idaho, reports that
on January 19, tlie commercial geography class from the
City High Sclioul, accoinpanied by their instructor, visited
the Weather Bureau ofice, and that he gave them an informal
talk upon the instruments, observations, and the principles
underlying forecasting.
Mr. R. F. Young, Section Director. Helena, Mont., reports
that he has begun a series of lessons to tlie physical geog-
rapliy class in the Helena High School. The course of in-
structiou has been planned with special reference to the con-
struction of the weather map and its use in forecasting
weather and teinperatnre.
~
TORNADOES-HAILSTONES-THUNDERCLOUDS.
Under date of June 12. 1905, Dr. J. P. Gibson, of Salisbury,
Wake County, N. C’.. writes as follows:
Tt IRNADO WINDS.
On 9 1 1 1 1 1 5 last I hail wca+ioii to O I J +~W a b e v ~i e tornatlo that struck
about 4 p 111 on that day. It came from the southwest and
But *even or eight iuiuiites, and the path of destiuction was
110 yai(ls aud thiee-foiiiths of a mile \title and about six miles
(On the sanie e~ening there was a similar one tLlloiit 25 miles
Hest. at Moorebville, Iredell County, N. C., at about the same hour. A
cleat inauy Iinusrs were partially and several totally demolished.
JVliat I widi to call your attention to is a s follows : There were t m o
aiiditoriiim<--one 411 by 301) feet, the other 31) by 80 feet-and a church,
411 hy 75 feet, in its ~mth. The larger auclitoriii~u collapsed and lay fiat
o n the ground; the end of the builaling lacing the direction from which
the storm caiiie was in greater part blonn inward aut1 the other walls
thrown ootwaid The laige roof was lying Hat hetween the walls on the
srats and the gioiind; the hnilding had no floor but the ground. The sinaller aurlitoriunl had its rooP entirel~ t)lown away toward the north-
wwt, the enil that flouted the south was blown in, and the other walls
outward, but dill not fall to the ground. The third building or nttei ly collaphe(l. the greater portion of the roof being blown
n\er a house 35 feet high, acrosb the street, fronted Ly trees 45 feet
Iiigh. The tops of the latter were grazed and some of the highest
trranche- torn away. Dcbris of the roof began to reach the ground
alioiit 50 yard5 away, and shingles were found 6lX, yards distant. The
w\.all fronting the storm was blown inward and the other wall< fell ont-
ward: the floor was moved 6 or 8 feet off ith support<, which mere brick
pillars 6 feet in height.
JANUARY, 1906. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 31
The roof of the large auditorium was nearly intact, but near its south-
east end a great hole was torn in it, say twenty feet square, and the
plece, which was intact, seemed to have been blown upward, twisted
almost completely around, and then dropped back into nearly its original
position.
Now in each of these buildings there was a large amount of air inclosed, with no dividing partitions. According to my view the tor-
nado simply took the air pressure off their sides and t,ops, and in cmse-
quence the inclosed air expanded from within and did the greater port.ion
of the damage. It was not the force of the wind outside, but nictiulythe expansion of the confined air, that wrecked the buildings. Suppose that.
such public buildings should be so made t h a t a space of, say, ten feet, all
around just beneath the roof, could yield to a moderate pressure from
within, would not the roof remain intact and the walls reniain vertical?
A few days ago I examined some hailstones under a sinall-power mi-
It has been said that hailstones all have a snowball for a
HAILSTONES.
croscope. nucleus. I think that t h i s is a mistake. The white central
the hailstone, inclosed in its rim of cryst,al, gl
ice. P u t some water in a drachm vial and fr
freezing mixture, consisting of two parts by weight of ice to one of salt,
hold it up to the light, and you will find a central core of white amor- phous ice, with crystalline ice enveloping it on all sides. There is no
snowball to start with in this instance; t.lie freezing always begius on the top, bottom, and sides, and the liquid center freezes last. I fully
believe the hailstone is flrst a spherical ilrop of water; then it,s outer-
most rim reaches 32O F. in the surrounding c,olc\. congeals. ani1 the iwn-
gelation gradually extends inward till the last. of the liquid content
becomes solid. Water can not be frozen in a tuhit or in any sort of way
so that it will not he white in t,he cent.er if the cold strikes it 011 all
sides. Boil water, pour castor oil on it befure it has a cliance t(n reab-
sorb the three per cent of air that iiatiirallg helongs to it, fre(.ze it., and you get amorphous ice (never crystalline.). looking like parafinr. The
central core is larger in the hailstone, in proportioil, than it would be
in a piece of ice of the same diariieter frozeu natiiritlly in a tuI.ie or other
vessel. This is because hail forms four to eight miles above the gruiiiii1
and there is less air in the wat.er a t that height than at the groiinil,
where the pressure is 30 inches.
hail.
cover it with another block of ice, and the two will uuit,e solinlly, eveu
when the temperature outside is above 38O and t,he out,sitlrs t ~f both
blocks are in a melting state.
I think that large hailstones are simply aggregat,ions itntl t 4 i i
Melt the top of a block o f i w so that i t is co\
THUNDERCLOUDS.
A thundercloud is composed of fog particles, thew particles being
much smaller, according to the laws of gravity, at the top than at the
broad black base. It seems to me that meteorologists generally teach
that it is the condenbation and coalescence of these particles that form
raindrops, and that this coalescence takes place IJY the action of cold,
and that it begins when the dew-point is reached. This is true in regard to fog particleh only, and f~ig particles have still further to be condensed
IAoie they 1o*e their spherical hhape, and this requires a much greater
degree nf cohl than any one beems to haw thought necessary so far as 1
can learn. Mists abet e rivers or fvgs on the coast are seen when the
temperature is far lielow freezing. In other words, fog particles will
not c~ctlesce a t temperatures below freezing.
\Ye will suppose the peak o f a thunllercloud to reach eight and one-
half iiiiles. That height ou a suininer day has a temperature of a t least
-5W F., anil yet you see before yuu it nia5S of vapor, boiling and seeth-
ing, jobt as +team from an engiiie doeb on a cold morning. Heat from helow is continually being supplied, and however cold the interior of the
cloiitl may be, it is evidriltly not sutfiuiently $0 to condidate the vapor.
The I ery nioiuent, h o ~ ever, that the vapor reaches the top edge of the
cloud and en~~~)tiiiters -SOo F. of coltl, eac.11 spherical fog or cloud particle
is so con+trivteil ulion its inclobed, nom much rarefied, air particle that
tlie latter forces its way out just l i b the bursting of a soap bubble, and
nom instead of a flliu of water surrounlling a globule uf air you will have
lett a tiny niasb of Kenuitie, unadulterated water. This has appreciable weight, f d l h duwuward, rnptriring by coiltact in itb descent countless
awentliiig fing particalrs, coalewing m ith them. ancl by the time the base
t>f thr c.lourl is reached a large drop of raiu ha5 been formed. Thus rain begins a t the very tnp lityer o f the niass of fog particles and nowhere
e1-e. The higher the cloucl, and the greater the nurnller of fog particles encountered 111 the deb ut, the harder the rain. Every thundercloud
zhows the rain streak d ectly helow the peah. A flash of lightning or peel o f thunder is never noticrd till thohe raiu streaks appear below.
We print, the ahore AB coming from a close observer and
logical reasoner, but clonbtless others will differ from him as
to facts and t,heories. The forinat,ion of hail and rain is not
yet well underfitood. We hope that others will contribute to
this subject; observations, theories, and experiments by care-
ful physicists are mucli to be deSired.-EDITOR.
FOREOASTS AND WARNINGS.
By Prof. E. B. GARRIOTT, in charge of Forecust Division.
North Atlantic weather was not notably severe. Baromet-
ric pressure continued low over the British coasts. After the
4th high barometric pressure and settled weather prevaileel
over the Azores.
Ten areas of low baroiiieter moved eastward over or near
the Canadian Maritime Provinces, one of which advanceel from
the Gulf of Mexico, one from tlie subtropical region north of
Cuba, and one from the north Pacific coast of the United
States; the remaining low areas first appeared over the in-
terior of the North American Continent.
Over the greater portion of the United States the month was
exceptionally mild, and in parts of t,he Missouri and Red River
of the North valleys the mean temperature for the month was
10' to 12' above tlie normal. Precipitation was irregularly
distributed, and there was a general deficiency in snowfall.
I n the Atlantic coast States the barometric depressions were
of moderate intensity. Several energetic storms crossed tlie
Great Lakes, those of the 3d--ith, 5-Gth, ancl 14-15th being
the most severe. The principal storms of the Pacific States
occurred during the second decade of the month.
Attending low area I heavy snow fell in New Mexico on the
l s t , and heavy rain in the lower Mississippi Valley on the 311.
On the 311 the barometer fell to 38.66 inches a t Madison, TT'is.,
a t 8 p. m., snow fell in Iowa, Minnesota, TVisconsin, and Upper
Michigan, heavy rain generally east of the BIississippi, and a
strong gale prevailed over the upper Lakes. A tornado is
reported as having visited Blbany, Ga., a t 2:30 1'. m. Snow
continued in the Lake region during the 4th. I n conuection
with low area I1 high winds prevailed from the Great Lakes
over the middle Atlantic and New England coasts. During
the passage of low area I11 snow fell in the Ohio Valley and
tlie Atlantic States to and including North C'arolina on the 8th.
From the 12th to 14th low area IV moved northeastward off
tmhe Atlantic coast with gales that attained a reported masi-
inun~ velocity of GT iiiiles an liour from tlie northeast a t Nan-
tucket, Mass., on tlie 14th. From the 11th to 13th low area
VI caused heavy rain ancl high wincls, on the Pacific coast.
During the 15th and 16th low area VI1 passeed northeastward
over the Lake region, with rain from the loT5er Mississippi
Valley over the Ohio Valley and Cheat Lakes. From the 16th
to 18th low area VI11 crossed the continent from the north
Pacific coast to the Chadian Maritime Provinces. On the 22cl
heavy rain fell in the lower Mississippi Valley, and rain, sleet,
ancl snow in the midclle ttncl upper Mississippi valleys, and on
the 32~1 heavy rain was general from tlie Ohio Valley over the
middle and east Gulf Stat,es, aucl snow fell oyer the upper Lakes.
On the 26th heavy precipitation attended the passage of low
area SI northeastward 08 the Atlantic coast, and snow was
reported in the interior of South C'arolina and Georgia.
The first and most important cold wave of January advanced
over the interior rtncl eastern parts of the country from the
19th to 24th, breaking a period of exceptionally high tempera-
ture that had continued generally east of the Rocky Mountains
from the beginning of the month. During the 30th and 31st
a moderate cold waye arlvancecl from RIanitoba over the Red
River of the North and the upper Mississippi valleys.
Heavy frost occurred on the iniddle coast of tlie Gulf of
Mexico on the h t , 9th, 14th. 23~1, and 3dth, and on the Texas
coast on the 34th anil 25th. Freezing temperatures mere re-
ported a t New Orleans, Nobile, and Pensacola on the 9th, 2313,