APRIL, 1983. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 209
TORNADO OF MARCH 3, 1923, NEAR ELWOOD, KANS.
d funnel-shaped cloud estending to tlie grouncl .was
observed on tlie north bank of the Missouri Riwr, lf
miles southwest of Elwood, Kans., at about 5:35 1). in.,
March 3, 1933. The tornado followed a straight course,
moving east of northeast for a distance of about 4 milcs.
It mas receded by a light thunder shower and uccom- panied g y heavy rain, which continued for only a few
minutes. Its path in Kansas, about 3 iniles in length, was mostly across alfalfa fields, -1 alfalfa barns werc
damaged, scveral smaller builtlings blown duw-11, 12
large apple t.rees uprooted, 1 e n i d frame house denid-
islied, and a semaphore, nitidt? of iron and holtetl t .~) a
concrete base, located at the west ciicl of the St. .Jos~p!i
aid Grand Island Railroad bridxc, was blown across t..Iir
railroad tracks. The estimatecl propertp claniitge wis
$4,000. The tornado crossed thc Missouri River just north of
the bridge and the first building in its patmh in Missouri
was a sash and door factory, which was d:iiiim:ivI t.r) tlie extent of approximately %20,00(J. This \vas hy h r
the heaviest single pro erty loss. The tornado then
causing no serious destruction, escept. to tel~plir.iiir~ and
trolley lines. which were prostrated. After l~ariii;: t,he railroad yards its course lor ahou t a, inilc wt‘iis t!irougii thickly settled business and residential distrii:t<. The tornado apparentl>- rose and fell? as t,lic c1rst.ruction in its path was not coiitinuous. The widtli of the iicntruc-
tive portions of the pnth vari~d from 100 to %IO feet. Fifty buildings were damaged inore or less, tlir tlainn.~e to tin and shingle roofs being cspeeial1.v noticchnble. Few substantial buildings were seriously damaged. At. the Weather Observatory, about three-fourths of a in+ north of the nearest point in thc path, the wind attaincd an estreme velocity of 80 miles an honr from tht. wtst at 5:40 p. ni., and at that tkie tlie barometer reading was the lowest, 29.39 inches.’ No one was killed and only nine persons were injured, most of the injuries
being slight. The property da.niage in St. Joseph was
estimated at .$50,000.- 1.i: 8. RriXen.
No lives were lost aiitl no oiic was injurcil.
passed over railroad yar i s for a dist,snce of four \J~oc~::,
DOUBLE-WALLED WATERSPOUTS.
Double-walled \-,-aterspouts, or waterspouts witliiii waterspouts, appear to he such a rarc phenoiiirnoii tllnt
it seems worth while to reprint portions of sevtml recrnt accounts and to add a clewription of a still later occur- rence reported in a lctter to the hlarine Division of thcs
Weather Bureau. On June 30, 1932, Dr. G. D. Hale Carpenter, wliilc 011
t.he shores of Lake Vivtoria Nyanza, Uganda, witiicssccl
a double-walled waterspout which he describes in N&uw
fls follo\Vs:
A t daybreak on June 30 there were Lery lowering Idark cloucli aiicl every indication of an immediate heavy storm. While looking out
from the tent, I suddenly saw that a waterspout was traveling oldiqiiely toward us. and as it eventually came to within about 100 yards of
the shore a very good view was obtained for aliout five minutes before itcametoanend. * * *
The pedicle war^ extreniely narrow a t ita lower end, and not quite straight. being sinuous in outline. It liroadened out gradually into a column which went up into the low cloud; the core of this column
was much less dense than the periphery, and the violent upward spiral ascent of the wat,er could he clearly seen. * * * Surround- ing the cent.ra1 core. but separated from it by a clear narrow s ace, was a sheath. the lower end of which faded away some distance aiove the water. The profile of this s1ieat.h was undulating, it being thicker in aonie places tlian others.
In the same issue of Natwre, commenting on Dr. Carpenter’s description, Capt. D. Brunt says:
The exist.ence of an outer sheath. separated from the central core by a clear space. would appear t,o reqiiire a discontinuity of water content of tlie air. symmetrical almiit tlie asis of t.he whirl. It does not appear possilsle t.o explain it even as thc etYect of discontinuities of velocity ivitli the whirl. No physical explanation of this clear space can be s11q;estctl.
Another instance of an apparent double-walled water- spout is iilso described in Ncciiurt by Mr. H. E. Wood, of the Union Observatory, Johannesburg, who observed one on Noveniber 11, 19%.
The inirrcdng feature of the waterspout seemed to me to be the det.ail of t.liu earth-end: there was a well-marked . ‘core@’ surrounded by
a lesa dvnse s1ieat.h.
On Sept,eniber 1, 1033, Mnj. W. C. Ball saw two cloud penrl:ints ut C’lovelly I-Iarbnr on t,he southwest coast of England. The following description is t.aken from the hIet.eorologicti1 Mngnzine ‘ :
Thth pendants mere in the form of invert.ed cones, which depended from tliG well-dejined and dense black under-surface of a cloud. In t,lie cas<’ of one pendent. t.he cone cont.inued in the form of a long tail similar to tlie 13811 of a whip. This tail extended about twethirds of t.he way down t,o the scs and mas bent into a ciirve. so that a t its lower end i t \ma almost. linrixontal. The edgep of the tail were qiiite sharp nnrl well deiined * * * Fklow the lower end of the tail another port.ion was i ~P n rising from the sea. “The part rising from the water was 1 e ~ disrinct than tlie tail. which waa very sharply defined: it appcared Inter and had a curious filniy appearance. * * * I judged tlist the spout. niisht bu aliollt. t-xo miles from the slime. and that the part, riain:: froni the water was certainly higher than the mast of a tishiiig hoat.”
The latest account of the phenomenon in question is that furnished to the Marine Division of the Weather Bureau by the master of the Danish steamship Ham- ni~,.ihu.s. It is quoted here pract,ic.ally in full:
On March 7 of t.his year [:1923] at 11 a. m., this ressel was in latitude
3’ N. and longitride 2:P 30’ W. on a voyage from Ihienos Aires to Den- nlzrk. I t had been raining wry lieavl- all the previous night, and was still doing so. ‘.l?ie wind was nidderate but shifty. After a heavy rain-squall i t cleared U ~J so much t.hat w e could aee about a mile. but it was st.ill mining heavy. At 11 a. m. a remarkable phenomenon was OlX3erYeLI. A ring of spray rising from one t,o three feet above the sea level and Itlm\it, t.\w feet. wide was lxwwcl hy the vessel at a distance of allout
2!J htho!i?s from i t i eastern edge. Tlic ring was alIout 150 feet in dia- meter. The spray had a hating niotion in the direction of the hands of t.lics clocl: in the form of a ncarly perfect. circle. Now in the cent.re of t.liis large ring, there was another nnich smaller ring 1vit.h a radius of about. S feet.. This eecond ring also consisted of spray moving in tlie same direct.ion as t,he outer ring. Apparent.ly ita niotion was more violent and t.lw spray also seemed to rise higher from the surface of the waber. Retween the t x o rings the sea had the same appearance ae at the outside of the 0ut.c.r ring; you could see the rain pourin down. In- side the inner ring the sea waa c1uit.c smooth. You coulfnot see rain pouring down and the surface seemed to be concave. This may have been an illusion, though. resu1t.ing through the spray revolving round the edge of the ring. Both rings seemed to be absolutely concentric and t.ravelled in a due westerly (t,rue) direction a t the rate of about 10 mileean hour. * * *.
He says:
-H. L.