file which includes the original illustrations4 ,see #cidff-;h4htm or #cidff-;h4zip3 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/cache_/epu b_/#cidff_/pg#cidff-;images4html7 or 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/files_/#ci dff_/cidff-;h4zip7 ,images of the original pages are available through ,internet ,archive4 ,see http3_/_/archive4org_/details_/readingwe ather#jjlongrich ,,reading ,,the ,,weather ,illustration3 ,,shower ,,behind ,,valley ,,forge ,courtesy of ,richard ,f4 ,warren ,,reading ,,the ,,weather by ,t4 ,,morris ,,longstreth ,illustrated with ,photographs by ,richard ,f4 ,warren ,outing ,handbooks ,number #dc ,new ,york ,outing ,publishing ,company ,,mcmxv ,copyright1 #aiae1 by ,outing ,publishing ,company ,all rights reserved4 ,,dedicated with love1 to my grandmother ,,mary ,,gibson ,,haldeman herself responsible for so much sunshine4 ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,,forecast i ,i ,,our ,,well-,,ordered ,,atmosphere #aa ,,ii ,,the ,,clear ,,day #bj ,,iii ,,the ,,storm ,,cycle #db ,,iv ,,sky ,,signs ,,for ,,campers #fd ,,the ,,clouds #fe ,,the ,,winds #gf ,,temperatures #hf ,,rain ,,and ,,snow #ii ,,dew ,,and ,,frost #aab ,,the ,,thunderstorm ,,exposed #aaf ,,the ,,tornado #abi ,,the ,,hurricane #acc ,,the ,,cloudburst #aci ,,the ,,halo #adj ,v ,,the ,,barometer #adg ,,vi ,,the ,,seasons #aeg ,,vii ,,the ,,weather ,,bureau #afg ,,viii ,a ,,chapter ,,of ,,explosions #age ,,condensations #ahe ,,signs ,,of ,,fair ,,weather #ahe ,,signs ,,of ,,coming ,,storm #ahg ,,signs ,,of ,,clearing #ahi ,,when ,,will ,,it ,,rain8 #aij ,,signs ,,of ,,temperature ,,change #aia ,,some ,,unsolved ,,weather ,,problems #aib ,,what ,,the ,,weather ,,flags ,,mean #aic ,,our ,,four ,,world',s ,,records1--,,and ,,others #aie ,,illustrations ,shower ,behind ,valley ,forge ,frontispiece ,,page ,cirrus ,deepening to ,cirro-,stratus #af ,cirro ,stratus with ,cirro-,cumulus ,beneath #cb ,cirro-,cumulus to ,alto-,stratus #dh ,alto-,stratus #hj ,cumulus #if ,stratus #abh ,nimbus #afj ,,forecast ,science is certainly coming into her own nowadays1--and into everybody else's4 ,every activity of man and most of ,nature's have felt her quickening hand4 ,her eye is upon the rest4 ,drinking is going out because the drinker is inefficient4 ,the fly is going out because he carries germs4 ,and for everything that goes out something else comes in that makes people healthier and more comfortable1 and1 perhaps1 wiser4 ,one strange thing about this flood-tide of science is that it overwhelms the old1 buttressed superstitions the easiest of all1 once it really sets about it4 ,for instance1 nothing could have been better fortified for centuries than the fact that night air is injurious and should be shut out of house4 ,then1 science turned its eye upon night air1 found it a little cooler1 a trifle moister1 and somewhat cleaner than day air with the result that we all invite it indoors1 now1 and even go out to meet it4 ,once interested in the air1 science soon began to take up that commonplace but baffling phase of it called the weather4 ,now1 of all matters under the sun the weather was the deepest intrenched in superstition and hearsay4 ,from the era of ,noah it had been made the subject of more remarks unrelieved by common sense than any other4 ,it was at once the commonest topic for conversation and the rarest for thought4 ,considering the opportunities for study of the weather this conclusion1 we must admit1 is more surprising than complimentary to the human race4 ,but it is so4 ,the fact that science had to face was this3 that the weather had been and remained a tremendous1 dimly-recognized factor in our level of living4 ,so talk about it all must4 ,and science set about finding some easy fundamental truths to talk instead of the hereditary gossip about old-fashioned winters or the usual meaningless conversational coin4 ,two groups of men had always known a good deal about the weather from experience3 the sailor had to know it to save his life1 and the farmer had to cultivate a weather eye along with his early peas4 ,but the ordinary business man 7and wife71 the town-dweller1 and even the suburbanite knew so few of the proven facts that the weather from day to day1 from hour to hour1 was a continual puzzle to them4 ,the rain not only fell upon the just and unjust but it fell unquestioned1 or misunderstood4 ,at last ,science established some sort of a ,weather ,bureau in #ahgj1 in our country1 and after this had triumphed over great handicaps1 the ,government set it upon its present footing in #ahia4 ,an intelligent interest in the weather was in likelihood of being aroused by maps1 pamphlets1 frost and flood warnings that saved dollars and lives4 ,then suddenly1 or almost suddenly1 a new force was felt in every community4 ,it was the call of outdoors4 ,the new land of woods and lakes was explored4 ,men learned that living by bread alone 7without air7 made a very stuffy existence4 ,hence the man in town opened all his windows at night1 the suburban majority planned to build sleeping porches1 the youngsters begged to go to camp1 their fathers went hunting and fishing in increasing numbers1 and1 most important of all1 the fathers' wives began to accompany them into the woods4 ,thus1 living has been turned inside out1--the very state of things that old scientist ,plato recommended some thirty thousand moons ago4 ,and among the manifestations of nature the weather is holding its place1 important and even fascinating4 ,for the person who most depends on umbrellas and the subway in the city needs to watch the sky most carefully in the woods4 ,that old academic question as to whether it be wise or foolish to come in out of the wet was never settled by the wilderness veteran4 ,the veteran's wife settles it very quickly4 ,she considers the cloud4 ,when the commuter goes camping he rightly likes his comforts4 ,a wet skin is not one of these4 ,therefore he studies the feel of the wind4 ,and so it comes about that the person who talks about storm centers and areas of high pressure and cumulus clouds is no longer regarded as slightly unhinged4 ,men are eager to learn the laws of the snowstorm and the cold wave2 for1 with the knowledge that snow is not poison and cold not necessarily discomfort1 ,january has been opened up for enjoyments that ,july could never give4 ,bookwriting and camping are both explained by the same fact1--a certain fondness for the thing4 ,i wanted to see the commoner weather pinned down to facts4 ,the following chapters resulted4 ,they constitute a sort of ,overhead ,baedeker1 it being their pleasure to show up the sureties of the sun and rain and to star the weather signs that can be relied upon4 ,for1 after all1 even the elements1 although unruled1 are law-abiding4 ,,reading ,,the ,,weather ,,chapter ,i ,,our ,,well-,,ordered ,,atmosphere ,if there is anything that has been overlooked more than another it is our atmosphere4 ,but it absolutely cannot be avoided--in books on the weather4 ,it deserves a chapter1 anyway1 because if it were not for the atmosphere this earth of ours would be a wizened and sterile lump4 ,it would float uselessly about in the general cosmos like the moon4 ,to be sure the earth does not loom very large in the eye of the sun4 ,it receives a positively trifling fraction of the total output of sunheat4 ,so negligible is this amount that it would not be worth our mentioning if we did not owe our existence to it4 ,it is thanks to the atmosphere1 however1 that the earth attains this 7borrowed7 importance4 ,it is thanks to this thin layer of gases that we are protected from that fraction of sunheat which1 however trifling when compared with the whole1 would otherwise be sufficient to fry us all in a second4 ,without this gas wrapping we would all freeze 7if still unfried7 immediately after sunset4 ,the atmosphere keeps us in a sort of thermos globe1 unmindful of the burning power of the great star1 and of the uncalculated cold of outer space4 ,yet1 limitless as it seems to us and inexhaustible1 our invaluable atmosphere is a small thing after all4 ,half of its total bulk is compressed into the first three and a half miles upward4 ,only one sixty-fourth of it lies above the twenty-one mile limit4 ,compared with the thickness of the earth this makes a very thin envelope4 ,light as air1 we say1 forgetting that this stuff that looks so thin and inconsequential weighs fifteen pounds to the square inch4 ,we walk around carrying our fourteen tons gaily enough4 ,the only reason that we don't grumble is because the gases press evenly in all directions permeating our tissues and thereby supporting this crushing burden4 ,a layer of water thirty-four feet thick weighs just about as much as this air-pack under which we feel so buoyant4 ,but if these gases get in motion we feel their pressure4 ,we say the wind is strong to-day4 ,as it blows along the surface of the earth this wind is mostly nitrogen1 oxygen1 moisture1 and dust4 ,the nitrogen occupies nearly eight-tenths of a given bulk of air1 the oxygen two-tenths1 and the moisture anything up to one-twentieth4 ,five other gases are present in small quantities4 ,the dust and the water vapor occupy space independently of the rest4 ,as one goes up mountains the water vapor increases for a couple of thousand feet and then decreases to the seven mile limit after which it has almost completely vanished4 ,the lightest gases have been detected as high up as two hundred miles and scientists think that hydrogen1 the lightest of all1 may escape altogether from the restraint of gravity4 ,one strange fact about all of these gases is that they do not form a separate chemical combination1 although they are thoroughly mixed4 ,at first glance the extreme readiness of the atmosphere to carry dust and bacteria does not seem a point in its favor4 ,in reality it is4 ,most bacteria are really allies of the human race4 ,they benefit us by producing fermentations and disintegrations of soils that prepare them for plant food4 ,it is a pity that the few disease breeding types of bacteria should have given the family a bad name4 ,without bacteria the sheltering atmosphere would have nothing but desert rock to protect4 ,further1 rain is accounted for only by the dust4 ,of course this sounds very near the world's record in absurdities4 ,but it is a half truth at least1 for moisture cannot condense on nothing4 ,every drop of rain1 every globule of mist must have a nucleus4 ,consequently each wind that blows1 each volcano that erupts is laying up dust for a rainy day4 ,apparently the atmosphere is empty4 ,actually it is full enough of dust-nuclei to outfit a fullgrown fog if the dewpoint should be favorable4 ,if there were no dust in the air all shadows would be intensest black1 the sunlight blinding4 ,but the dust particles fulfill their greatest mission as heat collectors1--they and the particles of water vapor which have embraced them4 ,it is in reality owing to these water globules and not to the atmosphere that supports them that we are enabled to live in such comfortable temperatures4 ,for the air strata above seven miles where the tides of oxygen and nitrogen have rid themselves of water and dust absorb very little of the solar radiation4 ,the heat is grabbed by the lowest layer of air as it goes by4 ,the air snatches it both going and coming4 ,the little particles get about half of it on the way down and when it is radiated back very little escapes them4 ,so it comes about that the heavy moist air near the earth is the warmest of all4 ,it would1 of course1 get very warm if1 as it collected its heat1 it didn't have a tendency to rise4 ,as it rises1 moreover1 it must fight gravity1 that arch enemy of all rising things4 ,and as it fights it loses energy1 which is heat4 ,so high altitudes and low temperatures are found together for these two reasons4 ,but after the limit of moisture content has been reached the temperature gets no lower according to reliable investigations4 ,instead a monotony of #dei deg4 below zero eternally prevails--#dei deg4 is called the absolute zero of space4 ,the vertical heating arrangements of the atmosphere appear somewhat irregular4 ,but horizontally it is in a much worse way4 ,the surface of the globe is three quarters water and one quarter land and irregularly arranged at that4 ,the shiny water surfaces reflect a good deal of the heat which they receive1 they use up the heat in evaporation and what they do absorb penetrates far4 ,the land surfaces1 on the contrary1 absorb most of the heat received1 but it does not penetrate to any depth4 ,as a consequence of these differences land warms up about four times as quickly as water and cools off about four times as fast4 ,therefore the temperature of air over continents is liable to much more rapid and extreme changes than the air over the oceans4 ,the disparity of temperature is also rendered much greater because of differing areas of cloud and clear skies1 because of interfering mountain masses1 because of the change from day to night1 or the constant progress of the seasons4 ,at first blush it seems remarkable that the atmosphere should not be hopelessly unsettled in its habits1 that there should belong to it any hint of system4 ,as a matter of fact1 in the main its courses are as well-ordered as the sun's4 ,cause and not caprice are at the bottom of the wind's listings4 ,its one desire is rest4 ,illustration3 ,,cirrus ,,deepening ,,to ,,cirro-,,stratus ,courtesy of ,richard ,f4 ,warren ,cirrus clouds first appear as feathery lines converging toward one or two points on the horizon1 often merging into bands of darker clouds1 arranged horizontally4 ,a sky like this appears when there is little wind4 ,if the wind shifts to an easterly direction by way of north there will likely be snow within #bd hours2 if it works around by way of the southwest and south #cf hours will probably pass before rain4 ,if the mares' tails1 as here1 are absent and yet the stratified clouds are present there is little likelihood of a storm4 ,cirrus clouds precede every disturbance of magnitude4 ,sometimes they are hidden by a lower cloud layer4 ,but rest it rarely succeeds in finding4 ,forever warming1 rising1 cooling1 falling1 it rushes about to regain its equilibrium4 ,with so many opposing forces at work the calm day is the real marvel1 our weeks of ,indian ,summer the ranking miracle of our climate4 ,the very evolution of the myriad patches of air quilted over the earth with their different opportunities to become heated1 to cool their heels1 precludes stability in our so called ,temperate ,zone4 ,but over great stretches of the earth's surface conditions are continuous enough to discipline the atmosphere into strict routine4 ,conjure the globe before your eyes and you will find the scheme of atmospheric circulation something like this3 ,a broad band of heated air perpetually rises from the sweltering equatorial belt of lands and seas4 ,the supply never ceases1 the warming process goes on night and day1 and to a great height the light warm incense mounts4 ,then1 cooling1 from this altitude it begins to run down hill toward the poles4 ,this is happening all the way around the globe4 ,so naturally the common centers1 the poles1 cannot accommodate all this downrush of air4 ,therefore as it approaches the goal it falls into a majestic file about the center1 very much as water does in running out of a hole in the center of a circular basin4 ,the nearer north1 the cooler this vast maelstrom grows and the nearer has it sunk to the earth4 ,it descends circuitously and1 by the force arising from the earth's rotation1 is sheered to the right in the northern hemisphere1 to the left in the southern4 ,watching the water circle out of the basin you will notice the outside whirl is in no hurry to get to the center4 ,this corresponds to the easterly trades of commerce1 geography1 and fiction4 ,the direction of the upper currents flowing back to the poles is from southwest to northeast2 but in our middle zones this becomes almost from west to east1 is constant and is known to the profession as the prevailing westerlies4 ,look up some day when wisps of clouds are floating very high4 ,you will notice that their port is in the east1 mattering not what wind may be blowing where you are4 ,they are above the petty disturbances of the shallow surface winds4 ,they follow a ,gulf ,stream of immeasurable grandeur4 ,onward1 always onward1 they sail1 emblems of a great serenity4 ,beneath this vast drift of air1 which increases in velocity as it nears the pole1 is an undertow from two to three miles thick4 ,it is the movements of this undertow that affect our lives4 ,these movements are influenced by all the changes of temperature and by the configurations of land4 ,they take the form of whirls4 ,these whirls may be small eddies1 local in effect1 or vast cyclones with diameters of fifteen hundred miles4 ,small or large they roll along under the ,westerlies1 translated by friction1 and invariably moving for most of their course in an easterly direction1 like their tractor above4 ,they circle across the ,united ,states every few days4 ,their courses do not vary a great deal1 and yet enough to make each one a matter for conjecture4 ,and all the conjecturing centers upon the condition of the atmosphere1--the changing atmosphere which is yet so dependable4 ,the weather we are used to1 the daily weather that catches us unprepared1 and yet that does not mistreat us all the time is the product of these little whirls1 which are so remotely connected with the grander atmospheric movements of our planet4 ,remembering this1 we can at last come back to earth and set about our real business which is to see why certain kinds of weather come at such uncertain times and how to tell when they will arrive4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,clear ,,day ,we owe our fair weather to that department of atmospheric activity called anticyclone by the weatherman4 ,the anticyclone is an accumulation of air which has become colder than the air surrounding it4 ,this accumulation oftener than not has an area near the center where the air is coldest4 ,about this coldest area the air currents revolve in the direction of a clock's hands4 ,and since this cold air is contracted and denser than its warmer environment it has a perpetual tendency to whirl outward from the center into this warmer environment4 ,one comes to think1 therefore1 of the anticyclone as a huge pyramid of cold air moving slowly across the country from west to east and all the while melting down on all sides1 like a plate of ice-cream1 into the surrounding territory4 ,it is such an immense accumulation that often while its head is reared over ,montana the first shivers of its approach are beginning to be felt in ,texas and ,pennsylvania4 ,it does not extend equally far1 however1 to the north and west of its head1 which is really sometimes where its tail ought to be4 ,that is1 a long slope of increasing pressure and cold will sweep in a gentle gradient from ,pennsylvania to ,montana and will then decrease by a very steep gradient to the ,pacific ,coast4 ,the anticyclone draws its power from the inexhaustible supplies of cold air from the upper levels4 ,this air is very dry and accounts for the almost invariably clear skies of the anticyclone4 ,in winter when the intensity of all the atmospheric activities is greatly increased1 the anticyclone develops into the cold wave4 ,the rapidly rising pressure rears its head and rushes along upon the heels of a storm like a vast tidal wave at sixty miles an hour1 tumbling the mercury thirty1 forty1 fifty degrees4 ,these cold waves first appear in the northwest4 ,they cannot well originate over either ocean and a high-pressure area building up over the southern half of the country will not attain the sufficient degree of frigidity to earn the title1 for even cold waves have been standardized by the ,government4 ,but although nearly all the cold waves choose ,montana or the ,dakotas as a base1 they have at least two definite lines of action4 ,those which are born amid the mountains or on the great plains of ,montana have a curious habit of bombarding the ,texas coast before starting on their eastward march4 ,it is not unusual for us to read of zero weather in the ,panhandle and freezing on the ,gulf while the mercury may still be standing as high as fifty in ,new ,york ,city4 ,it is this rapid onslaught from ,montana to ,texas that produces those notorious blizzards of that section called northers1 during which the cattle used to be frozen on the hoof4 ,the record time for a drive of this extent is about twelve hours and the normal about twenty-four which gives scant time for the ,weather ,bureau to warn the vast interests of the impending assault4 ,when the cold wave1 after following this path1 does swing toward the ,atlantic ,coast1 as most of them do1 it has lost interest and usually produces only seasonably cold weather along the ,appalachians4 ,those cold waves that recruit their strength in ,canada and enter the ,united ,states through ,minnesota or1 rarely1 this side of the ,lakes move along the border and supply intensely cold weather for a night or two to ,new ,england and the ,middle ,atlantic ,states4 ,cold waves almost always follow a storm4 ,the storm1 being an area of low pressure makes a fit receptacle for the surplus of the high pressure1 and since the whole business of the weather is to seek peace and pursue it1 the greater the discrepancies the more violent the pursuit4 ,consequently we have the spectacle of a ridge of cold dry air following and trying to level up a fleeing hollow of warm moist air--but rarely succeeding4 ,this principle of action and reaction is almost the sole principle of the weather and is nowhere more clearly demonstrated than in the winter's succession of storm and cold wave4 ,in summer the anticyclones are not only actually but relatively more moderate than in winter4 ,but their influence is still the same1--clear skies1 cooler nights1 dry1 westerly winds4 ,during the year the anticyclone furnishes us with about sixty per cent4 of our weather4 ,the cyclone is responsible for the remaining forty per cent4 ,the weather depends on the cyclone for its variety and upon the anticyclone for its reputation4 ,so it is well to be able to recognize an anticyclone when one appears4 ,the first and most reliable symptom of the approach of an anticyclone is the west wind4 ,this sign is valid the country over1 and is one of the very few signs that hold true for most of the ,north ,temperate ,zone4 ,in summer over our country the west wind comes from the southwest1 to be ,irish1 and in winter from the northwest4 ,but for nearly all of our forty-eight states for nearly all of the year the westerly winds are those that bring us fair days and nights4 ,and it is these crisp1 clear days and cloudless1 brilliant nights which we have in mind when we boast to ,english friends of our ,american weather4 ,the west wind is so popular because it has a slight downward flowing tendency4 ,it also blows from land to sea over all ,america except the narrow ,pacific coast4 ,these downward1 outward directions allow it to gather only enough moisture to keep it from becoming seriously dry4 ,its upper sources supply it with ozone4 ,its density gives it weight and by its superior weight it prevails4 ,it dries roads faster than a brace of suns could do it4 ,it is tonic4 ,and curiously enough1 although the anticyclone loads half a ton excess weight upon us we like it4 ,the greater the burden the more we feel like leaping and shouting4 ,our good cheer seems to be ground out of us1 like street pianos4 ,the reverse holds1 too4 ,for when the anticyclone moves off us and the cyclone hovers over us1 removing half a ton of pressure1 instead of feeling relieved we feel depressed1 out of spirit4 ,the animals share this reaction with us4 ,in fact barnyards antedated barometers as forecasters1 because all the domestic creatures1 with pigs in particular1 evidenced the disagreeable leniency of the low pressure areas upon their persons4 ,grumphie smells the weather ,an' ,grumphie smells the wun' ,he kens when clouds will gather ,an' smoor the blinkin' sun4 ,the only trouble about this rather extravagant tribute to the pig1 versatile though he is1 is that he can tell only a very few hours ahead about the coming changes and it takes so much more skill to judge what his actions mean than to read the face of the sky that the science of meteorology finally comes to supplant barnyardology4 ,the coming of the anticyclone is foretold by the shifting of the wind from any quarter to the west4 ,the course that the center of the anticyclone is keeping may be watched by the same agency4 ,since the circulation from the cone of cold air follows the hour hands of a clock it follows that if the center is moving north of you the wind1 blowing outward from the center1 will work from west to northwest and from northwest to north and slightly east of north4 ,if the wind has shifted into the west on a ,wednesday1 it will likely be cold by ,wednesday night and colder on ,thursday4 ,by ,friday morning the wind will be coming from the north1 likely1 with the lowest temperature of all4 ,by ,saturday the cold will moderate1 the wind will tire and gradually die to a calm or become weakly variable4 ,the four day supremacy of the anticyclone will be over4 ,but1 mind you1 there are a dozen variations of this routine4 ,i am only suggesting a usual one4 ,if after blowing two or three days from the west the wind shifts to the southwest and south1 you may know that the central cold area is passing south of you and that its intensity will not be great4 ,while these anticyclones that float down and to the right of their normal path linger longer1 they are never so severely cold1 nor1 alas1 so uniformly clear as the others4 ,it is a profound law of anticyclones and even more particularly of cyclones1 that if they deviate to the right they weaken1 if they are pushed by an obstacle to the left they increase greatly in intensity4 ,occasionally the central portion of an anticyclone passes over your locality4 ,then the wind will fall4 ,the frost will be keen and the cold will be notably dry and invigorating4 ,in summer although the sunlight may be powerfully bright and the heat great1 yet the air will have a buoyant effect1 the body a resilience4 ,and the nights will cool swiftly4 ,soon after the center passes from the locality a wind will spring up from the east with rapidly rising temperature and increased humidity4 ,the coldest part of the anticyclone is not1 as one would suppose1 at the center1 but in advance of it2 and its authority1 like a schoolmaster's1 is rapidly dissipated after its back is turned upon a place4 ,the intensity of an anticyclone is measured by its wind velocity and by the degree of cold obtaining under its influence4 ,but the greatest cold occurs rarely in conjunction with the greatest velocity of the wind4 ,the calms that occur at sunrise enable radiation to take an extra spurt which pushes the mercury lower by a degree or so than happens when the wind is blowing4 ,but1 windy or calm1 the period about sunrise is normally the coldest of the day1 even extending in midwinter for as much as half an hour after sunrise1 so slow are the feeble rays at restoring the balance of loss and gain of heat4 ,the greatest falls occur at the advent of the cold wave1 no matter whether it arrives at ten in the morning or at midnight4 ,if the temperature starts to decline gradually during the day1 a further and decided fall may be expected at nightfall if the sky is clear4 ,and if the temperature rises gradually during the night the normal processes are being displaced and a change from fair to foul is a surety4 ,in summer the hottest time of day is not at noon1 any more than the coldest part of the winter day was at midnight1 for the reason that the sun can pour in its heat faster than the earth can radiate it1 and the hour for the maximum temperature is pushed as far along toward evening as four or five or even six o'clock4 ,the average anticyclone continues its influence for clearness for about four days4 ,some1 however1 hurry the whole thing through in two4 ,others are interrupted by a more vigorous cyclone and are put to rout4 ,others are held up by an inherent weakness and are forced to mark time over one locality until strengthened or dissipated4 ,and a few great ones hold sway over the country for a week4 ,these choose the north-center of the country in which to locate4 ,there they pile up the cold air until its very weight causes it to move majestically on4 ,its skirts sweep the ,gulf coast where they are a bit bedraggled by invading cyclones4 ,it gives the ,new ,englanders a fortnight of nipping1 brisk days and the mercury in ,minnesota and the ,dakotas does not emerge above zero4 ,once1 in ,montana1 one of these refrigerating systems established the record of sixty-three degrees below zero4 ,but in ,siberia where the immense extent of the land surface collaborates with a prolonged night1 an anticyclone built up an area of superior chilliness that left a world's record of ninety-one below4 ,in summer a succession of these highs causes the frequent droughts of weeks which harass the ,west and ,new ,england4 ,the air becomes so dry that it parches and then shrivels the green leaves4 ,any little cyclones that1 under ordinary conditions1 would suck in moist air from the ,gulf and relieve the situation with a rain are dried out and frustrated by the unclouded sun4 ,it requires a cyclone of great depth to overthrow the supremacy of these summer anticyclones4 ,while the anticyclone furnishes fair weather the sky is not necessarily or even usually free from clouds under its influence4 ,in summer the evaporation during the long days overloads the air for the time being4 ,normally about eleven in the morning little balls and patches of white clouds dot the blue4 ,these increase in number and size until about three in the afternoon when they will have grown little black bellies and fluffy white tops4 ,by five they will have dwindled and by eight entirely vanished4 ,these heaped clouds1 known as cumulus1 are a guarantee of a normal atmosphere and continued fair weather4 ,they mean that currents of warm1 moist air have risen until they have struck a level so cool as to cause them to condense part of their moisture4 ,this condensation sinks until it enters a warmer stratum and the cloud is dissipated4 ,the total movement is a reasonable exchange that preserves the equilibrium of the air1 very much as a person bends one way and then another to maintain his balance4 ,in winter there is not such an opportunity offered and the few clouds that form because of the daily variation in temperature are flatter and are called stratus clouds4 ,sometimes these stratus clouds may cover the sky at midday1 but in thin platings and not leadenly4 ,in winter as in summer they tend to disappear toward evening4 ,they are often accompanied by an unpleasant wind1 but rarely by the snow flurry which is the ,april shower of the winter months4 ,but when the snow flurry does come there is no better sign for the woodsman of coming cold2 it never fails4 ,the morning will have begun brilliantly1 but soon great summery puffs of cloud form and increase and darken on their under sides4 ,their tops are vague and wear a veil4 ,it is the snow4 ,the reason is simple4 ,the coming anticyclone strikes the upper air before it hits the earth's surface4 ,the sudden cold causes rapid condensation4 ,hence the flurries4 ,but the anticyclone is an agent of dryness1 hence their short duration4 ,sometimes the veil of snow does not reach the earth4 ,sometimes it blots out everything in a spirited squall4 ,but it never lasts long1 except in the northwest states4 ,and it is invariably followed by a period of colder weather4 ,in summer local evaporation may be so long-continued or so vigorous that the cumulus clouds cannot hold all their moisture content when cooled4 ,a shower is the result1 usually a trifling one and mostly without thunder4 ,the great thunderstorms are always in connection with the passing of a cyclone4 ,the small heat thunderstorms are only the indulgences of a spell of fair weather4 ,these tiny showers are daily and sometimes hourly accompaniments of clear weather in the mountains4 ,the air warms rapidly in the valleys and is speedily cooled on rushing up a mountain side and a threat and a sprinkle are the result4 ,when a performance of this sort is going on nobody need fear unpleasant weather of long duration4 ,another pledge of a clear day that does not appear too credible on the face of it is the morning fog in summer4 ,in winter it is a different matter4 ,in ,august and ,september particularly the rapidly lengthening nights allow so much heat to evaporate that the surplus moisture in the air is condensed to the depth of several hundred feet4 ,by ten o'clock the sun has eaten into this lowest stratum1 heated it and yet begins to decline in power before the balance swings the other way1 so that a cloudless day often follows a fog in those months4 ,about three mornings of fog1 however1 are enough to discourage the sun and a rain follows4 ,of course this is because the anticyclone with its special properties has been losing power4 ,when these conditions of clear nights with no wind follow the first two or three windy days of the anticyclone1 particularly in autumn and spring1 frost results4 ,in winter the chances that a fog will be dissipated are rather slim4 ,but if it shows a tendency to rise all may yet be well4 ,illustration3 ,,cirro-,,stratus ,,with ,,cirro-,,cumulus ,,beneath ,courtesy of ,richard ,f4 ,warren ,the fine-spun lines of the cirrus proper drag this veil of whitish cloud over the sky4 ,the sun sometimes is surrounded by a colored halo due to the refraction of the light by the ice crystals4 ,but more often it vanishes behind the veil4 ,the mottled clouds below the veil show that a rather rapid condensation of the moisture in the air is taking place4 ,this sky is distinctly threatening1 although the direction and force of the wind will more accurately foretell the severity of the coming storm4 ,with this sky expect rain or snow within #ab hours4 ,an excellent sign of clear weather is this fact of the morning mist rising from ravines in the mountains4 ,and even if you haven't any mountain ravines at command the altitude of clouds can be observed4 ,it is safer to have them lessen in number rather than increase1 scatter rather than combine4 ,the higher the clouds the finer the weather4 ,and if the sky through the rifts is a clear untarnished blue the prospects of settled weather are much better than with fewer clouds and a milky blue sky beyond4 ,after the direction of the wind and the shapes of the clouds the colors of the sky are a great help in the reading of the morrow's promise4 ,and the best time to read this promise is in the morning or evening when the half lights emphasize the coloring4 ,soon after the close observation of cloud colors has commenced the amazing discovery is made that the same color at sunrise means exactly the reverse of its meaning at sunset4 ,sky red in the morning ,a sailor's sure warning1 ,sky red at night ,a sailor's delight4 ,christ seized upon this phenomenon to throw confusion into the ,pharisees and ,sadducees when they asked that ,he would show them a sign from ,heaven4 ,as ,matthew reports it3--,he answered and said unto them1 ,when it is evening ye say1 ,it will be fair weather for the sky is red4 ,and in the morning ,it will be foul weather to-day for the sky is red and lowering4 ,o ye hypocrites1 ye can discern the face of the sky2 but ye cannot discern the signs of the times4 ,the reasons for this contradictory evidence of color are not nearly so obvious as the fact itself4 ,taking the scientist's word for it need not stretch one's credulity overmuch if he can be followed step by step4 ,he says that sunlight is white light1 and white is the sublime combination of every color4 ,if no atmosphere existed about us the light would all come through1 leaving the sky black4 ,the atmosphere1 however1 which is full of dust and water particles1 breaks up these rays1 these white sheaves of light1 into their various colors4 ,the longest vibrations1 which are the red1 and the shortest1 which are the violet1 get by and the rest are turned back1 mixing up into the color which we call our blue sky4 ,if the dust and water particles grow so large and numerous as to divert more of the short rays than usual we get a redder glow than usual4 ,this is most noticeable when the sun and clouds are near the horizon for the air through which they appear is nearer the earth and consequently dirtier4 ,if these water globules mass together so as to reflect all the rays alike the result is a whitish appearance4 ,that is why a fog bank1 composed of tiny droplets1 each reflecting with all its might1 can make the sky a dull and uniform gray4 ,as evening approaches the temperature of the normal day lowers4 ,as the temperature lowers it is the tendency of the moisture in the air to condense about the little dust particles in the air4 ,and as these particles increase in size their tendency is to reflect more and more of the waning rays of light4 ,therefore if the sky is gray in the evening it means that the atmosphere already contains a good deal of condensed moisture4 ,if the cooling should go on through the night1 as it normally would1 condensation would continue with rain as the likely result4 ,if1 on the other hand1 after the evening's cooling has progressed and yet the colors near the horizon are prevailingly red it means that there is so little moisture in the atmosphere that the further increase due to the night's condensation will not be sufficient to cause rain4 ,hence the natural delight of the sailor4 ,a gray morning sky implies an atmosphere full of water precisely as an evening gray does4 ,the difference lies in the ensuing process4 ,by morning the temperature has reached its lowest point and if this has not been sufficient to cause cooling to the rainpoint the chance for rain will be continually lessened by the growing heat of the rising sun4 ,the gray1 therefore1 is the normal indication of a clear cool night which has permitted radiation and therefore condensation to this degree4 ,it is for this reason that we have the heavy fogs of ,august and ,september followed by cloudless days4 ,a red morning sky shows1 like the red evening sky1 that condensation has not taken place to any extent4 ,but this is abnormal for a clear night causes condensation4 ,the red therefore means that a layer of heavy moist air above the surface levels has prevented the normal radiation4 ,hence when the day's evaporation adds more moisture to that already at the higher levels the total humidity is likely to increase beyond the dewpoint with the resultant rain4 ,these two color auguries are among the most reliable of all the weather signs4 ,unfortunately the sunrises are scarcely ever on hand to be examined except by milkmen4 ,but a careful scrutiny of the sunset will make one proficient in shades4 ,in summer when the sun burns round and clear-cut and red on the rim of the horizon the air contains much dust and smoke1 the accompaniment of dry weather4 ,and as dry weather has a way of perpetuating itself such a sun makes dry and continued weather a safe prophecy4 ,in winter the same red and flaming sun setting brilliant as new minted gold is a sure indication of clear and cold weather4 ,in all seasons the light tints of the evening sky mean the atmosphere at its best4 ,a golden sunset1 a light breeze from the west1 a glowing horizon as the sun goes down1 slow fading colors all constitute a hundred to one bet for continued fair weather4 ,the sunset colors that are surely followed by storm will be discussed in the next chapter4 ,the sky is too little regarded4 ,architects that do not consider the sky are behind in their calling4 ,maxfield ,parrish has made himself famous by allying himself with its seas of color4 ,the hunter can read it and learn whether he may sleep dry without his tent4 ,only we who shut ourselves within rooms and behind newspapers forget that there is a sky--until it falls and we are taken to a sanitarium4 ,from the night itself much may be discovered about the continuance of fair weather4 ,a sky well sown with stars is a good sign4 ,if only a few stars are visible the clear spell is about over4 ,stars twinkle because of abrupt variation in the temperature of the air strata4 ,if the wind is from the west cold and clear will result no matter how much may twinkle twinkle little star4 ,but if he twinkle with the wind from the south or east the cloud will soon fly4 ,that is the way with these weather signs4 ,one sign does not make a prophecy4 ,it is the combination that has strength and reliability4 ,furthermore the eye must be trained by many comparisons4 ,of all the conditions that make night forecasting easy the later evenings of the moon are the best4 ,the moon furnishes just the proper amount of illumination to betray the air conditions4 ,if she swims clear and triumphant well and good4 ,if she rides bright while dark bellying clouds sweep over her in summer1 inconsequential showers may follow4 ,but if she disappears by faint degrees behind a thin but close knit curtain of cloud the clear weather is being definitely concluded4 ,a great many changes in the weather take place after three in the morning4 ,most campers are accustomed to waking anyway once or twice to replenish the fire1 and a glance at the stars will show the sleepiest what changes are occurring in the eternal panorama4 ,a man may have gone to bed in security to get up in a snowstorm1 whereas a survey of the skies at three would have noted the coming change4 ,the habit of waking in the dead of night1--which isn't really so dead after all1--is not an unpleasant one4 ,its compensations are set forth in a beautiful and vivid chapter of ,stewart ,edward ,white's ,the ,forest4 ,every camper knows them1 and this added mastery that a knowledge of the skies gives him lends a sense of power1 which lasts until the unexpected happens4 ,for the unexpected happens to the best regulated of all forecasters1 the ,government4 ,equipped with every instrument and with an army whose business is nothing else than to hunt down storms and warn the public1 the ,weather ,bureau is still surprised fifteen times out of a hundred by unforeseeable changes in atmospheric pressure4 ,it is scarcely likely then that amateurs without flawless barometers and without reports of the current weather in three hundred places could hope to foretell with complete accuracy4 ,but there is a place for the amateur1 aside from his own personal gratification and profit4 ,the ,weather ,bureau within the limits of the present appropriation cannot expect to predict for every village and borough4 ,that the amateur may do and with as great accuracy for the few hours immediately in advance4 ,the ,weather ,bureau may predict with this large percentage of accuracy--#he--;for forty-eight hours in advance because its scope is country wide4 ,it may even forecast in a general way for seven days and still maintain a considerable advantage over almanac guesswork4 ,but the man who is relying upon local signs is limited to ten or at most twelve hours4 ,of course he may guess beyond that but it is only a guess4 ,the work that the ,bureau does and that he may do within his limits is not guesswork4 ,meteorology is an exact science1 and forecasting is an art4 ,both may be studied now in classes under professors with degrees in the same way that any other science and art may be studied4 ,the old sort of weather wisdom which was a startling compound of wisdom1 superstition1 and inanity has passed away1 or is passing away as rational weather talk spreads4 ,these limits of the layman--ten hours with no instruments--are further defined by his locality4 ,in mountainous country changes come more quickly than in level localities1 in winter than in summer1 so that one's prophetic time-limit is shortened4 ,while the best indications of the clear day are the great fundamental ones1 there are many little signs that bolster up one's confidence in one's own predictions4 ,the lessened humidity coincident with clear weather is responsible often for many little household prognostics4 ,salt is dry4 ,the windows 7of your summer cottage7 do not stick4 ,the children are less restless4 ,smoke ascends1 or if the wind is blowing is not flattened to the ground4 ,flies are merely insects1 for the time being1 and not the devil4 ,swallows and the other birds that eat insects fly high because that is where the insects are4 ,spiders do not hesitate to make their webs on the lawn4 ,they welcome dew but distrust rain4 ,cow and sheep feed quietly1 rarely calling to one another as they do before a storm4 ,in short the general aspect of these is normal and therefore remains unnoticed4 ,but all these household prognostics may be advertising the most placid weather while only twelve hours away and coming at sixty miles an hour may be the severest storm of the season4 ,the ,weather ,bureau with its maps and barometers follows its every movement4 ,the man in the woods whose comfort in summer and whose life in winter may depend upon his preparedness for the approaching storm does well to read its warnings and know its laws4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,storm ,,cycle ,doubtless those who hope for a ,hereafter of unmitigated ease and song1 desire1 on this earth1 one long1 sweet anticyclone4 ,but theirs1 in most of the ,united ,states1 is disappointment4 ,with an irregularity that seems perversely regular at times our fair weather is interrupted by a storm which in turn gives way to some more fair weather or another storm1--there is no telling which very long in advance4 ,and that is why ,american weather ranks high among our speculative interests4 ,to emphasize this irregularity a seemingly regular succession of events may be noticed4 ,it will cloud up1 let's say1 on a ,sunday1 rain on ,monday and ,tuesday1 clear on ,wednesday1 staying clear until ,sunday when it will cloud up for the repeat4 ,during this past season it rained on a dozen washdays in succession4 ,the newspapers grew jocular about it4 ,and very often one notices two or three rainy ,sundays in a row4 ,by actual observation this year we enjoyed fifteen clear ,thursdays in succession in a normal spring4 ,the weather gets into a rut4 ,and if the anticyclones and cyclones were all of the same intensity it is conceivable that the rainy ,sundays might go on until the ,day of ,rest was changed by ,statute4 ,but the intensities of the whirls differ4 ,before long an anticyclone feebler than ordinary is overtaken by a cyclone and annihilated4 ,or one stronger than the average may dominate the situation for several days4 ,or the great body of cold air in winter over the interior of ,canada may send a succession of moderate antis across our country making a barrier of dry cold air through which the lurking cyclone can not push4 ,mostly1 however1 three days of anticyclonic influence and three days of cyclonic influence with one day in between for rest1 the transition period1 make up a normal week of it4 ,let the ,american farmer thank his stars 7and clouds7 for that4 ,for no other regions of the earth are so consistently watered and sunned all the year round as the great expanse of the ,north ,american ,continent4 ,the cyclone is that activity of the atmosphere which prevents us from suffering from an eternal drought4 ,the cyclone is an accumulation of air which has become warmer than the air about it4 ,this area of air usually has a central portion that is warmest of all4 ,since warmth expands1 this air grows lighter and rises4 ,nature1 steadfast in her grudge against a vacuum1 causes the surrounding air to rush it4 ,since these contending currents cannot all occupy the central area at once they fall into a vast ascending spiral that spins faster and faster as it approaches the center4 ,imagine an inverted whirlpool4 ,it is a replica on a much smaller scale of the great polar influx1 except that the latter has a descending motion4 ,the cyclone thus is tails to the anticyclone's heads1 the reverse of the coin4 ,where the anti's air was cool and dry the cyclone's is warm and moist4 ,the anti had a downward tendency and a motion1 in our hemisphere1 flowing outward from the apex in generous curves in the direction of clock hands4 ,the cyclone has an upward tendency1 flowing inward to the core contrariwise to clock hands4 ,from these two great actions and reactions come all the varieties of our weather4 ,to understand the procession of the cyclones and anticyclones across our plateaus1 our mountains1 our plains1 and our eastern highland is to know why1 and often when1 it will be clear or not4 ,to mentally visualize the splendid sweep of the elements on their transcontinental run is to glimpse grandeur in the order of things which will go far to offset the petty annoyances of fog or sleet4 ,ignorance may be bliss1 but knowledge is preparedness4 ,the anticyclone suggests a pyramid of cold1 dry air4 ,the cyclone suggests a shallow circular tank in leisurely whirl4 ,but all comparisons are misleading and a caution is needed right here4 ,for a storm is not a watering cart driven across our united skies by ,jupiter ,tonans ,pluvius4 ,it is ,,not a receptacle from which rain drips until the supply is exhausted4 ,a cyclone is a much more delicate operation than that4 ,it is a process4 ,it can renew itself and become a driving rain storm after it had all the appearance of being a sucked orange for a thousand miles4 ,suppose that our cyclone1 this organization of warm1 moist air with its curving winds1 enters the state of ,washington on a ,wednesday1 from the ,north ,pacific4 ,as early as the ,monday afternoon before the wind throughout all that section of the country would have shifted out of the west and have started to blow in some easterly direction1--northeast in ,british ,columbia and southeast in lower ,idaho4 ,but since these winds are blowing from the interior they are dry1 and consequently rain does not fall much before the storm center is near1 that is on the ,wednesday4 ,if the storm center passes north of ,tacoma the winds1 shifting by south and southwest1 bring in the ocean moisture and heavy rain commences which continues until the rising barometer and westerly winds indicate the approach of another anticyclone4 ,so much for western ,washington4 ,as the cyclone passes eastward it mounts the ,cascades and its temperature is lowered1 its moisture is squeezed out1 and it stalks over ,montana1 the mere ghost of its former self1 as far as energy and rainfall are concerned4 ,to be sure it preserves its essential characteristics of relative warmth1 and inwhirling winds4 ,but let it continue4 ,as its influence begins to be felt over ,wisconsin and the ,lake region the moister air is sucked into the whirl and rain1 evaporated from ,superior1 falls on ,minnesota4 ,the east winds are the humid ones now1 the west ones the dry4 ,eastward the center moves1 over ,indiana1 ,ohio1 ,new ,york1 the rainfall steadily increasing as the ocean reservoirs are tapped4 ,the first time you tell a ,new ,englander that his easterly storms come from the west you are in danger1 unless he be a child1 for it is to the children that one may safely appeal4 ,indeed it is the increasing number of children who are learning these fundamental weather facts in the public schools that the ,weather ,bureau relies upon for a more intelligent support in the next generation4 ,they teach their parents4 ,these latter find it difficult to believe1 however1 that the storms which hurl the fishing fleets upon the coast in a blinding northeaster have not originated far out at sea1 but have come across the continent4 ,for the safe handling of boats knowledge of the rotary motion of storms is necessary that one may be able to tell by the direction of the winds and the way they are shifting where lies the center of the storm and its greatest intensity4 ,in ,tacoma when the wind shifted by way of southeast1 south1 and southwest that was proof that the storm center was passing north of the city4 ,likewise if in ,new ,york the winds shift by way of northeast1 north1 and northwest the storm center is passing south of that city4 ,as it drifts out to sea it is gradually dissipated by the changing influences on the ,north ,atlantic4 ,very few of our storms ever reach ,europe1 although some have been traced to ,siberia4 ,the ,government has put its sleuths on the track of every storm that has crossed the ,united ,states in the last thirty years4 ,these weather detectives with a thousand eyes have made diagrams of their actions1 mapped their courses1 computed their speeds1 and if we don't know where all our discarded storms go to1 we at least know where most of them came from and how they acted when with us4 ,about a hundred and ten areas of low-pressure affect the country during the normal year4 ,of these all but seven1 speaking in averages1 come from the ,west so that the ,boston mechanic who will not believe that the nor'easter comes via the ,mississippi ,valley is right about #g_/aaj of the time4 ,but even that small fraction is no exception to the general law1 because those seven storms are not born in ,newfoundland but in our ,east ,gulf ,states4 ,they come up the ,coast1 and the wind blows from the northeast and north into their centers while they are still on the ,carolina coast4 ,the great hurricanes which are cradled in the tropics and march westward under the influence of the trades are genuine exceptions to the general westward rule1 although they always eventually turn toward the east4 ,they will be given the prominence they demand later1 since the eastbound schedule must not be sidetracked now4 ,illustration3 ,,cirro-,,cumulus ,,to ,,alto-,,stratus ,courtesy of ,richard ,f4 ,warren ,the wispy edges of the cloud at the brightest part are cirrus1 the fleecy cloud at the extreme top is a thin alto-cumulus1 and the dark base of the sky is stratus4 ,but this stratus is too high for that classification and so they call it alto-stratus4 ,this sky shows that the temperatures are moderate1 a cold sky being much better packed1 and a warm one fluffier4 ,the fact that a veil of cirrus has not preceded the heavier clouds argues that the coming storm will not be of much consequence4 ,this sort of cloud bank arising after a period of cold weather is the best possible prediction of a thaw4 ,slight rain might follow within a few hours4 ,three cyclones a year form over the lower ,ohio ,river basin4 ,on account of their origin over land instead of over water they rarely acquire much energy4 ,once in a decade such depressions deepen rapidly4 ,it was one of these ,ohio ,river storms that increased greatly in energy while moving from ,west ,virginia to the ,jersey ,coast that gave ,philadelphia her ,christmas ,blizzard1 a surprise to her citizens and to the ,weather ,bureau1 for most of the snow fell with the mercury above freezing4 ,the flare-back which gave ,taft his big inaugural snowstorm is another example of the way a depression may deepen on approaching the coast4 ,until the upper atmosphere is as well understood and watched as the lower1 or until instruments are perfected whereby the weather conditions can be made self-announcing such surprises are absolutely unavoidable4 ,under conditions that warrant any suspicion of sudden developments the ,bureau at ,washington is careful to order extra observations in the areas likely to be affected1 but no surface observations can quite suffice4 ,fifteen storms a year originate over the west ,gulf ,states1 or1 drifting in from the ,pacific over ,arizona and ,new ,mexico begin to acquire energy in ,texas4 ,twelve are set up over the ,colorado mountains4 ,these usually dip down into ,texas before starting their drive toward the northeast4 ,after both these sets of storms get under way they strike resolutely for the same locality1--the ,st4 ,lawrence ,valley4 ,the conformation of the ,st4 ,lawrence region provides an irresistible attraction for ,american storms4 ,occasionally a very strong anticyclone holds that territory and pushes the cyclone off the coast at ,hatteras or even makes them drift across the country to ,florida4 ,but such occasions are exceptional4 ,give the ordinary cyclone its head1 and1 ten to one1 you will find it on the way to the ,st4 ,lawrence4 ,the inhabitants will confirm this statement1 ,i am sure4 ,they do not feel discriminated against in the matter of weather4 ,they get nearly everything that is going4 ,since they have to accommodate from seventy to eighty cyclones in fifty-two weeks they have very little time to brood over any one variety of weather4 ,with the optimism of that section of the country they say1 ,if you don't like our weather1 wait a minute4 ,ten storms a year originate over the ,rocky ,mountain ,plateau1 north of ,colorado4 ,about twenty cross over from the ,canadian ,provinces of ,alberta and ,british ,columbia4 ,and all our other storms1 about forty each year1 enter our country from the ,north ,pacific by way of ,washington and ,oregon4 ,many of these drift across the northern tier of states without any great display of energy1 at least before they reach the ,lake region4 ,but the majority loop down somewhat into the middle west as far south as ,kansas1 and then make their turn toward the inevitable ,st4 ,lawrence4 ,they usually require four days to make the trip from coast to coast by this route1 as also by the more direct northern route1 because on that they travel more at leisure4 ,but the storms from ,texas1 whose energy is greatest because of greater heat and moisture1 occasionally speed from ,oklahoma to ,new ,york in thirty-six hours4 ,in summer all speeds are reduced4 ,this is because the disparities in temperature are less4 ,in winter where greater extremes of temperature are brought into conjunction the processes of the storm are all more violent4 ,and it is a bit disheartening to know that a storm is aggravated to even greater endeavors by its own exertions4 ,its energy provides the conditions to stimulate greater energy1 and1 like a fire1 it increases as it goes4 ,if it did not run out of the zone which nourished it and proceed into another zone where conditions were distinctly discouraging the limits of the storm would be much extended1 and vast territories would be devastated by the self-propelling combination of wind and water4 ,to the generality of us the word storm means rain4 ,to the scientist it means wind4 ,in reality the cyclone is rare that crosses our country without causing rain somewhere along its track4 ,the curiosity of the ,weather ,bureau to find out the paths of the storm centers is abundantly justified because it is along these paths that the heaviest rainfall and the severest winds occur4 ,but whether or not there is precipitation on the path of the cyclone it is rated as a storm if there is a lowering of pressure and consequent wind-shift4 ,the storm centers are not always well-defined1 and quite often the circulation of the wind about them is not complete4 ,such cyclones never amount to much1 although there is always the possibility of their closing in and developing a complete circulation with the attendant increase of energy4 ,the incomplete cyclones over the desert and plateau regions are lame affairs1 lacking interest and advancing timidly if at all4 ,but once let them drift into a locality where they can be supplied with moist air1 they pick up energy1 keep a definite course1 and advance with increasing speed4 ,very often the center will split up1 the circulation perfecting itself around both centers of depression4 ,one of these will likely be over ,minnesota and the other over ,texas and the organization will steam-roller the states to the east in the manner of a gigantic dumb-bell4 ,this formation is more likely to have been caused by the two centers appearing simultaneously than by a split in an original center4 ,the weather reports call this fashion of storm a trough of low pressure4 ,the southern center is the one that develops the more energy on its turn to the northeast4 ,if the two centers should unite on reaching the northeast a very heavy precipitation is the invariable result4 ,all cyclones have much greater length than breadth4 ,they frequently stretch from unknown latitudes in ,canada into unrecorded distances into the ,gulf1 while on the other hand it is a very large storm that rains simultaneously upon the ,mississippi and the ,atlantic4 ,behind a cyclone of pronounced energy a second whirl1 called a secondary depression1 often develops1 in which case the period of wet weather is prolonged4 ,also1 more rarely1 an offshoot forms ahead of the main depression4 ,a sluggish1 sulky cyclone either in winter or summer provides more opportunity to humanity for self-discipline than almost any other feature of our national environment4 ,in winter when the depression slows up it settles down upon one community in the guise of fog1 and stays by the locality until an anticyclone blows in and noses it out4 ,fog is aggravation1 but a hot wave is suffering and the hot wave is caused by a depression weak in character but generous in dimensions getting held up on the northern half of our country4 ,by its nature it attracts the air from all sides1 and being in the north1 the direction of the wind over most of the country would be southerly4 ,air from the west and north has a downward tendency1 but south and east winds are surface currents4 ,consequently these winds1 blowing over leagues of heated soil1 become dry and parching4 ,if the depression lingers long the entire country to the east1 south1 and west soon suffers from superheated air4 ,at last the very intensity of the heat defeats itself and the reaction to cooler is effected dramatically through a thunderstorm4 ,the well-developed cyclone in winter causes what we all know as a three days' rain1 although continuous precipitation rarely lasts over ten hours4 ,the rest of the time is occupied by general cloudiness with occasional sprinkles and a final downpour as the wind shifts to the west and the anticyclone nears4 ,in summer the depressions1 being shallower1 rarely cause continuous cloudiness for three days1 although their influence often lasts as long as that in the guise of a series of thunderstorms4 ,the line of storms extends several hundred miles1 bombarding all the towns from ,albany to ,richmond4 ,these thunderstorms sometimes achieve in an hour or two even greater results than their winter relatives can accomplish in three days in the matter of rainfall1 wind velocity1 and general destructiveness4 ,our wettest months are ,july and ,august and not ,december and ,january4 ,the freedom of the wind has been the subject of much poetic and prosaic license4 ,as a matter of fact the wind is the veriest slave of all the elements4 ,it is harried about from cyclone to anticyclone1 wound up in tornadoes1 directed hither and thither by changing temperatures4 ,it blows1 not where it listeth1 but where it has to4 ,and circuitously at that4 ,for once the path of duty is not straight4 ,that is another fact that the ,boston mechanic would have been slow to accept1--that the wind blows in curves4 ,a little consideration1 however1 of the fact that the wind is perpetually unwinding in great curves from the anticyclone and winding up on the cyclone will show that nowhere can it be blowing in a perfectly straight line4 ,thus it becomes the surest indication that a cyclone is to the west of one if the wind blows from an easterly point4 ,the storm is bound to move toward the east1 therefore the rapidity with which the clouds move and thicken will signify when the area of precipitation will reach the observer4 ,the cycle of the storm is normally this3 ,after a cloudless and windless night a light air springs up from a little north of east4 ,at the same time strands of thin wavy clouds appear1 very high up4 ,they may be seen to be moving from the southwest or northwest4 ,their velocity is great4 ,their name is cirrus1 and they are called mares' tails by the sailors4 ,they are followed by several hours of clear skies1 usually2 but if the storm is smaller and close at hand there is no clear interval4 ,before the larger storms these cirrus clouds are sent up as storm signals twenty-four and even forty-eight hours in advance4 ,the day that intervenes is very clear1 the air feels softer1 the temperature is higher4 ,in midafternoon more cirrus appears1 and as condensation follows the quick cooling the silky lines increase in number4 ,beneath them a thicker formation1 known as cirro-stratus1 forms a dense bank in the west and southwest4 ,the sun sets in a gray obscurity4 ,if there is a moon it fades by degrees behind the veil of alto-stratus1 and the halo which first was seen wide enough to enclose several stars narrows until it chokes the moon in its ever-thickening cocoon of vapor4 ,there is no value whatever in the old superstition that the number of stars within the halo foretells the number of days that it will rain or snow4 ,the same halo that encloses three stars at eight o'clock may have narrowed down to one by midnight1 or none at all1 so that the prophetic circle is bound in the very nature of its increase to contradict itself4 ,the presence of a halo is a pretty sure sign of some precipitation within twenty-four or thirty hours4 ,it fails about thirteen times in a hundred4 ,if the halo is observed around the sun it is an even surer sign1 failing only seven times the hundred4 ,during the time of cloud-increase the wind will probably lull before a snow1 so that the hour or so before precipitation begins is one of intense brooding calm4 ,or if there is no calm the wind1 now easterly1 will be very gentle4 ,soon after the precipitation begins the wind will begin to freshen and will continue to increase in velocity until the center of the storm is close to the locality4 ,this will require about eight hours for the average storm4 ,as storms vary an average is a very misleading thing and the best way to judge of the length and severity of the storm is by watching the wind4 ,if it increases gradually the storm will be of long duration4 ,if the wind rises fitfully and swiftly it will not likely be long but may be severe4 ,if the wind reaches any considerable velocity before the rain or snow begins the storm is sure to be short and severe4 ,the color and formation of the clouds will tell when the precipitation is about to begin4 ,in summer1 no matter how striking and black are the shapes and shadows of the clouds1 rain will not fall until a gray patch1 a uniform veil called nimbus is seen4 ,in the little showers of ,april this patch of unicolored cloud is there1 as well as behind the great arch of the onrushing thunderstorm4 ,in winter raindrops are smaller and the tendency of the clouds is to appear a dull1 uniform gray at all times4 ,but the careful observer can detect a difference between the nature of the clouds several hours before precipitation and their color immediately before4 ,when snow is about to fall no seams are visible4 ,an impenetrable film obscures all the joints4 ,from such a sky as this snow is sure to fall4 ,but if seams are visible1 if parts of the skyscape are darker than others1 then1 no matter whether the temperature on the ground is below freezing a rain storm will ensue4 ,very often these winter rains begin in snow or sleet1 but the clouds register the moment when the change from snow to rain is to be made4 ,the presence of swift-flying low clouds from the east is a certain sign that the change to a temperature above freezing has been effected in the upper strata of the atmosphere4 ,this variety of cloud is called scud1 and accompanies rain and wind rather than foretelling it long in advance4 ,if the storm is approaching from the southwest the precipitation begins near the coast about twelve hours after the cirrus clouds commence to thicken and about twenty-four after they were first seen4 ,in some localities as much as thirty-six and even forty-eight hours are sometimes required for the east wind to bring the humidity to the dew-point4 ,just a little observation will enable one to gauge the ordinary length of time required to bring things to the rain-pitch in one's own country4 ,of course no two storms in succession make the trip under the same auspices and with the same speed4 ,the sign of the ,universe should be a pendulum4 ,one period of cyclone1 anticyclone1 cyclone will traverse the country rapidly4 ,then there will be a halt all along the line1 and the next series1--anticyclone1 cyclone1 anticyclone1 will take three days longer to make the crossing4 ,otherwise our weather would have a deadening regularity4 ,on an average our storms cross the country at the rate of about six hundred miles a day4 ,this is the average4 ,some delay1 linger1 and wait for days over one locality4 ,others do a thousand miles in the twenty-four hours4 ,they thicken up enough to cause rain from two hundred to six hundred miles in advance of their centers4 ,it stops raining not long after the actual center has passed4 ,but for picnic purposes the storm is far from being over4 ,for even though continuous raining has stopped the low pressure still induces a degenerate sort of precipitation called showers1 or oftener mist for another twelve hours 7usually in winter74 ,then as the cooling influence of the anticyclone approaches the rain recommences4 ,this time it is not for long1 however1 and is followed by permanent clearing1 the wind shifting into the west4 ,sometimes the change to blue sky is abrupt4 ,but if the subsequent anticyclone is not very well defined1 cloudy conditions may linger for a couple of days4 ,such clouds are usually much broken and show white at the edges and never cause more than a chilly feeling4 ,this attempt to outline the customary cycle of the storm1--clear sky1 cirrus cloud1 wind-shift to the east1 the denser cirro-stratus1 the pavement-like stratus1 the woolly nimbus1 the first continuous hours of rain1 the misty interval1 the windshift to the west1 the final shower1 and breaking cloud1 the all-blue sky--this storm-schedule is always subject to change4 ,but the fundamentals are there in disguise every time4 ,they only have to be looked for and there is some satisfaction in penetrating the disguise4 ,when a storm comes up the ,atlantic ,coast1 as happens a few times a winter1 the process is shortened1 because the effects of the larger easterly quadrants are felt only at sea4 ,the most prominent recent illustration of this type of storm was the severe snowstorm that swept the coast states from ,carolina to ,maine the ,saturday before ,easter1 #aiae4 ,its calendar read as follows3 ,friday1 #h ,p4 ,m41 cirrus clouds thickening into cirro-stratus4 ,midnight1 stars faintly visible1 wind from northeast1 #ab miles an hour4 ,sunrise1 stratus clouds1 wind rising in gusts at ,philadelphia to #cj miles2 #h ,a4 ,m41 rapid consolidation of clouds with snow shortly after1 although the temperature at the surface of the earth was as high as seven degrees above the freezing point4 ,this rapidly dropped to freezing4 ,flakes were irregular in size4 ,until one o'clock in the afternoon the snow thickened with gusts of wind up to forty miles4 ,snowfall for five hours was #ad inches1 an unprecedented fall for this locality4 ,then the storm waned for five hours more1 #e inches more of snow falling4 ,precipitation practically ceased at #f ,p4 ,m4 ,by sunrise on ,sunday the skies were free of clouds and the wind blew gently from the northwest4 ,occasionally a high pressure area out at sea and beyond the ken of the ,weather ,bureau causes one of these coast storms to curve inward to the surprise of everybody4 ,occasionally1 too1 the transcontinental storms are driven north or south of their accustomed paths4 ,while the divergence may be slight1 it causes a margin of variance from the accuracy of the ,bureau's report4 ,then arises a second storm1--one of indignation--from all the people on one side of the strip who carried umbrellas to no purpose1 and from the others1--who didn't4 ,this pushing aside of the cyclone is caused by pressure variation that only hourly reports from many localities could detect4 ,vast hidden influences shift the weights ever so little and the meteorological express is wrecked4 ,but this happens1 at most1 fifteen times in a hundred1 and remembering the unseen agencies to be coped with people are refraining more and more from the tart criticisms of former times1 not in charity but in justice1 although there is small tendency yet to forward eulogies to the ,bureau in recognition of the eighty-five times it is right4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,sky ,,signs ,,for ,,campers ,the weather-wise1 even more so than poets1 are born4 ,but that only goes to say that weather-wisdom can be fathered4 ,for poetry and canoeing and the art of making fires1 once the desire for these things is born1 may be aided infinitely by observation and practice4 ,nobody can teach a man the smell of the wind4 ,but the chap who feels nature beating under his heart can1 by taking thought1 add anything to his stature4 ,so it is with those who are called weather-wise4 ,an unconscious desire1 a little conscious knowledge1 a good deal of experimentation with the cycle of days1 and you have a weatherman4 ,these chapters aim to put the little conscious knowledge into the hands of the people with the unconscious desire1 so that when they take their week in the woods for the first time 7and their month for the second time7 they may enjoy the shifting scenery of the sky-ocean and1 incidentally1 a dry skin4 ,for ,i take it that everybody will soon be camping4 ,maine and the ,adirondacks have become a family barracks4 ,it is ,hudson ,bay for bachelors4 ,and over this expanse of woods and children the weather problem ranks with the domestic one4 ,for naturally if a soaking would endanger his vacation the husband must not permit a rain1--unexpectedly4 ,in all seriousness1 it is of avail to know the skies if one is going into the wilds just as it is of avail to know what severed arteries demand1 what woods burn well1 and what mushrooms can be eaten1 even though one can get along without knowing these things until perchance the artery is severed or the arched squall catches one far from shore4 ,at the very least1 one grain of weather wisdom prevents a mush of discomfort4 ,and if1 fellow-camper1 the following observations gathered on a thousand thoughtless walks do not tally 7for the northeastern states7 with yours1 write me1 so that in the end we may finally contrive together a completer handbook of our weather4 ,,the ,,clouds ,clouds are signposts on the highway of the winds4 ,every phase of the weather1 except stark clearness1 is commented upon by a cloud of some sort4 ,when danger is close they thicken4 ,when it passes they disappear4 ,the aviators of the future will be cloud-wary4 ,he who flies must read or never fly again4 ,the cirrus cloud is always the first to appear in the series that leads up to the storm4 ,it looks like the tail of ,pegasus and for it the old forecasters in their forecastles made a special proverb4 ,mackerel scales and mares' tails ,make lofty ships carry low sails4 ,these white plumes and scrolls which are in reality glistening ice-breath1 fly at the height of five1 six1 seven1 and even eight miles4 ,and as a sign of coming storm they are about as infallible as anything may be in this erratic world4 ,they were born in the cradle of a storm4 ,the storm center was breathing warmed air upward to great heights1 and although the disc of the storm itself was only two or three miles deep1 its nucleus1 crater-like1 shot warm columns twice as far4 ,with just enough moisture content to make a showing against the blue these streamers flowed to the eastward4 ,at those dizzy heights the prevailing westerlies are in full force1 blowing from eighty to two hundred miles an hour night after night and day after day4 ,these westerlies caught the storm exhalations1 the streamers1 and hurled them eastward at greater speed than the main body of the storm4 ,and that is the reason that we see these cirrus clouds always eight1 mostly twelve1 often twenty-four and sometimes forty-eight hours before the storm is due4 ,just a few strands of cirrus have little significance4 ,they may be condensation from a local disturbance1 or a back fling from a past storm4 ,but if the procession of the cirri has some continuity and broadens to the western horizon it is a sign about eight times in ten that a cyclone is approaching4 ,occasionally the storm center is too far to the south or north to cause rains at your locality1 but the cirri bank up on the horizon and their lacework covers the sky4 ,if they appear to be moving toward the region of greatest cloudiness it is not a sign of precipitation4 ,this condition is most apparent at ,philadelphia when the storm center over ,alabama or ,mississippi floats out to sea by way of ,florida without having the energy to turn north4 ,then the cirrus is seen thickly on our southern horizon4 ,looking closely one sees that the cirri are moving from the northwest1 and are being drawn into the storm area instead of proceeding in advance of it4 ,careful watching will sometimes enable one to tell whether the tails are increasing or decreasing in size4 ,if they dissolve it means that the cyclone from which they were projected is losing strength because of new conditions4 ,cloudiness may follow but no precipitation of consequence4 ,the plumy tails are expressive3 pointing upward they mean that the upward currents are strong and rain will follow2 pointing downward they mean that the cold dry upper currents have the greater weight and clear weather is likely4 ,in summer the cirrus cloud formations are not such certain advance agents of rain because all depressions are weaker and less able to confront a well-intrenched drought4 ,as the proverb goes1 all signs of rain fail in dry weather1 and there is some truth in it4 ,the fine wavy cirrus clouds often increase in number1 develop in texture until the blue sky has become veiled with a muslin-like layer of mist4 ,this is the cirro-stratus1 and is a development of the cirrus1 but it does not fly so high4 ,its significance is of greater humidity and is the first real confirmation of the earlier promise of the cirri4 ,another form that the cirro stratus may assume is the mackerel sky1--clouds with the light and shade of the scales of a fish4 ,if this formation is well-defined and following cirrus it is a fairly accurate storm indicator4 ,it is not quite infallible1 however1 as the same forms may be assumed when the process is from wet to dry4 ,the old proverb1 ,mackerel sky1 soon wet or soon dry1 expresses this uncertainty4 ,if dry is to follow the scales will appreciably lessen in size and perhaps disappear4 ,if the cirro-stratus or scaly clouds are followed by a conspicuous lowering it is only a question of a few hours until precipitation begins4 ,the cirro-stratus at a lower level is called alto-stratus and this becomes heavy enough to obscure the sun4 ,the cloud process from stratus on is slow or rapid1 depending upon the energy of the coming storm and the rate of its approach4 ,in most cases the clouds darken1 solidify1 and become a uniform gray1 no shadows thrown1 no joints4 ,soon after the leaden hues are thus seamless the first snowflake falls4 ,if it doesn't it is a sign that the process of condensation is halting3 the storm will not be severe4 ,sometimes there is no precipitation after all this preparation1 but under these circumstances the wind has not ventured much east of north4 ,from the time that the snow starts the clouds have chance to tell little4 ,only by a process of relative lightening or darkening can the progress of the storm be followed and the wind1 and not the clouds at all1 is the factor to be watched2 for occasionally the sun may shine through the tenuous snowclouds without presaging any genuine clearing so long as the wind is in the east4 ,but in summer the clouds become even more eloquent than the wind4 ,the rain-cloud1 called the nimbus1 becomes different from the dull winter spectacle4 ,in summer air becomes heated much more quickly and the warm currents pour up into the cold altitudes where they condense into the marvelous ,mont ,blancs 7or ice-cream cones7 of a summer afternoon4 ,these piled masses of vapor are cumulus clouds1 and if they don't overdo the matter are a sign of fair weather4 ,they should appear as little cottony puffs about ten or eleven in the morning1 increase slowly in size1 rear their dazzling heads and then start to melt about four in the afternoon4 ,but perhaps the upward rush of warm1 moist air has been so great in the morning that the afternoon cooling cannot dispose of it all without spilling4 ,then occurs a little shower1--the ,april sort4 ,often in our mountainous districts it showers every day for this reason4 ,the great thunderstorms come for greater reasons3 they are yoked to a low pressure area and represent the summer's brother to the winter's three-day storm4 ,cumulus clouds are called fair weather clouds until their bellies swell and blacken and they begin to form a combination in restraint of sunlight4 ,even then it will not rain so much out of the blackness as out of the grayness behind it1 and if there is no grayness chances are that you will escape a wetting4 ,one can almost always measure the amount of rain that is imminent by the density of the curtain being let down from the rear of the cloud4 ,if you can see the other clouds through it or the landscape the shower will be slight4 ,if a gray curtain obscures everything behind it you had better pull your canoe out of the water and hide under it if time is less valuable than a dry skin4 ,such showers may be successive but rarely continuous4 ,rain clouds have been observed within #bcj yards of the ground4 ,very often it can be seen to rain from lofty clouds and the fringe of moisture apparently fail to reach the earth1 because the condensation was licked up and totally absorbed on entering a stratum of warmer air4 ,the reverse of this occurs on rare occasions2--condensation takes place so rapidly that a cloud does not have time to form1 and rain comes from an apparently clear sky4 ,this phenomenon has been witnessed oftenest in dry regions and never for very long or in great amounts1 although a half hour of this sort of disembodied storm is on record4 ,if the cumulus clouds of the summer's afternoon do not decrease in size as evening approaches showers may be looked for during the night4 ,and if the morning sky is full of these puffy little clouds the day's evaporation on adding to them will probably cause rain4 ,a trained eye will distinguish between a stale and fresh appearance in cloud formation1 the light1 newly made1 fresh clouds1 like fresh bread1 contain more moisture4 ,if the clouds have much white about them they need not be feared as rain-bearers4 ,clouds are much higher in summer than in winter and the raindrops of warm air are larger than those of cool4 ,if cumulus clouds heap up to leeward1 that is1 to the north1 or northwest on a south or southwest wind a heavy storm is sure to follow4 ,this is notably so as regards the series of showers in connection with the passage of a low-pressure area4 ,the wind will bear heavy showers from the south 7in summer7 for a whole morning and half the afternoon with intervals of brilliant sky and burning sun4 ,or perhaps the south wind will not produce showers1 but all the time along the northwest horizon a bank of cloud grows blacker and approaches the zenith1 flying in the face of the wind or tacking like a squadron against it4 ,about the time that the lightning becomes noticeable and the thunder is heard the wind drops suddenly1 veers into the west1 and the face of things darkens with the onrush of the tempest4 ,although no rain may have fallen while the wind was in the southern quarter yet that constituted the first half of the storm and the onslaught of rain and thunder the second4 ,while the storm area moved from the west to the east the circulation of air about the center was vividly demonstrated by the south wind blowing into the depression1 whose center was epitomized by the moment of calm before the charge of the plumed thunderheads from the northwest4 ,most camping is done either in hilly or mountainous country where the movement of clouds is swifter and more changeable than over flat lands4 ,there is one sign of great reliability3 if the mountains put on their nightcaps the weather is changing for the wetter1 and if clouds rise on the slopes of the hills or up ravines1 or increase their height noticeably over the mountain-tops1 the weather is changing for the dryer4 ,in the mountains where abrupt cliffs toss the winds with all their moisture to heights that cool clouds form and condense rapidly and the weather changes quickly4 ,but even in the mountains the big changes give plenty of warning4 ,often clouds may be noticed moving in two or even three directions on different levels at once4 ,the upper stratum will probably be cirrus from the west4 ,cumulus or stratus may be floating up from the south4 ,a light drift of vapor called scud may fly on the surface easterly wind4 ,such a confused condition of wind circulation betokens an unsettled system of air pressures and as frequent collisions of the air bodies at varying temperatures are inevitable rains1 probably heavy1 will follow4 ,on clear days one will be surprised to see isolated clouds1 usually the torn1 thin sort1 drifting across the sky from the east4 ,a change will follow soon4 ,in winter black1 hard clouds betoken a bleak wind4 ,clear winter days several times a season show a brilliant blue sky filling with great cumulus clouds of dark blue1 blurred at the top and gray at the base4 ,they will sprinkle snow in smart1 short flurries1 and are ushering in a period of clear and much colder weather4 ,a sky full of white clouds and much light is a cheerful sign of continuing fair weather4 ,the softer the sky the milder the weather and the more gentle the wind4 ,it is the dark gloomy blues that bring the wind4 ,but do not mistake the woolly softness of the rolling clouds before a thunderstorm4 ,a sudden and often violent gust follows4 ,tumbling clouds in any event should make one wary of venturing on water4 ,summer drownings would not be so numerous if the portent of the squall were heeded4 ,to this data might be added many singular cloud formations that are not observed often4 ,the funnel shaped cloud of the tornado1 the green shades of the hurricane cloud1 the green sky of cold weather showing out between layers of steel blue1 coppery tints that show before heavy storms sometimes1 variations of color at sunset each of which has a meaning which practice in deciphering will make clear4 ,but enough has been given to show sky-searchers how many are the tips of coming weather that may be read from a conglomeration of fog particles4 ,nobody with eyes should be caught unawares by day4 ,the look of the sunset shadows forth much of the coming night4 ,and throughout all this truth holds3 the greater the coming storm the longer and clearer are the warnings given to the watchful4 ,,the ,,winds ,the wind is the ring-master of the clouds4 ,it whistles and they obey4 ,therefore to be windwise is to be weatherwise1 almost4 ,one can get a hold on the wind by learning to gauge its strength4 ,look at the trees or the smoke from your city chimneys and guess how fast it blows at eight o'clock in the morning1 or eight at night4 ,the weather report the next day will tell you how nearly you were right4 ,beginning is easy2 anybody can guess a calm4 ,when the leaves are just moving lazily the ,weather ,bureau calls it a light or gentle breeze1 moving from #b to #e miles an hour4 ,a fresh breeze1 from #f to #ae miles will stir the twigs at first and finally swing the branches about4 ,from #af to #be miles1 a brisk wind1 will cause white caps on the lakes1 tossing the tops of the trees1 but breaking only small twigs4 ,increasing from #bf to #dj miles it becomes a high wind that breaks branches on trees1 wrecks signs in the towns1 causes high waves at sea and roars like the ocean in heavy squalls through the woods4 ,from #dj to #fj miles an hour makes a gale4 ,sailing craft are now in danger4 ,the pressure at #ej miles an hour is #ac pounds to the square foot1 having risen from three-quarters of an ounce at #c miles4 ,this pressure becomes #dj pounds per foot when the wind reaches a velocity of #ij miles4 ,at #fj trees are uprooted1 chimneys may go1 it is difficult to walk against1 the noise becomes very great but rather inspires than frightens4 ,as the gale increases from #fj to #hj 7which velocity the ,bureau rather weakly calls a storm wind71 danger rapidly increases4 ,trees are prostrated1 the uproar becomes terrifying1 walking without aid is impossible1 the great ocean liners are in danger1 the sea becomes a whitened surface of driving spume that heaps up into piles of water thirty or more feet high1 windows are blown in and frame houses cannot stand much greater velocities4 ,anything from #hj miles an hour up is well called a hurricane4 ,everything goes at #ajj4 ,at ,galveston the machine that registered the wind velocity blew away at #ajj4 ,they have better instruments now1 and in many places velocities of over a hundred miles an hour have been recorded4 ,as high as #ahf miles was registered on the top of ,mt4 ,washington1 and in a single gust #aaj at ,montreal4 ,the great hurricane winds are most felt at a few of the exposed places on our coasts4 ,cape ,mendocino1 on the ,pacific1 has #add miles an hour to its credit in a ,january hurricane4 ,but enough destruction is done at #ij miles4 ,fields are stripped of their crops1 or leveled2 houses are demolished unless they are specially built1 like the ,new ,york sky-scrapers1 to withstand much higher velocities4 ,in the small whirling storms called tornadoes the wind is estimated to reach a velocity of #bjj to #ejj miles1 and nothing but the cyclone cellar will shelter one from the fury of the elements when they are really unleashed4 ,the higher one goes the greater the velocity of the wind4 ,on the top of ,mt4 ,washington #ajj miles is rather common for hours at a time and #aej is recorded now and then4 ,that is only #fjjj feet above ,boston4 ,if such a force struck ,boston for a minute it would be blown en masse into the ,bay4 ,velocities on land are less than those at sea1 because of the resulting friction from obstacles4 ,velocities in summer are lower 7thunder gusts excepted7 than in winter4 ,since the wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure1 and that in turn by disparities in temperature1 winter holds the palm for greater velocities because the wide whirl of a cyclone over the great plains may cause to mix air from ,texas with a temperature of #fj degrees with air from ,montana of #cj degrees below zero1 while the summer temperatures in both states might easily be #hj degrees4 ,throughout most of our land certain winds have always the same bearing upon the weather and this correspondence is roughly the same over most of the country4 ,west winds1 for instance1 are an almost universal guarantee of clear weather4 ,the ,pacific ,coast and western ,florida are the exceptions4 ,northwest winds bring clear skies and cool weather everywhere4 ,in winter in the north plateau section heavy snows arrive in advance of the severe cold waves that come on these northwest gales4 ,north winds are the cold bearing ones4 ,clear skies prevail under their influence4 ,northeast winds are cold1 raw snow-bearing winds in winter and spring and bring chilly rains in midsummer4 ,east winds are the surest rainbringers of all for the eastern two-thirds of the country1 and are soon followed by rain with a shift of wind over the other third4 ,their temperatures are more moderate than those of the northeast storms4 ,the greatest falls of rain occur1 however1 with the southeast winds1 whose moisture content is greater than that of the others because they are warmer and blow off water except in ,rocky ,mountain districts4 ,south winds are warm and contain much moisture1 which falls in showers rather than in continuous rains4 ,the southwest winds of winter precede a thaw and are much damper than west winds4 ,in summer over much of our country they are hot1 parching winds that injure vegetation4 ,the average velocity of the wind from these different quarters is variable in different parts of the country1 the severest being on the southeast and northwest quadrants4 ,the highest winds are always where the steepest gradients are2 that is1 where the barometric pressure decreases or increases the fastest4 ,the steepest gradients are usually on the northeast and northwest sides of the storm center1 with the exception of the ,atlantic ,coast where the southeast winds are often highest4 ,the average for the northeast quadrant is #af miles1 for ,s4 ,e4 #cj1 for ,s4 ,w4 #bj1 and for the ,n4 ,w4 #cj miles an hour4 ,but averages can deceive4 ,as a matter of fact single instances of great wind velocities occur from each point of the compass4 ,the greatest velocity ever recorded at ,philadelphia occurred in ,october1 #ahgh1 when the wind blew seventy-five miles an hour from the southeast4 ,but the record velocities for eight of the other months were registered in the northwest quadrant4 ,illustration3 ,,alto-,,stratus ,courtesy of ,richard ,f4 ,warren ,not so high as cirro-stratus1 and yet partaking of the same skeiny texture4 ,this would be a normal sky in winter about six hours after the veil of cirrus had begun to throw its haze about the sun4 ,no other cloud formations appear1 however1 and so the area of precipitation is still pretty far away4 ,in summer such a sky is less common4 ,if the disturbance is to amount to anything the cirro-cumulus will soon form4 ,if the wind is from a westerly quarter the blanket of cloud is doubtless a drift from some distant storm1 which will not affect this locality4 ,the wind is always blowing toward a storm and away from clear weather4 ,the period of time when the barometer is beginning to rise after having been very low is that when the strongest winds blow4 ,some sections of our country have special kinds of wind that are peculiarly their own1 notably ,colorado1 ,wyoming1 and ,montana where the chinook reigns4 ,this phenomenon belongs only to the cold season and only to the coldest days of it4 ,it is a warm wind that begins to blow without much warning from the southern quarter4 ,it is caused by a body of cold air suddenly falling from a great height4 ,as it falls its descent heats it and it causes a rise in the temperature of the surrounding locality that greatly exceeds any rise from other causes4 ,the increase in temperature will be as much as forty degrees in fifteen minutes4 ,this sudden dry heat is a great snow-eater4 ,if it were not for the chinook the snow-blanket would stay so much longer on the cattle ranges that they would be useless as such4 ,in northeastern sections of our country and ,canada the warm winds blowing in from the ocean at the approach of a cyclone do away with the snow rapidly but with nothing like the speed of the chinook4 ,another phenomenon of the air that is of tremendous benefit to man is the sea-breeze4 ,during the intense heat of a hot wave the wind may shift to the east in ,boston and in fifteen minutes coats are comfortable4 ,such a shift may bring relief to a strip of land two hundred miles wide along our entire eastern seaboard4 ,the sea-breeze is explained by the fact that the land cools more quickly than the sea and also warms more easily4 ,during the whole forenoon of a summer's day the sun has been pouring upon land and sea1 but the land-air has become much hotter than the air over the sea4 ,it rises and the sea-air rushes landward4 ,by midnight the land has cooled off even more than the sea and the heavier air now presses out to sea again4 ,on every normal day this balancing process takes place4 ,if it doesn't conditions are abnormal and chances are that mischief is brewing4 ,this ebb and flow of warmer and cooler air is1 on a small scale1 exactly what is happening on a vastly larger field of operations between cyclone and anticyclone4 ,and it is the dominance of the anticyclone with its prolonged rush of air from the northwest that interrupts the sea breeze for two or three days in winter1 as the cyclone prevents the night land breeze from taking place when it is central off the eastern coast4 ,the exchange of air between mountain side and valley is similar to the land-and-sea breeze4 ,the rarer air on the mountain side heats faster by day and cools faster by night than the denser air in the valley4 ,therefore during the day it rises and the valley air rushes up to take its place2 during the night it cools and sinks into the valley4 ,this is a great help when one is shut up in a secluded valley for several days and cannot get a good view of the skies4 ,the atmosphere is acting properly and will remain settled so long as the air blows up your ravine for most of the day1 and turns about sundown and blows out and down the ravine like a flood of refreshing water4 ,of course many valleys are so large as to be affected1 not by these local causes1 but by the larger movements of the anticyclones when the sure-clear west wind may blow up the valley for three days at a time4 ,but1 nevertheless1 for most mountainous places the logic holds and you may expect rain if the wind does not blow coolly down the ravine at night4 ,of course watch your clouds for confirmation4 ,in times of calm prepare for storm4 ,an eminent meteorologist has frowned upon me for saying that4 ,it is not the whole truth1 ,i admit1 but there is a certain kind of calm which happens often enough to justify the remark4 ,it happens this way4 ,a severe storm has passed4 ,the customary anticyclone with its brisk northwest winds has arrived and is blowing with all the vigor necessary to induce one to believe that the clear weather is to continue for the usual length of time2 that is1 three or four days4 ,but suddenly in the early afternoon1 just when it should be blowing its hardest1 the wind drops1 lulls1 shows a tendency to change its direction4 ,there is only one explanation4 ,another cyclone has developed off in the west4 ,it has knocked the anticyclone on the flank1 taken the teeth out of the gale4 ,the wind shows this before clouds can4 ,the absence of wind when there ought to be a lot shows it before even the first cirrus swims overhead4 ,the chance is that when the flow of anticyclonic air has been thus rudely cut off and stillness follows1 it will be storming by morning4 ,it is best to keep an eye on these abnormal1 precipitous calms4 ,in times of peace prepare for rain4 ,but the eminent meteorologist was eminently right when he said that the statement was misleading unless explained4 ,for there are many kinds of calms that do not portend coming storms4 ,nearly every day1 winter and summer1 but particularly in summer1 the wind drops to a calm at sunset4 ,that is a time of adjustment4 ,after sunset when the accounts are all in the wind springs up with as much force as it had in the afternoon and continues until dawn4 ,at sunrise1 however1 there is another truce4 ,if this truce is neglected either at sunrise or at sunset it is a sign that either a cyclone on an anticyclone is very much in the ascendency4 ,these truces are most often observed at the seashore when you are out sailing and the smell of supper fills your nostrils but is not sufficient to fill your sails4 ,these calms are normal and the best sign of a fair day on the morrow1 provided the other signs agree4 ,during the great transition period from summer to winter comes that autumnal truce1 ,indian ,summer1 which is the chief claim to fame of ,american weather4 ,for day after day a brooding haze sleeps in the air1 sometimes for weeks there is no wind of any strength4 ,winter advances insidiously in the fall but retreats in commotion1 and the cooling off process permits of these still days while they are uncommon in the spring4 ,the wind checks off more mileage in ,march than in any other month4 ,while the regular day's end calm and the calm of the year's exhaustion mean continued fair weather1 there is one calm that everybody knows1 which is the most dramatic moment in the whole repertory of the weather3 the foreboding1 ten-count wait before the knockout blow of the thunderstorm4 ,but when that calm comes every one is already sitting tight so that it is not much account as a warning4 ,they say that the intense stillness before the hurricane strikes is uncanny4 ,whether inshore or afloat the wind is to be watched if you would know what weather is to be4 ,it is only another of ,nature's paradoxes that the most unstable element should be the most reliable guide of all on the uncertain trail of the next day's weather4 ,,temperatures ,considering that the temperature of the sun is #ad1jgb degrees ,fahrenheit and the temperature of space is absolute zero1 #dei degrees below ours1 we do very well on earth to be as comfortable as we are4 ,and we owe it all to the atmosphere which keeps the sun from concentrating upon us4 ,our place in the sun is so very small that we intercept only one-half of one billionth of the heat which it is giving off night and day4 ,but that is sufficient to do a lot of damage if it could get at us4 ,but even the paltry range of temperatures so far recorded on our planet1--from #acd degrees above zero one day in ,california1 to #ij degrees below zero one night in ,siberia1--is by no means a fair statement of the extremes we are called upon to bear4 ,only twice a decade in our country does the mercury vary as much as sixty degrees in twenty-four hours1 and there are vast areas where the daily change amounts to only a few degrees4 ,the changes that do come so suddenly to us1 particularly in winter and that are known as cold waves1 are in reality beneficial4 ,to them we ,americans may owe our energy1 our vivacity1 our changeability of mood4 ,the refrigerated1 revivified air sweeping down from the north is tonic4 ,it is heavy1 and issuing from antiseptic altitudes1 drives the humid1 germ-nursing air from our city streets4 ,if we had arranged a process of refreshment like this at vast expense we should have been intensely proud of it4 ,as it is we are intensely annoyed at it and occasionally a few people are frozen to death4 ,the ,weather ,bureau warnings and the coal clubs are reducing the loss in property and lives4 ,if you are sleeping out it is of great importance to know when the mercury is going to take one of these swoops1 for sleeping cold means little real rest because one's muscles are tense1 and the next day's packing needs all the relaxation one can get4 ,two generalizations govern pretty much every change of temperature3 the mercury will rise before a storm and it will fall after one1 winter and summer1 but much more conspicuously in winter4 ,there are two reasons for this4 ,our cyclones usually cross our country over such a northern track that over most of the country the air drawn into them comes from the southern quarters and is therefore warmer than the air previously flowing from the anticyclone4 ,also the process of precipitation causes heat4 ,this is true to such an extent on the coast of ,ireland where it rains most of the time that a scientist has computed that the inhabitants get from one-third to one-half as much heat from the rainfall as they do directly from the sun4 ,thus a normal storm is doubly sure to warm up the environment4 ,in summer the reverse is partially true1 for very often the rain does not begin until the actual center of depression has passed and the west winds have begun to exercise their cooling influence4 ,so that in summer we have a sultry1 sunny day as the first half of the storm area and then a cooling shower4 ,also after two or three days of warm weather in spring and autumn we have a rainstorm of the winter type which lowers the temperature instead of raising it4 ,this is because the heat produced by the storm is less than that of the sun's rays intercepted by the clouds4 ,the clear skies of the preceding anticyclone had permitted the land to warm up very fast under the midsummer sun1 and the clouds of the cyclone1 by cutting off the supply1 had made a relative chill4 ,in winter the sunrays are so much feebler because of their slant and radiation proceeds so rapidly under the dry air of the anticyclone that a much greater degree of cold is produced than when the cyclonic clouds prevent the radiation4 ,therefore the rainy area is the warmest of all4 ,even in summer the winds from the southeast1 south1 and southwest are warmer than those from the opposite quarters1 not only because they blow from a quarter naturally warmer on account of the sun1 but because they are surface winds and have absorbed some of the heat from the soil4 ,being denser1 they absorb it more readily and hold it longer4 ,the change1 then1 from the period of fair weather to that of storm brings an increase of temperature4 ,but the rate of increase varies4 ,the faster the storm is approaching the faster the temperature will rise2 and the route of the storm's center makes all the difference as to the amount of the rise4 ,if the wind shifts by way of the north and holds in the northeast until precipitation begins the rise in temperature will be very slight4 ,the great snowstorms of the northern half of the country occur under just such a circumstance4 ,if the wind shifts by way of the north but gets around to the east or even southeast before the precipitation starts the rise in temperature will be more pronounced1 as much as thirty degrees sometimes in a few hours1 and the winter storm that started in as snow soon changes to sleet and rain4 ,if the wind shifts by way of the south and then into the southeast the rise will be vigorous and the storm will likely be a comparatively warm rain4 ,if the wind shifts only so far as the south the rise will be highest of all and blue sky will often appear between the showers1 showing that the air is heated to a considerable height4 ,the progress of the temperature changes from the maximum of the cyclonic area to the minimum of the anticyclone is also dependent upon the wind4 ,if the storm center is passing south and the wind begins to pull into the northeast and north the temperature will fall steadily and slowly4 ,the rain or snow often cease gradually by the time the wind has reached the north1 but the temperature continues to fall slowly until it reaches very low levels in mid-winter4 ,if the storm center is passing north of you the wind which has brought most of the rain while it was in the southeast with comparatively high temperatures swings into the southwest1 the temperature falls somewhat4 ,there is usually a final downpour and a rapid shift of the wind into the west or northwest1 but almost never directly into the north4 ,the temperature falls several degrees in a few minutes1 quite unlike the gradual decline of the northeast-by-north shift1 and clear skies come at once with rapidly diminishing temperatures4 ,in the vicinity of ,philadelphia a fall of twenty-five degrees would be most unusual on the northeast shift1--such storms reaching #ch degrees and falling to #ae1 while with the other shift a fall from #ee degrees to #ae would not be unusual4 ,of course any one set of figures given could only show the tendency and not the rule or limits4 ,after the manner of the wind-shift the intensity of the storm is a good gauge of the temperature change to be expected by the camper4 ,as a rule the greater the intensity of the storm the greater will be the degree of cold that follows it4 ,the storms that have a complete wind circulation about them are always more severe than those with incomplete circulation and are invariably followed up by some reduction in temperature4 ,if the decrease is not proportionately great and the subsequent wind has only a moderate clearing quality look out for another cyclone4 ,in such a case the temperature is the best witness of the contemplated change4 ,for instance1 after a summer thunderstorm a decided coolness is de rigeur4 ,if this does not occur it means nearly every time that there is another thunderstorm in process of construction4 ,there may be not a cloud in the sky1 there may be no wind 7although there should be7 so that the course of the thermometer is the only means of telling what is to be the next event4 ,anybody can take a thermometer with him although a barometer--the most accurate forecaster of all--may be thought too much expense and bother4 ,at some future date the ,weather ,bureau will be able to predict the temperature of seasons in advance4 ,this1 together with the amount of rain scheduled to fall1 will be an invaluable aid to everybody and to the farmers most of all4 ,at present mild seasons that have severe storms without the appropriate degree of cold after them cannot be entirely explained1 let alone being prediscovered4 ,they all hinge upon the more or less permanent areas of high and low air pressure over the oceans and international meteorological service has not progressed far enough to support many ocean stations as yet4 ,sometimes clear weather may intensify1 growing brighter1 stiller1 colder4 ,this is because the pressure is increasing4 ,cold seasons are distinguished usually by a succession of anticyclones4 ,there is no way of telling how long a certain spell of cold weather is to last1 but ,i have noticed that the same characteristics rarely predominate for longer than a month at a time4 ,in other words1 if ,december has been warm and rainy1 ,january will likely be cold and dry4 ,of course1 that is precisely the unscientific sort of generalization which the ,bureau very rightly frowns upon1 but which one may nurse privately until science has provided a substitute as she already has in so many instances4 ,with a little practice it is an easy matter to estimate the temperature to within a very few degrees4 ,try guessing for a few mornings and then look at the thermometer4 ,you will hit within three degrees every time after a week of this4 ,allowance must be made for the amount of moisture in the air and for the force of the wind4 ,damp air feels colder by several degrees than crisp1 dry air1 and a breeze increases the difference still more4 ,air in motion is not necessarily colder than calm air4 ,as a matter of fact the lowest temperatures of all are recorded about sunrise after a still1 clear night4 ,the amount of radiation accomplished during the last hours of the night is amazing1 and the downward impetus of the thermometer is often carried on for an hour or more after the sun has appeared above the horizon4 ,a self-recording thermometer is an amusing toy which will show this and becomes a valuable instrument if one raises fruit4 ,in winter three o'clock of an afternoon sees the highest temperature usually1 and in summer this maximum occurs as late as half-past five1 due to the fact that the sun can pour in its heat faster than the earth can radiate it off4 ,for the half hour before and after sunset1 particularly in winter1 the loss of heat is relatively greatest2 then the pace slackens till three or four in the morning1 when the plunge of the mercury is accelerated until the rays of the rising sun counteract the radiation4 ,if the mercury does not rise appreciably on a clear winter's day it is a sign that a cold wave is stealing in1 due1 doubtless1 to a gradual increase in pressure without its customary bluster4 ,very often snow flurries predict its approach1 but this may be so gradual that only the restriction of the daily thermal rise may indicate it4 ,by the next morning the temperature will likely be twenty degrees colder4 ,if the mercury does not fall on a clear winter's night it is a sign that a layer of moist air not far above the surface of the earth is checking the normal night radiation4 ,unsettled weather is almost sure to follow unless this wet blanket is itself dissipated and the mercury takes its customary tumble before morning4 ,if the temperature falls while the sky is still covered with clouds clearing1 possibly after a little precipitation1 will soon follow4 ,hot waves approach insidiously4 ,a night will not cool off as it properly should1 the sun will rise coppery1 and while the day is yet young everybody begins to realize that all is not exactly right4 ,but the heat increases usually for several days1 not only by reason of steadily lowering pressure1 but also by accumulation4 ,finally when a climax is reached it departs abruptly on the toe of a thunderstorm4 ,a cold wave reverses the process4 ,it arrives abruptly on the heels of a departing cyclone and1 after losing power1 steals away without any commotion whatever4 ,its rate of progress is in close relation to the cyclone ahead of it4 ,our mountains play a great part in our weather4 ,they are a right arm of ,providence to our agricultural communities4 ,due to their north and south trend a cold wave of any severity reaches the ,pacific ,coast only once a generation4 ,just once has snow been observed to fall at ,san ,diego and it is so rare south of ,san ,francisco that many people never have seen a flake4 ,east of the mountains the belt of desert makes natural crops impossible for a thousand miles1 but if they crossed the continent all the territory north of them would have such a cold climate that none of the present enormous crops of ,canada and our northern states could possibly be grown4 ,it is also due to the wide insweep of winds from the ,gulf that the plains states are so well watered4 ,illustration3 ,,cumulus ,courtesy of ,richard ,f4 ,warren ,the tops of cumulus are irregular1 looking like wool-packs2 the bases are flat4 ,the true cumulus shows a sharp outline all the way round4 ,its shape is in constant change due to the strong winds it is encountering4 ,it is caused by the swift uprush of warm air on a sunny day4 ,this cloud is a sign of fair weather1 because the base is not large1 compact1 or dark enough to threaten rain and its comrades are also disjointed4 ,if the cumulus grow darker toward the horizon and increase toward evening a squall is likely4 ,in lesser fashion the ,appalachians protect the ,atlantic seaboard4 ,they withstand the impact of the cold waves to a great extent1 although they are not high enough to divert the flow of cold air entirely toward the south and it is not desirable that they should4 ,as things are the cold strikes ,alabama before it hits ,new ,jersey1 and is often more severe there4 ,comparative cold is often registered by the green color of the sky4 ,a fiery red continues the prevailing heat4 ,the day that is ushered in by a fog1 in summer1 will likely be warm1 providing the fog lifts by ten o'clock4 ,the temperature of a night with even a thin covering of clouds will be a good deal higher than if the sky is clear4 ,in the ,british ,isles the whole difference between freezing and no freezing lies with the fairness of the heavens4 ,everywhere frost will not form while the sky is covered1 although the temperature may be below the freezing point4 ,in summer radiation on a still clear night may be so rapid that frost may follow a temperature of fifty degrees at nightfall4 ,the temperature at the surface of the earth may easily deceive1 as a colder or warmer stratum of air may overlie that immediately next to the ground4 ,i have seen water particles fall when the temperature was as low as #af degrees above zero1 showing that the stratum of cold air was very thin4 ,our sleet storms in which immense damage is done to trees and telegraph wires occurs from just such a situation1--a cold1 shallow layer of air close to the earth1 with the warm moisture-bearing air flowing over it4 ,the reverse of this situation is not uncommon--the sight of a snowstorm proceeding merrily along with the ground temperature at #ce or even #dj degrees4 ,coming warmth may be noticed by the increase in size of snow flakes1 with finally hail and rain4 ,coming cold is foreshadowed by hail mixed with the rain and lastly snow flakes which have a tendency to decrease in size4 ,colors of the clouds predict temperature changes1 but it takes much practice to distinguish the cold1 hard grays from the soft1 warm ones4 ,a warm sky is always less uniform in color than a cold one4 ,the colors of winter sunsets are1 as a rule1 much brighter than those of summer skies4 ,the stars seem brighter on a night that is to be cold4 ,if they twinkle it is because of rushing air currents1 and if the wind is from the northwest the result may be a subsequent lowering of temperatures4 ,the whole question of whether it will be colder and how much is vital to the camper and if the signs of change are taken along with the look of the clouds and the direction of the wind he need never be wrong as to the direction the mercury is going1 and will soon be able to guess the distance pretty fairly4 ,,rain ,,and ,,snow ,east of the ,mississippi ,river rain falls with the utmost impartiality upon every locality4 ,thirty to fifty inches are delivered at intervals of three or four days throughout the year4 ,and if there is a slight irregularity in delivery one can be sure that from #abe to #aej of the #cfe days will be rainy4 ,occasionally there is a more or less serious hold up of supplies1 but this rarely happens in the spring of the year and never happens to all sections at once4 ,and if there is a desire to make amends for the drought1 we have what we call a flood and blame it on the weather instead of on our precipitous denudation of the watersheds4 ,west of the ,mississippi particular people have to go to particular places for their rain4 ,if they like a lot of it they must go to the coast districts of ,washington or ,oregon where they can have it almost every day4 ,it rains a good deal at ,eastport1 ,maine1--about #de inches a year2 that is1 nearly an inch a week1--but at ,neal ,bay1 ,washington1 at about the same latitude1 in one year it rained #adj inches1 and it never stops short of #ajj inches any year4 ,on the other hand1 if the ,washington people are tired of it they need only escape to ,arizona where it rains about two inches a year1 and they can live in an enterprising hotel down there whose manager believes that it pays to advertise the sun4 ,he guarantees to provide free board on every day that the sun doesn't shine4 ,in the plateau section enough snow falls every year to store up enough water for irrigation purposes1 and the little rain that falls arrives in just the right season to do the most good1 the spring4 ,in ,california what the farmers lose in amount they make up in the regularity of its arrival4 ,north of the ,ohio ,river most of the precipitation from ,november to ,april is snow4 ,about #ej inches of it falls on the average over this tremendous territory4 ,and it is more useful than rain1--the handy blanket that makes lumber-hauling easy1 that keeps the ground from freezing to ,arctic depths1 that fertilizes the soil1 and that acts as a great reservoir1 holding over the meat and drink of the vegetable kingdom till the thirsty time arrives4 ,in upper ,michigan and ,maine the average depth becomes #ajj inches4 ,averages are very misleading when snowfall is being considered1 some winters producing very scanty amounts and others heaping it on to the depth of #ahe inches once at ,north ,volney1 ,new ,york4 ,south of the ,ohio the depth varies from substantial amounts in some winters to almost nothing in others4 ,snow has been observed1 however1 in every part of our country except the extreme southern tip of ,florida4 ,once and only once on the records a great three-day snowstorm visited all of southern ,california1 extending to the ,mexican border and to the coast4 ,the strip of country between the parallels of ,new ,york ,city and ,richmond comprises the section wherein each winter storm is one large guess as to whether the precipitation is to be snow or rain4 ,a compromise is usually affected in this way4 ,before the clouding up began the mercury may have stood at ten degrees below zero4 ,as soon as the wind acquired an easterly slant the temperature increased4 ,as it neared the freezing point the snow would begin1 first in flakes of medium size which would enlarge until after a particularly heavy fall of a few minutes they would at once almost cease4 ,hail soon would succeed1 the mercury still rising1 and often the hail would have turned to rain before the freezing point of the air of the immediate surface of the earth had been reached1 turning the snow already on the ground to slush and making a holiday for germs4 ,one can always tell when this change to warmer is about to occur because the clouds which have been part and parcel with the obscuring snow suddenly show1 not lighter but darker4 ,the sudden increase in size of the flakes is another infallible symptom of increasing warmth in the atmosphere for each large flake is a compound of many smaller ones4 ,when the temperature is low the flakes are very small1 being grains and spicules in the severe blizzards of the west and falling as snow-dust in the ,arctic4 ,in the heavy storms of the guessing-belt the flakes are not necessarily small4 ,i have noticed 7in the latitude of ,philadelphia7 that our largest storms begin very leisurely indeed with small and regular-sized flakes4 ,a quarter of an inch may not fall in the first hour4 ,as the center nears the snow comes ever faster and larger1 but not large1 flakes are mixed with the original-sized flakes4 ,snow dust is apparent4 ,at the height of the storm flakes of all sizes except the very large are falling1 denoting great activity in the strata of air within the storm influence4 ,in the ordinary storm an accumulation at the rate of an inch an hour denotes a storm of considerable intensity4 ,the snow will likely keep on falling as long as the flakes are irregular in size4 ,if they grow large and few or very small a cessation is likely1 even though the wind is still blowing from an easterly quarter4 ,the amount of snow likely to fall can be gauged not only by the process of flake-change but by the rate at which the wind rises4 ,a storm's intensity is measured by the amount of wind4 ,a storm can be a storm without a drop of rain or flake of snow if only there be enough wind4 ,and as long as the wind in a snowstorm keeps rising the storm is likely to go on1 probably increasing in volume of precipitation4 ,if the wind shows a tendency to edge around to the southeast there is danger of the snow turning to rain2 if the wind veers slowly to the northeast the temperature will fall slowly and the rate of precipitation will likely increase for a while4 ,in such instances the snow does not continue to fall after the wind has swung west of north4 ,often clearing takes place with the wind still in the north or even a point east of north4 ,contrary to superstition snow may begin to fall at any hour of the day or night4 ,but certain hours seem more propitious than others1 owing no doubt to the tendency of cooling air to condense4 ,three o'clock of an afternoon and eight o'clock in the morning are favorite times1 the one being the hour of a winter afternoon when cooling is begun1 the other the hour when the coldest time is reached and condensation likely if at all4 ,of course1 one remembers storms beginning at nine1 ten1 eleven1 and every other hour4 ,storms that begin in the morning seldom reach much activity before three o'clock in the afternoon1 while those that begin then quickly increase in intensity as evening draws near and the sun's warmth is withdrawn from the upper air-strata4 ,more snow falls at night than in the daytime1 also4 ,snow is more delicate than rain and perhaps more responsive than rain to the subtle changes of the atmosphere4 ,possibly there is no ground on the ,bureau records for these ideas1 possibly storms have a tendency to start from the ,gulf on their northeastward journey and so reach ,philadelphia oftener at one time than another4 ,i would like my notions confirmed that snowstorms increase at nightfall1 and that they prefer to start operations at sunrise and about sunset4 ,for the camper the snowstorm need have no terrors4 ,it gives a long warning of its approach4 ,it comes mostly without destructive winds4 ,its upholstery protects and warms the walls of one's tent4 ,it adds beauty to the leafless woods1 interest to the trailer1 and a hundred amusements among the hills4 ,but the value of snowy weather is not only measured by its beauties and commercial uses4 ,there is another way3 make it read character for you4 ,watch the reactions toward the first snowfall of half a dozen kinds of people4 ,it will show you what they are2 give you a very fair measure of their youth4 ,our atmosphere contains a lot of moisture that never gets precipitated4 ,you can prove this on any warm day by noticing the way the atmosphere acts toward a glass of ice-water4 ,when the air of the room is much warmer than the surface of the glass it surrenders its moisture willy nilly4 ,sometimes this condensation is enough to cause a miniature rainstorm that trickles down the outside of the tumbler4 ,if a small cold surface can wring so much water out of a little air it is small wonder that we get an inch or so of rain from vast currents of air at unequal temperatures4 ,try to visualize the process4 ,a stream of vapor has been warmed and is ascending4 ,a mile up and it has cooled not only by the reason of altitude but also by the process itself4 ,about each little dust-particle in the surrounding area vapor forms--vapor cannot form without something to form on1 there being always enough dust from deserts and volcanoes to go round4 ,if the cooling proceeds the tiny globules enlarge and as they increase in weight they settle and fall4 ,falling1 they unite with others4 ,if the air-strata are very warm and thick the drops may grow to a very considerable size4 ,we see these in the middle of our great winter rains when the insweep of southern winds with all their warmth and moisture is very extensive4 ,also the first few drops that come from the thick1 hot lips of the thundercloud are usually immense4 ,the best way to measure the size of a raindrop is to have it fall in a box of dry sand4 ,it rolls up the sand and measurements can be easily and accurately made4 ,but the most interesting way is to let the first drops of the thunderstorm fall upon a sheet of blotting paper4 ,if the same sort of blotting paper is used the measurements will be of just as much importance for comparison4 ,circles as big as teacups are formed sometimes4 ,heavy drops in winter mean a heavy fall1 because they denote high temperatures which are uncommon and are bound to be followed by considerable condensation as the cooling proceeds back to normal temperatures4 ,small drops in summer mean either cooler weather1 or sudden condensation4 ,small drops in winter are a sign of very thin moisture-bearing strata1 or low temperatures1 indicating that the rain will be light1 protracted1 and liable to change to snow4 ,hail is frozen rain4 ,winter hail is small and harmless and rarely falls to any depth because the exact temperatures that bring forth the hail rarely continue for very long at a time4 ,hail in winter is merely the stepping stone to either rain or snow4 ,but in summer hail is a serious matter4 ,it shows that there is a violent disturbance of the atmosphere in progress4 ,vertical air currents1 probably abetted by electricity1--the authorities are not sure--often carry the stones up several times4 ,they take on layer after layer1 coalesce1 and sometimes fall the size of eggs1 apples1 or any other fruit1 barring melons4 ,the usual summer hail does not exceed the size of a robin's egg4 ,even a projectile of that size1 however1 falling for a half mile or more has a tremendous destructive power4 ,greenhouses suffer1 birds are killed1 cattle stunned1 and loss of life has been known to follow4 ,in ,august in #ahea in ,new ,hampshire hailstones fell to the weight of #ah ounces1 diameter #d inches1 circumference #ab inches4 ,in ,pittsburgh stones weighing a full pound have crashed down1 and in ,europe where many destructive storms have occurred there are official records of even greater phenomena4 ,the lightning accompanying these hailstones is usually very severe4 ,a flake or ball of snow forms the nucleus of a hailstone4 ,if a thundercloud looks particularly black or if it can be seen in commotion think of hail and seek shelter4 ,it is pretty difficult to predict exactly when hail is going to fall in summer4 ,it is a possibility with every large storm1 but a probability with only a very few during the summer4 ,it accompanies tornadoes4 ,in winter hail falls before a rainstorm1 even when the ground temperature precludes the possibility of snow2 some lingering stratum of cold air has ensnared the drops on their way down4 ,snow is not frozen rain4 ,it has an origin of its own4 ,it is born in a temperature consistently below freezing and on the condensation of the invisible moisture becomes visible as a tiny crystal4 ,these infinitesimal crystals unite and form larger1 hexagonal shapes1 elongated or starry4 ,they are wafted along1 sinking1 all slightly differing one from another1 although forming a few types4 ,these types have been photographed and catalogued and very often the altitude from which the snow is coming may be learned from their shape and design4 ,but this branch of science is young yet and confusing and the outdoor man has surer signs of the vicissitudes of the storm1 in the general size of the flakes1 the power and direction of the wind1 the clouds and temperature4 ,the possibilities of flake-study as a means of forecasting are many and of value as is anything that tends to unveil the secrets of the greater heights4 ,snowflakes are so light that after the storm processes are over and the sun has come out the residue may still float lazily to the ground4 ,the wild disorder of the snow flurry will only last a few minutes and never leave much snow on the ground4 ,snowstorms that come on the wings of the west wind may be severe1 but they will be short4 ,they are unusual in the east1 but sometimes the heaviest snows of the western states come on the sudden cooling that follows the shift to west4 ,snowstorms arriving on a high wind last only a few hours4 ,snowstorms that are long in gathering and increase to considerable intensity continue a long while4 ,those that follow a sudden clouding up are of no importance4 ,the snowstorms that leave on a high wind from the west or northwest are followed by a cold wave4 ,those that continue after the storm wind has died away are succeeded by calm1 clear1 and usually warmer weather4 ,in northern districts a snowstorm may be looked for after a period of cold weather4 ,in middle districts if the cold has been severe the reaction to warmer may bring rain instead4 ,in such cases generalities are of no use1 and the possibilities must be determined by the man on the spot4 ,the best conditions for snow through the middle districts are occasioned by an area of low-pressure with its attendant precipitation crossing the southern half of the country while the northern half is under the influence of an area of high-pressure with its attendant frigidity4 ,the cold air flows into the southern storm with the result that the middle districts get the northern quadrants of the storm which are the usual snow-bearing ones instead of the southern rain-bearing quadrants that they would have got if the center of the storm had pursued its usual course up the ,ohio and down the ,st4 ,lawrence4 ,if the storm has two centers1 one over ,texas and the other over ,montana1 as is so frequently the case in winter1 the subsequent high pressure will come too late to affect the temperature of the zone of precipitation and the latter will likely be rain in the middle districts4 ,sometimes the cyclones cross the country on the ,canadian border and enough warm air is sucked over the line to give the inhabitants of ,montreal a thaw and rain4 ,this happens to them only once or twice a winter4 ,and even more rarely a cyclone over the ,gulf with an anticyclone above it will give the ,gulf ,states a taste of winter1 but rarely more than a few flakes4 ,it really all depends on the influx of air1 its rate and direction4 ,it rains in ,alaska and snows in ,georgia on the same day merely because at one place the air is coming off the ,pacific1 and at the other it is flowing from the center of a refrigerated continent4 ,and the progress of these storms is one of ,nature's greatest poems if you take a minute to think of them sweeping on in majesty1 the one thing that man cannot control4 ,even the snow which is the citizens' curse as well as the farmers' blessing becomes epic when it beleaguers an empire for half a year4 ,,dew ,,and ,,frost ,the very process that made the tumbler of ice-water sweat on the hot day causes dew4 ,and the formation of frost is analogous to that of snow4 ,frost is not frozen dew1 but the formation of moisture crystals at the temperature of #cb deg4 or below4 ,frost or dew form only on still1 cloudless nights4 ,even if no clouds are visible1 neither will form if a stratum of humid air has prevented radiation4 ,hence either dew or frost is a fairly good sign of clear weather4 ,three white frosts on successive mornings are followed by a rain4 ,this saying holds water not because there is any virtue in frost to cause rain1 but because a storm is normally due once a week4 ,the frosts did not form when the anticyclonic winds were blowing and usually not more than three mornings elapse between the time that the anticyclone has lost its influence and the time for the next cyclone to appear4 ,frost indicates a considerable amount of moisture in the atmosphere1 also1 which tends to increase as the cyclone approaches4 ,the heaviest dews come in late summer and the heaviest frosts in mid-autumn because the change in temperature is greatest then and there is a greater chance that there will be a calm at sunrise4 ,the greatest frost damage occurs in the spring because the tenderer crops are growing then4 ,summer frosts used to occur in the northern parts of ,minnesota and along the southern boundaries of the inland ,canadian provinces before the forests were cleared off4 ,the march of civilization has actually pushed back the frost line some distance4 ,frost may occur when the amount of humidity in the air is low and the barometer rising at any temperature under #ej degrees at nightfall1 the clear skies permitting radiation enough under those circumstances to produce the necessary cooling4 ,an evening temperature of #dj degrees with the clear skies and faint west breeze will almost surely produce a frost1 provided the wind drops4 ,in such circumstances the only hope for the farmer is that there is enough humidity in the air to cause a fog before the frost-point is reached4 ,a temperature touching #cd degrees would not bring frost1 however1 if the sky was at all overcast4 ,frost is difficult to predict because a night shift in the wind1 cloudiness that forms after midnight1 or even a wind arising before the coolest period at dawn will prevent its formation4 ,on the other hand1 clouds may disperse1 the wind may fall or radiation may be so rapid before sunrise as to cause a killing frost unawares4 ,the farmer who lives in areas disputed by winter and spring may never be quite sure1 but precautions should be taken on the still1 clear1 dry nights with the thermometer at fifty or below4 ,fruit-growers resort to fires or to coverings to protect their crops4 ,the fires are particularly worth while1 not so much for their heat which at best cannot be expected to warm up the great outdoors much1 but for the smoke which prevents radiation4 ,a line of smudges such as campers use to ward off the mosquito would spread a pall of smoke over an orchard efficaciously4 ,a snowstorm1 the soft fluffy sort that falls in ,april or ,may1 can do much less damage to vegetation than a severe frost4 ,temperatures are much lower on the ground than even six feet above the grass4 ,naturally these temperatures are those that really influence most vegetation and in ,england temperatures on the grass are given in the weather report with the ordinary observations1 being as much as six or eight degrees lower on clear nights4 ,in some of the hot1 dry countries1 such as ,arabia and ,egypt1 most of the moisture that they receive falls in the form of dew4 ,falls1 of course1 is a loose expression as the dew forms and does not fall1 being different from the minute particles of fog4 ,the fog particles in suspension in the air are estimated to be as small as #a-ahjth of an inch4 ,when they grow to #a-hjth of an inch in diameter they commence to fall4 ,fogs are chiefly caused by the soil being warmer than the air above it2 the vapor on rising condenses and becomes visible4 ,in the spring and fall currents of air blow over rivers at different temperatures and the result is a fog4 ,one does not have a fog in the desert4 ,there are places in the ocean with cold and warm currents with the air above them correspondingly different where fog is of almost constant occurrence4 ,the ,gulf ,stream off the ,grand ,banks of ,newfoundland has a temperature of #gh degrees1 while the water on the ,banks is #de degrees so that fogless days are rare along the line of meeting4 ,frost is known in every part of our country1 many localities in the plateau section being exposed to it every month of the year4 ,the thin air and cloudless skies of the altitudes make radiation very easy and the daily variation of temperature is much wider than along the humid coasts4 ,those who have never looked into frost conditions throughout our country will be surprised to read the warnings of the ,weather ,bureau4 ,from the station at ,pensacola1 ,florida 7frost-proof ,florida671 comes this statement3 ,vegetables are subject to damage by frost during all seasons of the year4 ,pittsburgh1 ,pennsylvania1 ,frost is likely to damage fruit or other crops in ,may and ,september4 ,phoenix1 ,arizona1 ,frost is likely to do damage in ,december1 ,february1 and ,march4 ,baker ,city1 ,oregon1 ,fruit and other crops are most liable to damage by frost in ,april1 ,may1 ,june1 ,september1 and ,october4 ,kalispell1 ,montana1 ,frost damage for fruit1 ,may #aeth to ,july #ajth2 for grain1 ,june #beth to ,august #ast4 ,montgomery1 ,alabama1 ,during ,march1 ,april1 and ,may fruit and early vegetables are subject to damage by frost4 ,,the ,,thunderstorm ,,exposed ,probably nothing in the world causes more terror than a flash of lightning4 ,in an able-bodied thunderstorm playing about a city there are several dozen flashes1 and every one of them brings trepidation1 fright1 or positive terror to thousands of human beings1--oftenest women1 sometimes men1 and occasionally children4 ,yet probably there is no alarm in the world so ill-founded4 ,thunderstorms play pretty generally over our three million square miles with their hundred million population4 ,yet lightning picks out of this crowd only three hundred people a year who are foolish enough to be killed4 ,that is1 only three persons in each million to be sacrificed to the most astounding and beautiful display in the world1 a mere handful compared to the mounds of motor car victims or to the #cc1jfh deaths a year attributable to railroads and the perils of track-walking4 ,the trouble about the thunderstorm is that it does not lull one into the sense of insecure repose4 ,it is too obviously after one4 ,if the thunder were toned down a bit and the lightning a trifle duller the alliance might claim its thousands1 like the inconspicuous housefly1 and never meet an objection4 ,but until the thunderstorm foregoes its bravado it will continue to bully the ladies into hysterics4 ,of course1 there is always the sporting chance that you are one of the three in your particular million to perish4 ,but you can lessen the chance4 ,you must not seek refuge under a tree4 ,you should not take doubtful shelter in a barn4 ,and you had best not sit in a draft by an open window if there is a tree just outside it4 ,by these three avenues most of the thoughtless three hundred 7a year7 invite their end4 ,trees that are tall and otherwise exposed are struck oftenest4 ,the electricity in the cloud and the electricity in the earth are always endeavoring to combine4 ,when this tendency becomes so strong that the resistance of the intervening air is counteracted the electric discharge between thundercloud and earth takes place4 ,this happens most frequently from some pointed thing as a steeple1 a tree if they are good conductors4 ,men and animals are sometimes charged with the electricity opposite to that of the cloud4 ,when the lightning is discharged1 even at a distance1 the bodies revert rapidly from the electric to the natural state4 ,this return shock or concussion occasionally proves fatal4 ,that is the reason that trees are such poor protectors from the storm's fury4 ,better a wet skin in the middle of a field than precarious dryness under an oak or cherry or tall pine or almost any other tree4 ,if it should hail hard enough to stove in your head take to a beech or a small spruce4 ,barns are struck so often because the body of warm1 dry air in them favors the passage of electricity4 ,those who hide in barns are sometimes cremated4 ,after a severe thunderstorm in the ,poconos ,i have seen as many as three barns on fire at once4 ,open windows1 porches1 and exposure generally are safe1 but not safest4 ,the cellar1 that old stamping ground1 is where instinct takes a few4 ,any closed room on the side of a house away from trees is good enough4 ,but the risk of annihilation is so very small that one is repaid for taking it by the spectacle4 ,a great thunderstorm surpasses anything in nature in the matter of architecture1 coloring1 directness1 and surprise1--which1 with selection1 comprise the essentials of art4 ,imagine the crowds that would pay to wonder at the sight if a thunderstorm could be staged1 say1 at the ,hippodrome6 ,some hot morning1 if you have time to watch1 you may see a thunderstorm born in the mountains4 ,the warm1 moist air flows up the mountainside and the essential start is made4 ,cooling1 this air first shows as a fluffy cloud that soon grows harder in appearance and becomes tufted at the top4 ,its little belly swells and grows blacker4 ,it hovers over the valley4 ,others add to it4 ,suddenly a sort of adolescent thunder is heard4 ,the tension has become too great4 ,a definite consolidation is visible1 a fringe lowers1 and a few drops of rain may reach you4 ,the incipient storm moves off1 and having started a whirl within itself1 increases1 like a rumor1 as it goes4 ,before it has moved beyond your horizon it may have become a large patch of dark blue with billowy white crests on the top1 and underneath hangs a curtain of rain4 ,chances are that it will not go far before encountering conditions that dispel it1 but it may cover half a dozen counties before nightfall4 ,as a rule these little heat thunderstorms do not amount to a great deal4 ,they are originated by local conditions and leave things pretty much as they found them4 ,but when a cyclone is passing in summer a series of thunderstorms or heavy showers with some thunder frequently take place instead of the all day winter rain4 ,these thunderstorms mount up against the wind4 ,their clouds are black4 ,the word black is an indulgence of the human weatherman meaning1 of course1 any dark color1--a black sky would terrify the most hardened of meteorologists4 ,the cyclone winds come from the south or southeast just as they do in winter1 but this quarter may not bring the heaviest rainfall in summer4 ,there may be showers or even clear skies1 but the day will be humid and hot4 ,a haze of cirro-stratus cloud will gradually overspread the sky from the west1 darkening into a blue from the original whitish or gray4 ,lightning does not appear from the cirrus1 but after the sky has grown pretty dark a ridge or tumbled cloud will be seen low on the western horizon4 ,meanwhile the wind will have died down4 ,the lightning1 at first only a faint glimmer1 will have become more frequent and noticeable4 ,if it is striking at a distance of fifteen miles the thunder will not be heard4 ,as soon as the storm center1 where the heaviest rain and the electrical display are taking place1 gets within the fifteen-mile radius thunder will be heard to growl1 and the tumbled cumulus clouds which may have lain along the horizon for hours will begin to approach4 ,the storm will be upon you in ten minutes likely after the arc of foreboding blue and white cottony cloud has begun its charge across the sky4 ,light quickly fades from the heavens4 ,the wind drops entirely4 ,streaks of lightning burn downward4 ,behind the arc stretches a curtain of uniform blue or gray4 ,if the gray is lighter in places the rainfall will not be heavy4 ,if the curtain is a uniform blue a heavy rain is sure4 ,if the bow of clouds can be seen to tumble or is continuous and approaches fast the wind is certain to be severe1--may be from #cj to #fj miles an hour for the first few minutes4 ,sometimes a cloud of dust advancing before it demonstrates its force4 ,this moment immediately before the storm breaks is the dramatic moment of the entire cyclone4 ,as in a tragedy1 the interest has built up to this supreme occasion1 this knife thrust1 from which interest recedes until clear skies show that the play is over4 ,from #ab to #cf hours is the usual time required in winter4 ,in summer the cyclone takes even longer to pass a given point1 but the period of rainfall1 in which the winter storm's amount is often surpassed1 may not last fifteen minutes4 ,first the blow1 then a crash of thunder1 and the rain in big drops1 which lessen rapidly in size as the whole world seems involved in the vast forces of the storm center4 ,most of the precipitation occurs in the first fifteen minutes1 sometimes in the first five4 ,a hearty storm will deliver an inch in short order4 ,although the rain continues often for an hour and sometimes in the storms that are attached to a well-defined cyclonic system there will be two or three robust thunderstorms in succession1 yet the first downpour is usually the torrential one and the others die away until the conditions that caused the outbreak have passed off4 ,with the severer storms hail falls4 ,the general condition of the air after a thunderstorm is cooler1 dryer1 and more invigorating than before4 ,ozone has been liberated1 dust has been washed from the air and vegetation4 ,the surest sign of a continuation of unsettled weather is the failure of the atmosphere to cool off4 ,if the air remains sultry and heavy and depressing another shower is due4 ,in such circumstances the wind will not have begun to blow with any great promise from the west4 ,a close1 sultry morning is the best indication of a thunder-gust4 ,the large piles of cumulus clouds are called thunderheads for the very reason that they almost always precede a thunderstorm4 ,the heaviest electrical disturbances have cirrus clouds a few hours in advance of them very much as their winter relatives4 ,a thunderstorm that does not cause the barometer to fall considerably will not amount to a great deal4 ,at night the different kinds of lightning furnish a running commentary to the storm4 ,on calm evenings the sky will be cloudless1 with perhaps the exception of a low rim on the northern horizon4 ,yet flashes of lightning1 of course without thunder1 may be seen illuminating that entire quadrant of the sky4 ,this is called heat lightning and is popularly supposed to be the result of the heat only4 ,as a matter of fact it is caused by a normal thunderstorm that is operating below the horizon4 ,reflections from this storm are shown on the rim of clouds1 or if no clouds are visible1 on the bowl of the sky4 ,if you see lightning be sure that there is a storm somewhere4 ,if this disembodied sort of lightning continues to flash from the western sky it is quite possible that the storm will reach you4 ,if it shows on the northwest or north of you the chances are that the storm will be carried around4 ,if the wind is from the southwest and the lightning appears there only the progress of the clouds will show whether the storm is pursuing the normal track from the west and around you or whether it is edging up toward you4 ,one cannot be very well surprised by a thunderstorm of any energy in camp as the lightning shows as much as two hours before the storm breaks and the thunder gives fifteen minutes' notice on most occasions4 ,the sort of lightning that spends itself illuminating the clouds in serpents and willowy branches confines itself to the altitudes and is very beautiful and harmless4 ,it is accompanied by thunder that sounds hollow1 that rumbles over the sky1 and usually does not end with the crash and thud of the more vigorous variety4 ,such lightning and such thunder are more often connected with the sort of storm that comes up very swiftly on a western wind4 ,it gives shorter warning than any other sort of thunderstorm and is not connected with the cyclonic area4 ,i have known such a storm to manifest itself low in the west1 approach1 and break within twenty minutes4 ,much wind results and not much rain1 although the temperature falls4 ,lightning with storms of this impromptu kind rarely does any damage4 ,but if the storm rises slowly against the wind1 requiring an hour or two or three to approach and break1 the lightning will grow almost continuously1 some of the flashes being broad streamers cleaving the western sky4 ,it is this sort of lightning that does the damage4 ,the thunder1 instead of rolling like an empty barrel1 hits into a series of concussions4 ,if the lightning strikes an object nearby the crash is rather appalling4 ,there are several freak sorts of lightning such as the ball form1 which are rare4 ,the approach of the center of disturbance may be gauged by the length of time that elapses between flash and crash4 ,in reality the thunder occurs immediately after the discharge of electricity1 but sound travels so slowly1 compared to light1 that a minute may intervene between stroke and clap4 ,you may count the seconds1 noticing the regular decrease1 signifying the nearing of the crisis4 ,soon a flash in front and a simultaneous peal will show you that you are in the thick of things4 ,the next bolt or two may hit very close and you can appreciate what it means to be on the firing line4 ,then the next river of fire with its detonation streams behind you and you are saved4 ,in a severe thunderstorm there are several centers1 several nuclei that shed destruction like great batteries and their progress over and beyond you has its thrills4 ,you may find the exact number of feet away that the bolt hit by multiplying the number of seconds elapsing between the lightning and thunder by #aabj4 ,but an easier way is to allow a mile for every five seconds on the watch4 ,one or two seconds1 and you are pretty near the center of the fray4 ,lightning compresses the air1 leaving a partial vacuum4 ,the other air rushing in to fill this partial vacuum forms the wave motion that produces the noise4 ,that is the whole why of thunder4 ,the reason thunder rolls is that the lightning is a series of discharges each of which gives rise to a particular detonation4 ,if lightning were but one discharge1 the thunder would be but one stupefying crash4 ,reflections from the clouds and from layers of air of different densities and from the ground are agencies that prolong the sound4 ,our atmosphere is never lacking in electricity4 ,this electricity is always positive in clear weather and sometimes negative in cloudy4 ,science concludes1 then1 that negative electricity invariably indicates rain1 hail1 or snow within a radius of forty miles4 ,moist air is a good conductor4 ,our powerful motors can now produce a spark of electricity several feet long4 ,but some of the flashes that shoot across the sky in a big storm extend over five miles4 ,the duration of the flash varies from #a-cjjth of a second to a second4 ,the reason that lightning does not always pass imperially along a straight line is that some air1 either moister or warmer than the air around it1 offers less resistance4 ,the lightning takes this line of least resistance along the pathway of warmer or less dense air4 ,altitudes of thunderclouds vary4 ,they may hover above the earth at #hjj feet4 ,they may be a mile high4 ,they have been observed on peaks of mountains three miles high4 ,many other electrical phenomena are observed in the mountains4 ,the study of these will undoubtedly benefit meteorology and perhaps go far to explain the unsolved problems of the ,service4 ,one kind of thunderstorm that is rather rare is that which arrives in winter with the passage of an energetic cyclone4 ,often when the wind1 having been in the southeast for most of the storm1 is passing around and reaches the south or southwest the rainfall culminates in a deluge and thunder is heard4 ,one or two such storms are a winter's complement4 ,they usually terminate the rainfall for that particular cyclone4 ,i have never heard of damage caused by these winter electrical storms1 and they occur only in exceptionally well-developed areas of low pressure4 ,lightning has many times been observed during heavy snow storms4 ,i have never heard any thunder with it4 ,the discharge must have been very faint4 ,illustration3 ,,stratus ,courtesy of ,richard ,f4 ,warren ,stratus is merely lifted fog in a horizontal form1 the lowest of all1 and the simplest as regards structure4 ,it means neither rain nor snow and the apparent clearness of the blue above it would indicate clear weather to come4 ,but through the break in the stratus near the horizon shows a cloud of firmer texture1 which is less reassuring4 ,stratus over the land in winter takes the appearance of long bolsters of gray through which a pale blue sky shines4 ,such clouds may blanket the sky for days without causing a drop of rain4 ,if they show a tendency to glaze over expect snow or rain1 but not in large quantities4 ,the fascination that a thunderstorm has for many people is explained partially by the fact that one sees the whole process from beginning to end4 ,the officials of the ,weather ,bureau have this privilege as regards cyclones4 ,it is their business and pleasure to watch the setting up of these vast storms1 to follow them on their journey4 ,it is small wonder then that they find the spectacle fascinating4 ,,the ,,tornado ,the birds1 the flowers1 and the tornadoes are all busiest in spring4 ,and the tornadoes probably make the largest impression4 ,a tornado is merely a whirl of air1 caused1 as are all the other whirls1 by a striking difference in temperature in adjacent areas4 ,a tornado is a local and restricted example of the same thing that a cyclone is4 ,but a tornado rarely crosses more than a single state2 a cyclone strides continents4 ,a tornado lasts1 in one place1 about a minute2 a cyclone affects the weather for three days4 ,a tornado never survives the night2 a cyclone plods on for a week4 ,and yet if you are betting on destruction put your money on the tornado4 ,what it lacks in the realms of space and time it makes up in intensity4 ,its sting is fatal4 ,tornadoes occur chiefly in the spring because the temperature changes are greatest then and it is from these that the tornado sucks its nourishment4 ,over the plains1 for example1 a limited area is abnormally heated by a local cause4 ,abnormal cold comes in contact with the abnormal heat4 ,the great difference in pressure results in a spiral as it did in the cyclone1 only in a very small spiral1 and once begun its energy is self-aggravating4 ,the whole thing moves off toward the northeast attended by the black cloud of its condensation4 ,from the black cloud a funnel like an elephant's trunk sways back and forth1 now touching the ground and now escaping it4 ,the black cloud has been in the southwest for some time probably before it has commenced to move4 ,the day has been very oppressive4 ,the sun rose rather coppery1 in all likelihood4 ,as the black cloud with the swaying funnel nears a roaring is heard4 ,darkness falls4 ,the roar increases4444 ,instantly it is over4 ,now that you've been through a tornado you know how it feels1--almost4 ,after the funnel passes hail falls1 lightning flashes through the lessening murk4 ,heavy rain succeeds1 and if you're alive you go out and rescue the perishing4 ,the wind velocity in the path of a tornado is enormous1--anything up to #ejj miles an hour1--but no instruments have been devised to withstand the strain4 ,varying pressures are responsible for the destruction4 ,as the funnel passes over a house where the normal air pressure is about #b1jjj pounds to the square foot it removes #a1ejj pounds for an instant4 ,naturally the outside walls cannot withstand this enormous inside out pressure and the house explodes like a projectile4 ,only under such conditions could the vagaries of matter1--straws piercing logs and chickens bereft of every feather--be perhaps not explained but pardoned4 ,stories of any degree of incredibility crop up after each tornado1 often with accompanying photographs as proof4 ,people are plastered with mud1 pianos are deposited in neighboring lots1 babies are hung up unhurt by their clothes in tree-tops1 and often one person is killed and another nearby escapes unhurt1 ,bible-fashion4 ,tornadoes may form almost anywhere1 but they are never found on the immediate ,pacific coast4 ,they are most common in the ,mississippi ,valley1 are rather common in the ,gulf ,states1 and have occurred throughout most of the ,east at one time or another4 ,since there is no way of stopping them the next best thing is to know the conditions that make for their formation4 ,if the ,weather ,bureau predicts a cold wave for sections of the country where the weather is already abnormally warm the line of meeting will probably produce a tornado somewhere4 ,the officials1 however1 advise you not to worry until you see the intensely black cloud in the southwest trailing its funnel4 ,see where this funnel is tending and run the other way4 ,all tornadoes progress from the southwest to the northeast4 ,bad as they are1 this makes them far less terrifying than if they whipped back and forth over a town or chased you around the pasture4 ,if you happen to be in the house1 take to the cellar1 the southwest corner of it4 ,if you can't escape lie face down to the ground4 ,the only tornado that ,i have ever witnessed was an undeveloped one in ,england1 and a bit lethargic compared to those of the ,prairie ,states4 ,but even this blew an entire train off the track4 ,it had all the other appurtenances of a tornado1 the hail1 the twisted trees1 the narrow southwest to northeast path4 ,the fact that the houses had only corners of their roofs blown off showed that as a tornado it was distinctly second-grade and without power to explode4 ,england1 shortly after1 was raided by three water-spouts4 ,these phenomena are caused by precisely the same conditions as are the tornadoes4 ,they form over the sea1 and the funnel is composed of water4 ,they take considerable bodies of water up into the skies and torrential rains result over adjacent districts4 ,if ,i remember correctly1 two of the ,english water-spouts broke against the cliffs and the other1 moving inland in modified form1 gave ,gloucester a nine-inch rain4 ,ships have been known to fire cannon at these spouts4 ,if one hit a boat directly damage might be caused1 but they have little of the destructive force of the tornado4 ,as our country builds up the destruction from this most powerful of all phenomena is likely to increase4 ,bureau warnings over phones may result in the saving of some lives2 cellars will undoubtedly be built in the principal zones4 ,but the problem is an interesting one1 for unlike the waterspout1 cannon cannot be employed to shatter an emptiness that stalks the more malignantly the emptier it is4 ,,the ,,hurricane ,the tropical hurricane is undoubtedly nature's mightiest exhibit4 ,the hurricane is the cyclone par excellence4 ,it does not differ from our ordinary weekly cyclone in the essentials of wind rotation or pressures or rainfall2 but it does differ in place of birth1 in its course1 and chiefly in its intensity4 ,the genuine hurricane is a ,west ,indian production4 ,it is generally cradled in those islands south and east of ,jamaica and ,cuba4 ,it is nursed by the trade-winds4 ,the first notice of its birth is an alteration in these winds1 which are among the most regular observances on our planet4 ,an extensive formation of cirrus clouds spreads over the sky and the barometer1 which has been stationary for some days1 edges off and begins a long and gradual fall4 ,great rollers are noticed for a day or two before the winds rise4 ,a hurricane moves slowly4 ,this tropical organization is superior in depth to our shallow1 disc-like1 continental cyclone which is one and rarely over two miles thick4 ,the hurricane rears its head three1 four1 and even five miles high4 ,instead1 too1 of dissipating its force over thousands of miles at once it is only a few hundred miles in diameter4 ,its center moves methodically along at the not very impressive speed of fifteen miles an hour1 while our cyclones hurry along at thirty4 ,but the hurricane is thorough4 ,the wind about its center reaches a velocity of #abj miles an hour4 ,this velocity has never yet been attained on the surface of the earth by our trans-continental cyclone4 ,our cyclone always has an eastward trend2 the hurricane has a parabolic course4 ,it begins by moving west on the trades1 drifting and dealing destruction to the banana and sugar plantations of ,jamaica4 ,it enters the ,gulf of ,mexico1 and since it is then pretty much out of the influence of the trades it curves to the right and begins to act like any other storm by heading directly for the ,st4 ,lawrence4 ,if it passes out through the ,florida straits it never reaches the ,st4 ,lawrence but speeds up the coast and out to sea1 usually at ,hatteras to follow the shipping routes across the ,north ,atlantic4 ,but if it has become so involved in the ,gulf of ,mexico that it cannot escape to sea again1 it comes up through the ,gulf ,states and on toward ,new ,england4 ,fortunately as it goes inland its intensity diminishes because it has not so much energy-giving moisture to draw from4 ,also its sphere of action widens1 its embrace is less mighty1 its characteristics more those of an ordinary continental cyclone4 ,it manages1 however1 to deliver gales of #hj miles an hour along the coastal plain1 increasing to #ajj at the exposed places such as ,hatteras and ,block ,island4 ,the intensest hours of a hurricane are those when its course is changing from westward to eastward4 ,enormous rainfalls accompany these storms1 amounting to six inches in some instances4 ,since one inch of rain amounts to #ajj tons per acre1 and #fd1jjj tons to a square mile one can imagine the great amount of evaporation that has taken place to so saturate the air as to drench vast territories to such an extent4 ,while scarcely a year goes by without one of these ,west ,indian hurricanes distinguishing itself on our shores the one that visited ,galveston in #aijd eclipsed all4 ,it chose to turn in the vicinity of the city4 ,the gale increased to over #ajj miles an hour and the wind gauge then blew away4 ,the waters of the ,bay were heaped up and three thousand lives were lost in the flood and wreck of flying houses4 ,this peculiar storm did not turn northeast at once but ascended the ,mississippi1 turning at the ,lakes and proceeding down the ,st4 ,lawrence after having spent a week in our country4 ,the listless doldrums have sent us #aba of these storms in the last generation4 ,june has seen #h1 ,july #e1 ,august #bh1 ,september #dj1 and ,october #dj4 ,sea-yarners have seized upon the hurricane to energize many a flagging chapter1 and particularly have they emphasized the eye of the storm4 ,the eye is that vortex where contending winds neutralize each other into a calm1 where the sun shines out through the scud1 where the waves1 relieved of the great pressure1 leap upward in wild disorder4 ,then the center passes and the wind flings itself upon the unlucky bark from the opposite quarter4 ,its first onslaught is always represented as being the fiercest of the whole storm and gradually lessening as the center drives farther away4 ,this is true in the same way that the first attack of the thunderstorm is usually the fiercest1 both being when the pressure begins to rise4 ,this savage change to the northwest is naturally the hardest of all for the ships to bear as they must steady at once against the severest blast instead of gradually bracing for its culmination4 ,in no department of meteorology has fiction adhered so closely to the facts as in the sea-rover accounts of the hurricane4 ,but in real life there is very little excuse for the vessel to be caught anywhere near the disastrous center of the storm4 ,indeed1 for generations sea-captains have known how to escape the deadly eye4 ,by watching the barometer and noticing in which direction the wind is working round they can tell the course to a nicety and estimate its speed4 ,then the wise ones run the other way for even the ,olympics and ,imperators of the sea are cowed by the might of the ,west ,indian4 ,the typhoons of the ,west ,pacific are similar manifestations4 ,the hurricane moves off from its birthplace so slowly that our ,weather ,bureau has an opportunity to size it up1 to chart its probable course1 and to warn shipping interests4 ,the ship-owners1 as a class1 appreciate the service of the ,bureau and obey its warnings4 ,vessels with cargoes of a total value of #cj1jjj1jjj were known to have been detained in port on the ,atlantic coast by the ,bureau's warnings of a single hurricane4 ,now that a much vaster commerce will steam through these dangerous waters toward the ,panama ,canal the warnings will assume an even greater importance4 ,the best description of a hurricane that it has been my fortune to read is in a story entitled ,chita1 one of the remarkable fictions of ,lafcadio ,hearn4 ,as truthfully as a scientist and with great beauty of style he has pictured the long days of burning sun1 the foreboding calm1 the thickening haze1 the ominous increasing swell of the ocean1 a breathless night with the lightning glowing from between piling towers of cloud1 the startling suddenness of the wind's attack1 its fury1 the hissing rain1 the shrill crescendo of the gale4 ,,cloudburst ,it is the ,american tendency to exaggerate4 ,we call every snowstorm a blizzard1 every breeze a gale1 every shower a cloudburst4 ,in our generous vocabulary it never rains but it pours4 ,consequently if we1 in the ,east1 ever had a real blizzard or a real cloudburst we should be at a considerable loss to find words for an unprofane description4 ,i do not know how they manage out ,west where these things occur4 ,a genuine cloudburst must be an amazing spectacle4 ,it is caused by a furious updraft of wind keeping a rainstorm in suspense until so much water has accumulated that it has to let go all at once and the accumulation descends like a wet blanket4 ,this phenomenon is staged in the mountains2 most often in the ,rockies where melting snow and desert-hot ravines provide the necessary extremes of temperature4 ,wind blowing up a mountain-side can maintain considerable force1--so much that a man cannot possibly walk against it4 ,black thunder clouds brew on the peaks4 ,suddenly the collapse1 and the person who tells the story afterward finds himself struggling in a torrent that a minute before had been a dry gulch4 ,the moral of the story seems to be that if you are camping in the mountains and there is a strong upstream wind blowing and the clouds darken about the hill-tops and the thunder mumbles then don't make your bed in the creek-bottom lands4 ,the high water marks of former freshets1 but not of cloudbursts1 show on the side of the stream4 ,even in the less impulsive ,east a couple of inches of rain make a surprising rise in a little creek4 ,,the ,,halo ,the halo is a luminous circle around the moon or the sun4 ,it is caused by the refraction of light passing through moisture1 which at the usual height is in the form of ice-crystals4 ,the halo when complete consists of two large circles whose diameters are constant1 #de and #ib degrees4 ,then there are often other arches in contact4 ,at each point of contact occurs a parhelion which is a mock sun of brilliant colors and called a sun-dog4 ,since the sun-dog is brighter than the other parts of the halo it sometimes appears when the rest of the halo cannot be seen4 ,sun-dogs hunt in pairs or fours4 ,if the halo is colored the red is on the inside4 ,when the colors are caused by diffraction instead of refraction1 the red is on the outside of the prismatic ring and the halo is called a corona4 ,having now satisfied the demands of science all that can be forgotten except that the halo around either sun or moon means excess moisture in the atmosphere4 ,the wide halos are seen in the high cirrus clouds #be1 #cf1 #dh hours in advance of a cyclone4 ,at first the ring is very wide and faint with several stars in it4 ,if the storm is advancing rapidly the halo brightens and narrows and the stars fade4 ,this is proof to show that the proverb stating that the number of stars inside the ring is a forecast of the number of days of storm is sheer nonsense4 ,for presently the ring closes and the stars disappear which would show according to the proverb that the storm had changed its mind and would cut down the number of days from several to none4 ,the moon grows paler4 ,the light that it casts upon the earth is eerie at this stage4 ,within a few hours the cocoon of mist is completely woven about the moon4 ,the circle has closed4 ,snow or rain begins within a few hours after the moon has entirely disappeared4 ,if it does not so begin it shows that the process of increasing humidity is a very slow one and the storm center is probably passing far to one side of the observer4 ,also if the snow begins before the light of the moon is entirely suppressed the disturbance is a shallow one and the storm will be light4 ,when the halo is actually a corona 7red outside7 the approach of the storm can be gauged by the rapidity with which the circle grows smaller4 ,for a decrease in diameter denotes that the size of the moisture drops is increasing and therefore the storm is approaching4 ,as a matter of fact the corona will have disappeared long before the time for rain4 ,still it is useful to know that if the corona increases in size the conditions are clearing4 ,with the halo the reverse holds4 ,for when the clouds are very high the halo looks small1 and high clouds imply swifter winds and a greater distance from the storm center4 ,the ,zuni ,indians who have an eye for the picturesque as well as for the truth state the chief fact about haloes happily3 ,when the sun is in his house it will rain soon4 ,another saying of theirs anent cumulus clouds holds for our country as well as for theirs3 ,when the clouds rise in terraces of white1 soon will the country of the corn-priests be pierced with the arrows of rain4 ,there are many little observations which the man who has kept the corner of his eye open may profit by and yet which are rather difficult to express in type4 ,who could describe an egg for instance whose springtide of youth was far behind and yet was not quite ready for the discard6 ,in nature it is the fleeting moment of transition1 the half-tones of the border that are so hard to catch1 so difficult to portray1 and yet so very important not to miss if one is to become sure4 ,there follow some of the baldest and most communicable half-facts about the weather that should be used oftener to bolster up some opinion gleaned from more positive sources than to mould one in their own strength4 ,moisture in the atmosphere helps sight to a certain extent4 ,for when the air is full of moisture its temperature tends to become equalized1 obliterating irregularities which would otherwise reflect the vibrations producing sight and sound4 ,so if one hears better or sees better on a certain day it augurs a moister atmosphere1--an auxiliary sign if there is a view that you are fond of looking at many times a day4 ,in the city1 alas1 clearer vision on one day than another means merely that less coal is being used4 ,but in camp there is very often a perceptible difference in one's seeing ability even on days that could all be classed as clear4 ,another thing that the haunter of the woods may notice is that his smelling capacity is increased before a storm4 ,the increase of humidity which precedes a rain buoys up odors and depresses smoke4 ,even in dry weather if you will stroll by a marsh you will notice how rank the vegetation smells and how the smells float in layers in the air strata of different humidity4 ,one's sense of smell is a very slender thread on which to hang a storm1 however4 ,fires burn more briskly in dry air than in moist1 but to tell the difference 7if you can't feel it7 you must be very sure that your wood is as dry on one day as on another4 ,before a rain many plants close their flowers or shift their leaves4 ,the dandelion1 pimpernel1 red clover1 silver maple are good examples of this1 but they would not be of much use in the ,north ,woods4 ,the closing1 too1 takes place only a few hours before rain and is merely confirmation of the signals rendered more adequately by clouds and winds4 ,bugs and flies are particularly annoying before a storm and it is surprising that the spider should not take advantage of this to get a meal4 ,but spiders are cautious and they never spin a web on the grass1 at least on the day that brings a storm4 ,the insects do not fly so high on these weather-breeding days and consequently the birds that feed on them fly lower4 ,the chimney swifts are a particularly good guide to the different altitudes at which insects fly4 ,the stars are on a par with bugs as weather guides1 although there are many proverbs that grant them much4 ,one circumstance should not be neglected1 however1 and that is that wind mixes air and when air is well mixed atmospheric inequalities are less disturbing to vision4 ,hence when one can see the stars and the moon well wind currents are oftenest the cause4 ,even if it is not blowing on earth these wind currents may yet be blowing above to reach the earth later4 ,in this way cold waves arrive4 ,there is an old proverb about this condition1 applying it to the moon1 ,sharp horns do threaten windy weather4 ,but the stars are of second rate importance because they are so soon obscured4 ,if you can't see them it is cloudy1 but you do not know what kind of cloud it is4 ,if only the brightest show1 a veil of cirrus is arriving4 ,a dark sky with only a few dim stars is an omen of storms4 ,if the stars twinkle it is because the varying currents of the upper air are in juxtaposition4 ,if they twinkle while the northwest wind is on it is a sign of colder weather1--not because they are twinkling but because of the northwest wind4 ,in the days when almanacs were the sole guides to the weather a man with a sense of humor1 ,butler by name1 got out one and dedicated it to ,torpid ,liver and ,inflammatory ,rheumatism1 the ,most ,insistent ,weather ,prophets ,known to ,suffering ,mortals4 ,rheumatism is following the almanac to the scrap heap1 and it would be harder for a camper to guess what a torpid liver was like than to forecast the weather1 yet for the majority of suffering mortals there is still much truth in the amiable observation of ,mr4 ,butler1 ,as old sinners have old points ,o' the compass in their bones and joints4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,barometer ,whatever the foregoing chapters may imply as to the whole world going camping the fact is that the woods are still1 unfortunately1 for the few4 ,the woodsman must yield gracefully to the suburbanite1--in numbers4 ,but the weather is for everybody4 ,to be sure the sunrise that talks so confidentially to the hunter of the coming day does not exist for the commuter4 ,but the coming day does1 even though the things it means are essentially different4 ,to the hunter with his seasoned clothes and well-earned health a rain is only of concern in so much as it affects the business of the day2 personally it is of small moment4 ,but to the commuter what does the weather mean8 ,dollars and cents1 of course4 ,his business goes on1 but to his person one unexpected shower the cost of pressing a suit2 one thorough soaking one doctor's bill4 ,for you cannot expect the man to throw off a chill who can quiet his conscience on the matter of daily exercise by watering the geraniums and reading the newspaper4 ,weather wisdom is necessary for the hunter2 for the commuter it pays4 ,the hunter had to rely on local weather signs4 ,the commuter can go him one better by investing #aj 7how finance will creep in67 in a little aneroid barometer4 ,the local weather signs were good for twelve hours at the longest4 ,the barometer is a faithful instrument that adds another twelve hours to a man's knowledge4 ,half a day1 or even a day before any local sign of changing wind or growing cloud appears the barometer is on the job4 ,it will register in ,philadelphia the news of a disturbance approaching the ,mississippi4 ,so sensitive is it that it is the slave to every wave of the great air ocean4 ,the barometer gauges for the eye the amount of atmosphere that is piled above one4 ,if the amount is normal and at sea-level the instrument will measure #cj4jj inches4 ,this air pressure is equivalent to a column of water #cj feet high4 ,as this would make unwieldy prognosticators the scientists use mercury instead1 which requires a column less than three feet long4 ,and for general purposes this is supplanted by the handy little aneroid 7which means without fluid74 ,this is so fixed that the pressure of the air influences the upper surface of a vacuum chamber1 balanced perfectly between this pressure and a main spring4 ,this action is transmitted to an index hand moving across the dial marked into fractions of inches after the manner of the recognized standard1 the mercurial barometer4 ,when the warm moist light air of a cyclone invades a locality the pressure is partially removed1 the vacuum chamber is not pressed so hard and the dial hand or the mercury subsides4 ,when the cold1 dry1 heavy air of the anticyclone lumbers in more pressure is applied and the mercury1 or the dial hand1 climbs4 ,so a falling barometer means a storm1 a rising one fair weather4 ,that is a generality that glitters4 ,if that were all there was to it weather officials would have a sinecure4 ,but each cyclone varies in size1 intensity1 and rate of progress4 ,some do not advance for days4 ,therefore there has grown up a pretty large body of information as each storm has had to be watched and the barometric movements recorded4 ,the most important variations follow3 ,remembering that #cj4jj inches is sea-level normal1 if the barometer is steady at #cj4aj or #cj4bj the weather will remain fair as long as the steadiness continues1 and on the turn1 if the fall proceeds slowly with the wind from a westerly direction fair to partly cloudy weather with slowly rising temperature will follow for two days4 ,if the barometer rises rapidly from #cj4aj the fall will be equally rapid and rain or snow may be expected within a couple of days4 ,since the depressions of the atmosphere tend to a certain regularity about the center of the storm it follows that the reactions will follow the actions in similar manner1--a long rise portending a long fall and a variable glass meaning unsettled conditions4 ,the barometer does not rise with wind from an easterly direction unless a shift is imminent4 ,in winter the air is so much colder over the land than over the sea that the air brought in by an easterly wind is soon condensed4 ,consequently with winds from the south or southeast1 even if the barometer is #cj4bj or #cj4aj and falling slowly rain usually arrives 7and rain of course is meant to include snow whenever the mercury is below the freezing point7 within #bd hours4 ,if the fall is rapid there may be precipitation within #ab hours1 and the wind will rapidly increase and the temperature rise4 ,if the wind is from the east or northeast and the barometer #cj4aj or above and falling slowly it means rain within #bd hours in winter4 ,in summer if the wind is light rain may not fall for a day or so4 ,if the fall is rapid in winter rain with increasing winds will often set in when the barometer begins its fall and the wind gets to a point a little east of north4 ,if the barometer is #cj4jj or below and falling slowly with northeast to southeast winds the storm will continue #bd to #dh hours4 ,if the barometer falls rapidly the wind will be high with rain and the change to rising barometer with clearing and colder will probably come within #bj to #cj hours4 ,if the barometer is below #cj4jj but rising slowly the clear weather will last several days4 ,if the barometer is #bi4hj or below and falling rapidly with winds south of east a severe storm is at hand to be followed within #bd hours by clearing and colder4 ,under the same conditions but with northeast winds there will occur heavy snow followed by a cold wave4 ,if these promises do not always bear fruit it is because they will have been interrupted by an unseen shifting of the atmospheric weights4 ,but the barometer will record them4 ,a rapid rise may be checked in ascent and the instrument may fluctuate like a stock-ticker4 ,its tale is of very unsettled weather conditions and consequently no particular brand of weather will last for very long at a time4 ,a sudden rise of the barometer may bring its gale of wind as well as a sudden fall4 ,but the tendency will be toward clearing and much colder4 ,a fall of the barometer on a west wind is not common4 ,it means rain4 ,a rise on a south wind means fair4 ,a low barometer and a cold south wind mean a change to west with squalls for a while4 ,on the other hand1 a high barometer with warmer weather means a shift of the wind to southerly quarters and an imminent fall4 ,if the barometer rises fast and the temperature does1 too1 look for another storm4 ,this is often noticed in summer4 ,there is a slight daily oscillation of the mercury1 which1 if other things are steady1 registers highest at #aj ,a4 ,m4 and #aj ,p4 ,m4 and lowest at #d ,a4 ,m4 and #d ,p4 ,m4 ,if this data confuses bear in mind the simple ordinary progress of the barometer in the usual storm3 ,first1 it will stand steady for a day or so at any point between #cj4aj and #cj4ej4 ,then the glass will begin 7for most storms7 to fall gradually4 ,as the center nears the fall hastens4 ,after the lowest point has been reached a slight rise will be followed by another slight fall and then the final long rise will commence4 ,the rain begins and ceases at different stages for different storms1 depending upon the wind's velocity and direction4 ,for every #ijj feet of altitude the height of the mercury is about one inch less4 ,do not complain that your barometer is inaccurate if you are living up in the mountains and your readings are not the same as the weather reports which are reduced to sea level4 ,all the figures given in this chapter are for sea level and if your house is #aijj feet above you must move the copper hand of your aneroid #a4ie inches from the pressure hand4 ,if the pressure hand would read #bh4je the adjustable copper hand would read #cj4jj which is the sea level reading4 ,one good thing to remember is that a barometer falls lower for high winds than for heavy rain4 ,a fall of two- or three-tenths of an inch in four hours brings a gale4 ,in the ordinary gale the wind blows hardest when the barometer begins its rise from a very low point4 ,in summer a suddenly falling barometer foretells a thunderstorm1 and if the corresponding rise does not at once take place the unsettled conditions will continue with probably another thunderstorm4 ,if you see the thunderstorm first1 that is1 if the barometer is not affected by the approaching black cloud you may be sure that the storm will amount to nothing4 ,the man in the fields or along the shore has many natural barometers in animal life4 ,but these natural barometers only corroborate2 they do not foretell1 at least very long before4 ,some are useful at times and among these the birds are foremost4 ,the observant ,zunis have incorporated this in one of their pretty proverbs1 ,when chimney swallows circle and call they speak of rain4 ,as a matter of fact the swallows are circling most of the time after insects4 ,if they are flying high it is because the bugs are flying high and that is because there is no danger of rain4 ,as the rain nears the air gets moister1 the bugs and the birds fly lower4 ,whether they do this because their instinct is to avoid a wetting or because the lighter atmosphere of a cyclone makes flying more difficult1 particularly at altitudes1 ,i do not know4 ,for weather purposes it is enough to watch their comparative levels4 ,wild geese are excellent signs1 ,i am told1 but it would be a dry country that waits for a sight of them for its rain4 ,bees localize before a storm and will not swarm4 ,flies crowd upon the screens of houses when humidity is high1 possibly because the appetizing odors from within are buoyed afar by the heavy air4 ,cuckoos seek the higher ground in fair weather and disappear into bottom lands before a rain4 ,although they are called rain-crows they are heard in all weathers4 ,smoke is as good an evidence of barometric pressure as anything except the instrument itself4 ,on clear1 still days it will mount2 on humid days without wind it will cling to the hill4 ,there is that difference4 ,but it takes skill and many comparisons to gauge its angles in the wind4 ,it becomes a test in observation and finally rewards one by becoming an excellent sign not only of air texture but of the direction of its currents4 ,no reference to barometers would be complete without mentioning spiders4 ,they show a most delicate apprehension of changing conditions4 ,if the day is to be fine and without wind they will run out long threads and be rather active4 ,if the rain is nearing they strengthen their webs1 shorten the filaments and sit dully in the center4 ,fresh webs on the lawn insure a clear day4 ,but for the commuter1 whose time is money1 there is little leisure to consider the spider4 ,as a natural result of the variation in altitude affecting the barometer the words which are printed on the face become entirely useless4 ,in some places it would be impossible for the needle to point higher than ,very ,stormy4 ,even at sea level a sudden fall to ,fair would cause a rain1 much to the indignation of the person who thought that he had purchased a self-registering weather prophet4 ,disregard the words but watch the needle and you will never be surprised at what the weather is doing next4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,seasons ,too great emphasis cannot be laid upon the futility1 at present1 of trying to forecast the weather for more than a very few days in advance4 ,long range efforts are not made by the ,bureau because with its present limited knowledge of the factors that control seasons and with the present limited facilities for collecting data the process of looking into next month has not been perfected1 and the attempt to investigate next winter's weather proves scientifically impossible4 ,as usual1 fakers step in where science fears to tread4 ,with goose-bones 7not their own7 and hickory nuts they prophesy with all their might4 ,and if their prophecies come true1 as sometimes they must1 there is wide rejoicing in the newspapers and the cause of science is set back by just so much4 ,but science cannot be thwarted in the end and every year new discoveries are made1 new speculations proved true or forever false1 and some time1 doubtless1 the weather will be predicted from year to year with the same #he accuracy with which the #cf hour forecast is now made4 ,experimenting is worth the little that it costs1 too1 for to know when the summer is to be dry or wet1 hot or cold will be a boon to everybody and to the farmer most of all4 ,one conclusion has already been reached by officials in the ,weather ,bureau and scientists generally4 ,it has been decided by long search through creditable records1 painstaking comparisons of averages coupled with the most accurate investigations for half a century1 that1 on the basis of ten years1 our seasons do not change4 ,that is1 counting the decade as a unit1 our weather keeps to the same level of efficiency through the centuries4 ,this statement comes always as a blow4 ,it always provokes argument and citations of grandmother's blizzards4 ,there is a great and universal hesitation in believing that our weather is as good to-day as it used to be4 ,the good old times when there was a general debauch of snow and you could skate all winter on anything but the ,atlantic ,ocean certainly appear no more4 ,as a matter of fact there has been a change1 but it has been in our memories4 ,in grandmother's youth the trains1--if they had trains then1--doubtless were stalled by a big snow for then they did not have rotary plows4 ,in father's day they may have had an unbroken winter of sleighing4 ,we couldn't now2 sleighs are extinct4 ,but in our time1 in fact every year1 some record is being broken and the records go back a respectable length of time4 ,for example in ,philadelphia the most accurate records made by standard instruments have been kept for #dc years4 ,during this time the highest wind velocity was recorded in #ahgh 7#ge miles an hour74 ,the greatest rainfall in #bd hours occurred in #ahih 7#e4hi inches74 ,the lowest temperature was registered in #ahii 7#f degrees below zero72 the highest in #aija 7#ajc degrees74 ,the greatest number of thunderstorms for any one year took place in #aije when we had #ea4 ,as late as #aiji the heaviest snowfall ever recorded at this station1 amounting to #ba inches1 occurred4 ,and just a few weeks ago 7,april #crd1 #aiae7 it snowed #ai inches in half as many hours4 ,all these items do not indicate a climate decreasing in virility very swiftly4 ,but there is more evidence yet that ,philadelphia is experiencing the same varieties of weather in about the same proportions4 ,diaries of observant men running back to #agjj show that almost any kind of memory could be founded on fact1 that the same violent changes in temperature1 the same deep snows and unseasonable seasons that we endure to-day were noticed then4 ,to quote3 ,the whole winter of #aghj was intensely cold4 ,the ,delaware was closed from the #ast of ,december to the #adth of ,march4 ,the ice was from two to three feet thick4 ,we despaired of ever living up to this until three years ago when the same thing happened and sleighs crossed the river a little above the city4 ,and despite the new ice-boats6 ,the winter of #aggi was very mild1 particularly the month of ,february when trees were in blossom4 ,on the #cast of ,december1 #agfd1 the ,delaware was frozen completely over in one night1 and the weather continued cold until the #bhth of ,march with snow about two and a half feet deep4 ,the winter of #agef was very mild4 ,the first snow was as late as the #ahth of ,march4 ,and so it goes4 #agej was mild2 #agdb one of the coldest since the settlement of the country2 #agda was intensely cold1 #agbe mild1 #agad very mild after the #aeth of ,january1 #afig long1 stormy and severely cold4 ,the upshot of it all is that ,february violets and ,april snows were just as well known to ,general ,washington as they are to us4 ,illustration3 ,,nimbus ,courtesy of ,richard ,f4 ,warren ,nimbus is any cloud from which rain is falling1 and the important thing to know is how to judge from the formless thing how much longer it is to rain4 ,the wind is the surest guide4 ,in this picture the nimbus cloud is only that at the end of the cape4 ,all the rest is torn stratus and cumulus1 which needs to condense a little further before it becomes nimbus4 ,this will likely happen because the cloud at the left is very dark4 ,the broken appearance denotes some wind4 ,rain does not fall from a mottled sky nor yet a streaky one2 the nimbus is uniform in appearance4 ,in summer a break in the nimbus will show a veil of cirro-stratus above4 ,just nimbus by itself will not support much of a storm4 ,in winter if the nimbus is particularly seamless snow is about to fall4 ,but though all facts point to the fact that the climate does not change in a decade or a generation or a dozen generations1 there is some comfort for those who are not satisfied in knowing that it doesn't stay the same forever4 ,during the carboniferous times the poles were as warm as the tropics and when the ,ice ,age came on it was very chilly everywhere4 ,if one might only live an eon or two he might then well complain of the changing climate4 ,climate1 however1 is one thing1 weather another4 ,the climate is the sum total of the weather4 ,climate is as enduring as our ,constitution1 the weather is as changeable as our city governments4 ,no matter how proud a scientist may be of the lasting qualities of the climate1 he has to admit that our weather1 taken day by day or even year by year1 is versatile in the extreme4 ,and the question he has set himself to solve is how to explain the variations of the seasonable weather4 ,he wants to find out why all winters are not alike1 and why no two successive springs are the same4 ,then he will be on firm ground at last and able to make scientific forecasts for the ensuing year4 ,the obvious thing was to find out as accurately as possible what had happened and science's keenest eye was focused on records in the hope of discovering fixed periods of warmth or wetness1 cycles of cold and drought4 ,so far no cycles have been discovered that are beyond dispute4 ,nothing has been found that cannot be contradicted successfully4 ,this is discouraging4 ,one of the most frequent starting places for investigators is the spots on the sun4 ,they found that periods of three1 eight1 eleven1 and thirty-five years should bear some resemblance2 #aija was eagerly looked forward to4 ,they wanted it to correspond with the remarkably cool summer of #ahfg4 ,when it started off in ,july with a temperature of #ajc degrees1 the highest ever recorded in ,philadelphia1 they concluded that the sunspots were fooling them4 ,a connection between sunspots and weather has not been established1 therefore1 although they are now known to affect the electrical condition of the earth's atmosphere4 ,longer periods of observation will permit comparisons that may yet define concurrent cycles of sunspots and weather4 ,a definite weather cycle has not yet been discovered1 but one step in the way has been cleared up4 ,we now are pretty sure of one cause for unusual single seasons of heat and cold4 ,there exist in winter great bodies of cold1 dry air heaped up over ,canada and ,siberia1 which are formed by the greater rapidity of radiation over land surfaces than over water4 ,these mounds of cold air build up during ,december1 ,january1 and ,february and form great so-called permanent areas of high barometer4 ,it is on the skirts of the ,canadian high that the smaller highs form which sweep over our country1 giving us our cold waves4 ,also in winter permanent lows form over the ,north ,pacific and ,north ,atlantic where warm currents afford continuous supplies of warm moist air4 ,from the great ,aleutian 7,pacific7 low spring most of the cyclones which swing down below the border of the ,canadian high1 make their turn somewhere in the ,mississippi ,valley1 and then head for the ,icelandic low4 ,it can be seen that if the ,canadian high is a little stronger than usual and spreads a little farther south1 then the northern half of our country will come more directly under its influence and we will experience an unusually severe winter4 ,as the storms are pushed south and as the cold air pours into the northern quadrants the snow line is pushed south too4 ,hence all abnormally snowy winters are caused by a strengthening of the permanent ,canadian high which may be central anywhere north of our ,dakota or ,montana borders4 ,conversely1 if this high is weaker than usual the cyclones can cross the country on a line farther north1 there will be less snow1 and the cold waves that follow will be less severe or even non-existent4 ,in summer the reverse occurs4 ,great oceanic highs are built up over the ,south ,atlantic and ,south ,pacific and a permanent low occupies the center of our continent4 ,the character of the season is determined by the strength and position of these areas4 ,the eastern states are affected especially by the slow movements of the ,south ,atlantic low4 ,the puzzle is why should these areas change their power and position1 and if they must change why don't they do it regularly8 ,the puzzle will undoubtedly be solved4 ,these great centers of action will be plotted against and observed from every vantage point by a thousand observers4 ,a fascinating field for scientific speculation opens4 ,at present our ,government exchanges daily observations with stations in ,siberia1 ,canada1 and the ,west ,indies4 ,the great storm-breeder1 the ,aleutian ,low1 is watched from ,alaskan shores4 ,in the ,atlantic the ,bureau needs stationary ships to record the growth and decline of the ,high over the ,azores4 ,knowledge of the wind circulation from this would inform us whether our storms were to be shunted farther north and pushed somewhat inland4 ,a storm which is pushed to the left of its normal track increases tremendously in intensity4 ,whereas a cyclone that limps slackly to the right of its normal line loses intensity at once4 ,it misses coil4 ,in this respect storms seem to resemble rattlesnakes4 ,the energy of the ,azores ,high influences the number and destructiveness of the ,west ,indian hurricanes3 the larger the area is the closer do the hurricanes hug our shores and the more destruction do they accomplish4 ,the very sureness that the general average of the seasons is to be the same enables us to guess pretty accurately for individual purposes as to the kind of season coming next4 ,a guess1 let me add1 is not a forecast4 ,it is a gamble and disapproved of by the ,bureau1 but until they supply us with a basis for judgment we will have to go on guessing1 for human curiosity is as near to perpetual motion as the weather is to the lacking fourth dimension4 ,one of these guesses is that if the winter has been a warm one the summer will be cool1 for the very good reason that the yearly average does depart so slightly from the fixture4 ,unfortunately one hot summer does not mean that the following summer will be cool4 ,certain sequences of the seasons have been observed often enough to have been gathered into proverbs4 ,everybody agrees that ,a late spring never deceives4 ,a year of snow1 ,fruit will grow4 ,a green winter makes a full churchyard4 ,of the many hundreds of proverbs relating to the seasons a few are sage1 some outworn1 and many sheer nonsense4 ,nearly all refer to the obvious fact that one kind of season is followed by another rather unlike it1 not much telling what4 ,and there1 unsatisfactorily enough1 they leave one4 ,but much is to be hoped for from the scientific explorations now in progress4 ,and until they are heard from few of us will realize how many seasonable seasons we really enjoy4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,weather ,,bureau ,at the cost of a cent and a half a year apiece we ,americans are supplied with detailed information in advance about the weather4 ,and the information is correct for more than four-fifths of the time4 ,if stock brokers never missed oftener1 what reputations would accrue6 ,cheapness1 accuracy1 and a certain modesty are the three qualities that distinguish the out-givings of the ,bureau from the old-fashioned predictions of the weather which used to appear in almanacs4 ,almanacs have probably kept appearing ever since the art of printing first allowed unscrupulous persons to juggle with words4 ,they cost fifty cents and their predictions were based on nothing but the strength of their author's imagination4 ,of course1 it was impossible for him to guess wrong more than half the time so that when he announced in ,january that ,july would be hot with thunderstorms he was often right4 ,this gave him prestige1 but aided his clients little4 ,the ,weather ,bureau was in about the same position in regard to the quack predictions of the almanacs as was the honest doctor of the last decade who could only prescribe good food and fresh air and moderate exercise for the patient who much preferred the expensive allurements of the medicinal cure-all as advertised4 ,in humility the ,bureau said that as things stood it could not forecast with accuracy for more than #dh hours1 and its honesty brought it into disregard4 ,but1 although the ,weather ,bureau1--like the ,christian ,church and other things that have had to combat superstition at every step--has grown slowly it has grown surely and its work is being recognized more widely and relied upon more understandingly every month4 ,it was an ,american scientist who discovered the rotary motion of cyclones and their progressive character1 but due to the conservative nature of our ,government three other nations had established weather services before we had4 ,in #ahgj the ,war ,department was authorized to start a system of observations that would permit of a rough sort of forecasting4 ,the forecasts proved of so much value to shippers and sailors that the work was handed over to the ,department of ,agriculture and enlarged 7#ahia74 ,to-day every part of our country contributes to the knowledge of existing weather conditions4 ,at #h ,a4 ,m4 observations are made at hundreds of stations and wired to the ,central ,office at ,washington4 ,the ,chief there1 knowing these conditions1 is enabled to locate a storm1 to gauge its rate of speed1 to learn its course1 and to measure its intensity4 ,he can dictate storm warnings and be sure that within an hour every sailing master will have a copy4 ,he can detect a cold wave at its entrance into our territory and know that within an hour every shipper1 every truckster 7who has signified that he wishes to be informed7 will have the facts that will save him money4 ,at #h ,p4 ,m4 the same stations telegraph the changed conditions1 and if any very violent disturbance is in progress an observation is made at noon4 ,besides the ,washington distributing station there are #agjj others from which warnings are sent by telegraph1 telephone1 or mail4 ,there are #ajj1jjj addresses on the mailing list and #e1jjj1jjj telephone subscribers can get them within an hour4 ,the newspapers reach many millions4 ,and all this at a cost of #a-a_/b cents a year4 ,if we1 in a fit of generosity1 should pay #b cents1 or even #b-a_/b the ,government would be enabled to work out many of the larger problems awaiting only a larger appropriation to be attacked4 ,the people's investment of #a1fjj1jjj a year is a good investment4 ,in one year the ,service saves a great many hundred per cent4 ,a few known savings are worth giving2 #c1ejj1jjj worth of protection was made possible from one exceptionally severe cold wave2 the ,california citrus growers estimated that one warning saved #ad1jjj1jjj worth of fruit2 #cj1jjj1jjj of shipping 7and cargoes7 was known to have been detained in port just on account of one hurricane warning1 and there are many warnings of gales every year4 ,uncalculated savings have been effected among the growers of tobacco1 sugar1 cranberries1 truck4 ,the railway and transportation companies save1 through use of the forecasts1 in shipments of bananas1 oysters1 fish1 and eggs4 ,farmers1 manufacturers1 raisin driers1 photographers1 insurance companies1 and about a hundred and fifty other occupations increase their profits by a systematic study of the forecasts4 ,the people who live along the rivers often owe their lives and frequently much of their property to telephone warnings of approaching floods4 ,the flood stages in all the principal rivers and streams have been calculated and losses are reduced by #ge per cent4 by accurate predictions as to when the crest of the flood may be expected and how high it will reach4 ,a hundred uses of river forecasts1 even when flood stages are not expected are given in the booklet1 ,the ,weather ,bureau which you can have from ,washington for the asking1 like many another of their publications4 ,yet1 with all the good it does1 the man on the street still regards the ,bureau as an uninteresting1 undependable exhibit in the upper corner of the newspaper1--if he regards it at all4 ,it is his child1 however1 who is instructing him4 ,for his child is being taught in the public school all about it and he takes his teaching home and becomes the teacher4 ,the child is father of the 7old7 man in lots of instances4 ,the most impressive thing about the whole output of the ,bureau to the child is its ,map4 ,the ,bureau issues a map every day which is posted in post-offices and railroad stations and in schools1 too1 if they ask for it4 ,and every day this map shows in all its gripping details the way our storms are sidling across the continent or rushing up our coasts4 ,it prints the word low where the stormy area of low barometer is4 ,about the low run continuous black lines numbered #bi4g1 #bi4h1 #bi4i1 etc41 which show where in the country the pressures are the same4 ,as the numbers run up to #cj4j1 #cj4a1 #cj4b they begin to circle about the word ,high which denotes where the pressure is highest4 ,little circles will be observed on the map4 ,some are clear1 indicating clear weather2 others are half clear1 half black1 indicating partly cloudy conditions2 others are all black1 showing clouds2 others have ,r4 or ,s4 inside them1 telling where it is raining4 ,the numbers under the circles show how much it has rained or snowed and the numbers under the other numbers are the velocities of the winds4 ,the arrows through the circles fly with the wind4 ,a little zig-zag locates each thunderstorm and the shaded portions show over what portions of the country it has rained during the last #bd hours4 ,as an intelligent puzzle picture the map is unequaled and no wonder the child likes it4 ,with this map you can tell at a glance what the weather is doing to your uncle in ,tacoma and to your cousin in ,missouri4 ,with two successive maps you can find out about how fast the storms are traveling1 in what direction1 and how low the temperatures are under their influence1 and so estimate for yourself the weather for the next three days4 ,besides the invaluable daily weather map the ,bureau issues many other maps that present the phenomena of the week1 the month1 and the season in graphic form4 ,masters of vessels are now cooperating with the government to provide observations at sea1 and both on our northwest and southeast coasts such information is very valuable4 ,in the west several hundreds of stations are maintained in the mountains for the purpose of obtaining the depth and content of the great snowfalls there4 ,estimates can then be given out as to the amount of water to be available for irrigating purposes4 ,in addition to the #bbj stations of the first class there are #dbjj cooperative stations at which observations are made and mailed to #dd centers for distribution4 ,special local data help to establish the relations between climate and forestry1 agriculture1 water resources1 and allied subjects4 ,many bulletins are compiled by experts in their respective lines and these are for free distribution4 ,a study of forest cover is being made in ,colorado and the effects of denudation on the flow of streams will soon be scientifically established4 ,as soon as practicable the ,bureau hopes to extend its period of forecasting4 ,weekly forecasts have been tried in a general way with success1 but long-range forecasting depends upon so many relationships of the air that present knowledge and facilities do not warrant its adoption4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,a ,,chapter ,,of ,,explosions ,in the good old times when a man was born1 spent his life1 and died in the same village the weather proverb was fashioned4 ,generations had watched the clouds gather under certain circumstances and scatter under certain others and they naturally drew conclusions4 ,these conclusions crystallized until they resembled nuggets of golden weather wisdom4 ,some were even used as charms4 ,and all contained a deal of truth so long as they were only meant to refer to the country in which they had originated4 ,but nowadays when the very idea of remaining in the same place for very long at a time is obnoxious the weather proverb suffers4 ,it suffers chiefly by transportation4 ,the weather in ,county ,cork is so very different from the weather that makes ,chicago famous that the same weather lore does not fit4 ,yet it is often applied4 ,the old truths1 treasured in picturesque phrase and jingle1 were brought over the ocean unchanged and made to do duty1--a case of new wine in old bottles again1 for a gentle old ,irish proverb splits up the back when it tries to accommodate itself to a week of our reckless but magnificent weather4 ,fairy stories are jewels to be cherished4 ,and it is a careless and unimaginative race that perpetuates no legends4 ,even old saws are quaint and should be preserved3 ,see a pin and pick it up1 all the day you'll have good luck4 ,let that sort of thing go on because it adds richness to our conversation4 ,but if a thousand men1 after having picked up their morning pins1 sat around waiting for the ensuing luck the progress of scientific business management would be halted4 ,and precisely that way is the knowledge of ordinary weather facts halted1--a full-grown superstition sits in the path4 ,instead of relying upon their eyes the majority of people rely upon a bit of doggerel4 ,for example1 millions of people firmly believe that the ground-hog is a key to the weather4 ,they say that if the ground-hog does not see his shadow on the #bnd of ,february that winter is over6 ,this is the sort of thing that obscures the findings of science not to mention common-sense4 ,few of these people have ever seen a ground-hog4 ,few of the rest have ever studied its habits4 ,the ant1 the mouse1 the fly1 the rat1 and the mosquito have far more influence upon our lives than the ground-hog has and the most ambitious animal cannot expect to influence atmospheric pressure1 which is responsible for our weather4 ,yet as often as the #bnd of ,february comes around the hopes of many are either dashed or raised according to the actions of this creature4 ,as a matter of fact1 whether ,february #bnd is clear or cloudy can have no influence on the rest of the winter4 ,almost all the other proverbs have a basis of reason4 ,but this puts its believers in the wrong either way4 ,if they say that it is the actions of the animal that they rely upon they depend upon a characteristic thoroughly and surely disproved4 ,no animal1 although it may sense a change in the weather a few hours in advance1 is able to feel it for three days ahead to say nothing of six weeks4 ,if these people say1 on the other hand1 that a cloudy ,february #bnd means an immediate and complete let up of winter1 or that a clear ,february #bnd means a certain continuance of cold weather for six weeks1 they have only to trouble themselves to look at the files of the nearest ,weather ,bureau for the last forty years4 ,they will find no connection4 ,the trouble is that they will not look1 but keep on repeating the bit of nonsense and believing in it1 although the strength of their convictions probably does not reduce their coal-bills4 ,the same people are fond of saying that the first three days of ,december show what the winter will be like4 ,that is1 if the #ast is fair so will ,december be2 if the #bnd is cold so will ,january be2 and if it snows on the #crd1 so will it snow in ,february4 ,if all three should be clear and warm certainly a remarkable winter would follow6 ,no rain1 no snow1 no cold6 ,you see how absurd this superstition is4 ,a dry moon lies on its back6 ,after the ground-hog the moon is supposed to have the most influence on our seasons4 ,the ,government and many scientists connected with no governments have made careful1 exhaustive and conclusive investigations4 ,no relation between the moon and our weather has been discovered except as she causes our tides and they affect atmospheric pressure in an infinitesimal degree4 ,we would still have just as much and just as variable weather if there were no moon4 ,the weather changes with the changing moon1 and it does not change as the moon changes1 and the chances are about even that the times of change will coincide4 ,so there is1 therefore1 absolutely no foundation for the dozens of proverbs that yoke the changes of the moon with the changes of our weather4 ,neither in science nor in observation has any sequence been deduced4 ,so the moon may lie on its back or on its side or stand on its head and the weather will remain dry if no low pressure areas cross the country1 and it can lie on its back for days and the country be drowned out if they do4 ,there are enough pretty things to say about the moon1 anyway1 and will be more all the time for1 to commit a paraphrase3 ,science is stranger than superstition4 ,it will rain for forty days straight if it rains on ,st4 ,swithin's ,day1 which1 ,i might as well say for the benefit of those who don't know their saints1 falls on ,july #aeth every year4 ,it would be interesting to know how many people in a hundred really believe this1 or really believe all the other things that are attributed to the saints1--quite a few1 probably4 ,luckily for ,st4 ,swithin ,july and ,august are wet months1 with often several days of showers or thunderstorms in succession4 ,but never once in ,philadelphia has it rained for forty days1 one right after another1 although half the ,july #aeths have been rained on4 ,this proverb is one of those that had better never been transplanted from its native ,ireland where rain for #dj days would excite scarcely a curse4 ,long and loud singing of robins denotes rain4 ,it does not4 ,oftener than not it denotes the time of day4 ,just watch the robins and listen to them and see what they do before a storm1 during it1 after it1 and then you will see how little the songs of birds can be depended upon to supplant the barometer4 ,if ,march comes in like a lion it will go out like a lamb1 and the other way round4 ,i have seen ,march come in like a lion and go out like a lion1 come in like a lion and go out like a lamb1 come in like a lamb and go out like a lion1 and come in like a lamb and go out like a ,noah's ark4 ,but ,i never have seen ,march do anything dependable4 ,it is quite impossible to tell how ,march is going out on ,march #bgth1 and absolutely impossible to tell on ,march #ast4 ,but there is this much observation expressed in the proverb1 that ,march is so changeable that1 if it comes in cold1 windy1 unsettled1 there is not so much chance for such weather still to be going on at the end of the month1 and still less in ,england where the proverb came from4 ,this is a harmless proverb unless it should lead people to actually count upon a pleasant spring just because ,march had an unpleasant inception4 ,misfortunes rarely come singly1 even on the weather calendar4 ,when squirrels are scarce in autumn the winter will be severe4 ,aside from the scientific truth that the animals cannot know in advance about the seasons there is little evidence on either side to base a contention4 ,nobody has made a squirrel census2 nobody1 probably1 has found out whether they increase in numbers for six years and then die off in great quantities as do the rabbits in the north country on the seventh2 nobody has connected their apparent numbers year after year with the actual severities of the winters4 ,and so nobody has a right to promulgate the report 7except as a bit of nonsense like ,april ,fool7 that the ensuing winter is going to be a record breaker because the squirrels have disappeared4 ,it would be far truer to say that ,when squirrels are scarce in autumn the hunters have been busy1 and let it go at that4 ,there are a lot of proverbs in this connection about goose bones and hickory nuts and wild geese1 which sound plausible but are never proved4 ,if the birds have all the sense credited to them it is strange that some allow themselves to be caught by an early snowstorm in the fall and decimated4 ,also it is not uncommon for early migrations in the spring to arrive in the north to be slain by the thousand by a belated blizzard4 ,it is granted that animals and birds1 having a far greater sensitiveness than man1 occasionally sense a catastrophe some hours before it is evidenced by any visual signs1 but seasonal wisdom has not been proved in any one instance and disproved in many4 ,none of the proverbs relating to the animals and birds are to be depended upon4 ,they deceive1 much to the regret of all the meteorologists who would welcome any genuine clue to nature of the coming season4 ,any farmer would be only too glad to keep a menagerie of squirrels and wild geese and toads if only he might be assured by them of the coming seasonal conditions4 ,the proverbs given indicate the range1 possibly1 but certainly not the full absurdity of the old weather sayings4 ,there are many other proverbs that contain at least a half truth4 ,enough blue sky to make a ,dutchman's breeches indicates clearing1 is one that is true if the wind has changed to the west4 ,if the wind still blows from an easterly quarter blue sky for a ,dutchman's whole wardrobe would not insure clear weather4 ,all sayings must be tested many times before they are believed implicitly4 ,there is always a thaw in ,january1 is about as true a generalization as can be made about things for which generalizations are never strictly in place4 ,even in ,canada the severity of the winter is often broken by a spell of warmer weather with a rain1 perhaps1 in the dead of winter4 ,in the ,united ,states a winter without some break in each of the months would be a most unusual occurrence4 ,so that it is quite reasonable to expect the ,january thaw any time from ,christmas until the middle of ,february4 ,a late spring never deceives1 unless it is so very late1 like the phenomenal spring of #aijg1 that the jump is made1 perforce1 into summer4 ,that is a cruel deception4 ,what is meant of course is that if the freezing weather continues consistently1 well past the average1 the likelihood of frost-damage to fruit is slight4 ,there is nothing much worse than for the blossoms to be forced by a period of warm weather early1 for there is only a slim chance that it will continue past the danger limit4 ,it is surprising how late frost may occur1--the last date for killing frost in ,pennsylvania is about ,may #ajth on the average1 which makes it possible till ,june4 ,the first robins indicate the approach of spring4 ,but certainly not its arrival4 ,if the moon rises clear expect fair weather4 ,right2 because if it is summer even the eastern horizon would show the humidity necessary enough to cause a thunderstorm1 and in winter the cirrus clouds give several hours' warning4 ,but1 again1 the wind is the chief factor to be considered4 ,proverbs1 representing variations of the truth1 could be given about every manifestation of the skies as well as about things that were never manifest except in the imagination1 for every country has contributed to the volume of weather-lore4 ,but1 unfortunately1 neither age nor amount of repetition are as good as the truth and they should be discarded if they are false4 ,the way to discard is not to repeat4 ,the man who desires weather-wisdom should seek it with his eyes4 ,his comparison will be that which he sees with that which he has seen1 and he will soon form all the weather axioms he needs for himself4 ,the local ,bureau or the ,bureau at ,washington will answer all his inquiries1 cheerfully1 promptly1 and free of charge4 ,of course there are things that the ,bureau wants to know itself4 ,it is very curious about the higher strata of air4 ,small balloons have carried very light instruments to an altitude of fifteen miles and brought considerable knowledge to earth1 but each bit makes more knowledge imperative4 ,the cry of last frontier hurts the adventurous1 the exploring1 the woods-loving as no other cry has power to hurt4 ,with the ,poles gone and ,alaska in harness we are inclined to think that it is all over4 ,we resign ourselves to our trammelling globe1--as the gold-fish do1--forgetting4 ,but there is plenty of interest left4 ,the birds must be brought back4 ,forests must be made and patrolled1 and the air-ocean is still unknown4 ,that1 at any rate1 has remained unspoiled by man4 ,the seas have been charted and the mountains have been disemboweled1 but the atmosphere is unconquered4 ,more must be known4 ,squadrons of aeroplanes cannot ride out the gale until their pilots know all about the gale4 ,until that time there need be no cry of last frontier1 for until that time the weather will continue to be our overlord1 whose dominions are flaunted before the watcher on the porch and the runner on the trail4 ,,condensations ,look for continued fair weather when3 ,a gentle wind blows from the west1 northwest1 or a little south of west4 ,the sun sets in a cloudless sky4 ,the sunset is composed of light tints1 inclining to red or yellow4 ,the sunset is followed by a glowing and slow-fading western sky4 ,the sun sets like a ball of fire 7warmer74 ,the sun rises out of a gray sky4 ,the clouds are noticeably high for the season4 ,the clouds rise on the mountains4 ,the clouds have frequent breaks showing blue sky between4 ,the puffy cumulus clouds show a lot of white4 ,the cumulus clouds decrease toward nightfall4 ,the winter sky is mottled with a northwest wind4 ,the summer morning fog breaks before ten o'clock4 ,the dawn is low4 ,the blue sky has a tendency to show green near the northern horizon 7colder74 ,the sun breaks through a departing thunderstorm and makes a rainbow4 ,snow-flurries drift down a north wind 7colder74 ,cirrus clouds1 or others1 dissolve1 or cirrus have tails down4 ,spiders spin on the grass4 ,there is a moderate dew or frost4 ,the temperature is normal or colder than normal1 other signs being right4 ,the sky is sown with stars4 ,the moon rises clear4 ,the wind blows down mountain ravines after nightfall4 ,the salt is dry1 smoke ascends1 birds fly high1 and animals act normally4 ,the barometer rises slowly1 or is steady at or above #cj4jj4 ,no change need be feared as the anticyclone nears1 or for three days after clear conditions are established so long as the wind remains brisk from some westerly quarter4 ,the direction of the wind1 the kind of cloud1 and the temperature changes are the factors to watch if you have no barometer4 99 99 99 99 99 ,look for a change toward storms when3 ,the west wind suddenly drops4 ,the west wind shifts to south or northeast4 ,the cirrus clouds appear in well-organized lines4 ,the cirrus clouds merge into cirro-stratus4 ,the sky looks like fish scales1 so-called mackerel sky4 ,light scud drifts across the sky from east to west4 ,the summer cumulus clouds increase in size as the afternoon proceeds4 ,walls grow damp1 flies are more of a burden than usual1 swallows fly low4 ,smoke falls to the ground4 ,there have been three white frosts4 ,a halo appears around either the moon or sun4 ,when sun-dogs appear about the sun1 denoting ice-particles in the air4 ,the summer morning is sultry and the wind variable4 ,the temperature is much above the normal4 ,few stars are visible and those are indistinct4 ,the clouds gather about the mountain tops1 or drop down the mountain-sides4 ,the wind continues to blow up ravines after nightfall4 ,the sunset is a dull gray1 or the sun sets into a livid cloudbank4 ,the sunrise is a fiery red1 and the dawn is high4 ,the sun gradually is smothered in fine-textured clouds and the wind shifts4 ,the temperature does not fall at night4 ,the signs most to be heeded are the shift of wind to a point east of north or south1 the gradual filming of the sky with cirrus and cirro-stratus1 and the increase of temperature4 ,of course1 the barometer is the best indicator of all4 99 99 99 99 99 ,look for a change toward clearing when3 ,the wind shifts from the easterly quarter into the west4 ,the temperature falls rapidly4 ,the clouds rise1 or break1 or lighten perceptibly in color4 ,patches of blue sky appear through the rifts in the clouds1 wind north4 ,raindrops grow smaller after the windshift4 ,snowflakes drive less busily1 float lazily down1 or thin out conspicuously4 ,seams appear in the clouds1 snow will cease and rain probably4 ,the thunder and lightning occur only in the eastern quarter4 ,permanent clearing will not be effected until the change of the wind to the points on the western half of the compass show that the cyclone has definitely passed to the north or south or over the locality4 ,in winter the cloud covering may move off slowly1 but there will be little precipitation after the wind has reached north or west4 ,the bank of cirro-stratus gets thinner and the moon or the sun gradually shines through4 ,in summer clearing is much more abrupt1 as is the clouding up4 ,the ability to sense accurately the moment when the weights are shifted and the change to clearing commences takes some observation to acquire1 but the advantage is worth it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,rain 7or snow7 will fall3 ,within five minutes after the arch of the thundercloud is seen to move toward one4 ,within five minutes when the curtain of falling drops obscures the landscape to the west of one4 ,within a few minutes after the bottoms of cumulus clouds turn from black to gray1 letting down visible trailing showers4 ,within a short while after the winter sky has become uniform in color4 ,within an hour after the pavement-like1 but scarcely discernible1 thundercloud consolidates along the west1 if the wind is from the southwest4 ,if the wind is from the southeast this cloud may take four hours to rise4 ,from two to eight hours after the sun or moon has vanished behind the cirro-stratus4 ,from eight to forty-eight hours after the first cirrus is seen1 depending upon the distance from the sea and the time of year4 ,every little while from southwest showers in the passing of a summer low4 ,for about eight to twelve hours continuously in a winter storm1 and intermittently until the wind swings west4 ,for a very short while from a thunder cloud rising on a west wind4 ,for an hour or more from a thundercloud that rises on a southwest or southeast wind4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the temperature will fall when3 ,a thunderstorm breaks1 continuing low if the wind blows from the west after clearing4 ,nightfall approaches and the sky is free from clouds4 ,the mercury remains at the same level during the sunny hours4 ,a cyclone is departing and the anticyclone moving in4 ,the wind swings north of east in a storm1--the fall will be gradual4 ,the wind swings west of south in a storm1--the fall will be sudden4 ,a snowstorm begins1 for a short time only4 ,a cloudy day clears at sunset4 ,snow flurries are seen4 ,the sky shows green and the clouds look hard4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the temperature will rise when3 ,a thunderstorm is brewing1 or a day or two before a winter cyclone4 ,after a thunderstorm if another is to follow4 ,the morning is free from clouds and if it is not the first day of a cold wave4 ,the wind dips south of west or south of northeast1 the former shift bringing the more sudden rise4 ,the sun sets as a ball of fire1 at which one can easily look4 ,a snowstorm gets under way1 unless the wind is swinging toward the north4 ,a ,,page ,,of ,,problems ,one satisfying thing about meteorology is that there is a constantly widening field for conquest4 ,among the questions that await solution are3 ,what are the relative densities of clouds8 ,what is the original atmospheric electricity1 its distribution and laws8 ,what are the causes and nature of precipitation8 ,will aerial ascents on all sides of an atmospheric disturbance discover the mechanism of storms8 ,what relations are there of solar radiation to our atmosphere8 ,what influence do lunar tides bear to our weather8 ,on what does the permanence of the summer lows over the ,rockies depend8 ,these questions are only samples4 ,many certainties can be attained by merely complete observations over a longer period of time1 others by new systems of observations that await a more generous appropriation4 ,even the upper air investigations on ,mt4 ,weather1 ,va41 have had to be curtailed4 ,the ,bureau's record has proved it efficient1 of enormous benefit to the country1 and deserving of the encouragement instead of the depreciation of every citizen4 ,,what ,,the ,,weather ,,flags ,,mean ,in every city the ,bureau causes flags to be flown from some prominent place so that a glance may show shippers and everybody who may be concerned at the shortest possible notice just what the approaching weather conditions are4 ,a plain white flag means fair weather4 ,a black triangle stands for temperature and is always exhibited with some other flag4 ,its relative position1 either above or below indicates higher or lower temperature4 ,therefore white flag with the black below means fair and colder4 ,the white flag with the black above means fair and warmer4 ,a white flag with a black square in the center means a cold wave4 ,a blue flag means either rain or snow4 ,the blue with the black above would mean rain or snow and warmer4 ,the blue with the black below would mean rain or snow and colder4 ,a blue and white flag means a local shower4 ,the same meanings are attached to the black triangle in connection with the blue and white4 ,a red triangle indicates a dangerous local storm1 is called the information flag meaning that shippers should apply to the ,bureau for news of the direction in which the storm is travelling4 ,a red square with a black center means severe winds4 #a4 ,southwesterly with a white triangle below4 #b4 ,northwesterly with a white triangle above4 #c4 ,northeasterly with a red triangle above4 #d4 ,southeasterly with a red triangle below4 ,,our ,,four ,,world',s ,,records1--,,and ,,others ,maximum ,temperature ,united ,states1 #acd at ,greenland ,ranch1 ,cal41 ,july1 #aiac4 ,world1 #acd at ,greenland ,ranch1 ,cal4 ,minimum ,temperature ,united ,states1 -#fe at ,miles ,city1 ,mont41 ,january1 #ahhh4 ,world1 -#ih at ,verkhojansk1 ,siberia4 ,absolute ,zero of ,space -#dei degrees ,fahrenheit4 ,maximum ,annual ,precipitation ,united ,states1 #afg4bi inches at ,glenora1 ,oreg41 in #ahif4 ,world1 #ije4a inches1 ,cherrapunji1 ,india1 #ahfa4 ,maximum ,monthly ,precipitation ,united ,states1 #ga4e inches at ,helen ,mine1 ,cal41 ,january1 #aiji4 ,world1 #cff inches1 ,cherrapunji1 ,india1 ,july1 #ahfa4 ,maximum #bd ,hour ,precipitation ,united ,states1 #ba inches at ,alexandria1 ,la4 ,minimum ,annual ,precipitation ,united ,states1 none at ,bagdad1 ,cal41 in #aiac4 7,only #c4ic inches fell at ,bagdad during period #aiji to #aiac1 inclusive47 ,maximum ,annual ,snowfall ,united ,states1 #ghf inches at ,tamarack1 ,cal41 #aiaa4 ,maximum ,monthly ,snowfall ,united ,states1 #cij inches at ,tamarack1 ,cal41 ,january1 #aiaa4 ,maximum ,wind ,velocity ,united ,states1 #ahf miles per hour at ,mt4 ,washington1 on ,jan4 #aa1 #ahgh4 7,much higher velocities have undoubtedly occurred in tornadoes1 etc41 but have not been susceptible of instrumental measurement47 ,,the ,,end ,,outing ,,publishing ,,company--,,new ,,york ,,outing ,,handbooks ,the textbooks for outdoor work and play ,each book deals with a separate subject and deals with it thoroughly4 ,if you want to know anything about ,airedales an ,,outing ,,handbook gives you all you want4 ,if it's ,apple ,growing1 another ,,outing ,,handbook meets your need4 ,the ,fisherman1 the ,camper1 the ,poultry-raiser1 the ,automobilist1 the ,horseman1 all varieties of out-door enthusiasts1 will find separate volumes for their separate interests4 ,there is no waste space4 ,the series is based on the plan of one subject to a book and each book complete4 ,the authors are experts4 ,each book has been specially prepared for this series and all are published in uniform style1 flexible cloth binding4 ,two hundred titles are projected4 ,the series covers all phases of outdoor life1 from bee-keeping to big-game shooting4 ,among the books now ready or in preparation are those described on the following pages4 ,,price ,,seventy ,,cents ,,per ,,vol4 ,,net1 ,,postage #e;c4 ,,extra ,,the ,,numbers ,,make ,,ordering ,,easy4 #a4 ,,exercise ,,and ,,health1 by ,dr4 ,woods ,hutchinson4 ,dr4 ,hutchinson takes the common-sense view that the greatest problem in exercise for most of us is to get enough of the right kind4 ,the greatest error in exercise is not to take enough1 and the greatest danger in athletics is in giving them up4 ,he writes in a direct matter-of-fact manner with an avoidance of medical terms1 and a strong emphasis on the rational1 all-round manner of living that is best calculated to bring a man to a ripe old age with little illness or consciousness of bodily weakness4 ,illustration #b4 ,,camp ,,cookery1 by ,horace ,kephart4 ,the less a man carries in his pack the more he must carry in his head1 says ,mr4 ,kephart4 ,this book tells what a man should carry in both pack and head4 ,every step is traced--the selection of provisions and utensils1 with the kind and quantity of each1 the preparation of game1 the building of fires1 the cooking of every conceivable kind of food that the camp outfit or woods1 fields or streams may provide--even to the making of desserts4 ,every recipe is the result of hard practice and long experience4 ,illustration #c4 ,,backwoods ,,surgery ,,and ,,medicine1 by ,charles ,s4 ,moody1 ,m4 ,d4 ,a handy book for the prudent lover of the woods who doesn't expect to be ill but believes in being on the safe side4 ,common-sense methods for the treatment of the ordinary wounds and accidents are described--setting a broken limb1 reducing a dislocation1 caring for burns1 cuts1 etc4 ,practical remedies for camp diseases are recommended1 as well as the ordinary indications of the most probable ailments4 ,includes a list of the necessary medical and surgical supplies4 #d4 ,,apple ,,growing1 by ,m4 ,c4 ,burritt4 ,the various problems confronting the apple grower1 from the preparation of the soil and the planting of the trees to the marketing of the fruit1 are discussed in detail by the author4 ,chapter headings are3--,the ,outlook for the ,growing of ,apples--,planning for the ,orchard--,planting and ,growing the ,orchard--,pruning the ,trees--,cultivation and ,cover ,cropping--,manuring and ,fertilizing--,insects and ,diseases ,affecting the ,apple--,the ,principles and ,practice of ,spraying--,harvesting and ,storing--,markets and ,marketing--,some ,hints on ,renovating ,old ,orchards--,the ,cost of ,growing ,apples4 #e4 ,,the ,,airedale1 by ,williams ,haynes4 ,the book opens with a short chapter on the origin and development of the ,airedale1 as a distinctive breed4 ,the author then takes up the problems of type as bearing on the selection of the dog1 breeding1 training and use4 ,the book is designed for the non-professional dog fancier1 who wishes common sense advice which does not involve elaborate preparations or expenditure4 ,chapters are included on the care of the dog in the kennel and simple remedies for ordinary diseases4 #f4 ,,the ,,automobile4--,its selection1 ,care and ,use1 by ,robert ,sloss4 ,this is a plain1 practical discussion of the things that every man needs to know if he is to buy the right car and get the most out of it4 ,the various details of operation and care are given in simple1 intelligent terms4 ,from it the car owner can easily learn the mechanism of his motor and the art of locating motor trouble1 as well as how to use his car for the greatest pleasure4 ,a chapter is included on building garages4 #g4 ,,fishing ,,kits ,,and ,,equipment1 by ,samuel ,g4 ,camp4 ,a complete guide to the angler buying a new outfit4 ,every detail of the fishing kit of the freshwater angler is described1 from rodtip to creel1 and clothing4 ,special emphasis is laid on outfitting for fly fishing1 but full instruction is also given to the man who wants to catch pickerel1 pike1 muskellunge1 lake-trout1 bass and other freshwater game fishes4 ,prices are quoted for all articles recommended and the approved method of selecting and testing the various rods1 lines1 leaders1 etc41 is described4 ,illustration #h4 ,,the ,,fine ,,art ,,of ,,fishing1 by ,samuel ,g4 ,camp4 ,combine the pleasure of catching fish with the gratification of following the sport in the most approved manner4 ,the suggestions offered are helpful to beginner and expert anglers4 ,the range of fish and fishing conditions covered is wide and includes such subjects as ,casting ,fine and ,far ,off1 ,strip-,casting for ,bass1 ,fishing for ,mountain ,trout and ,autumn ,fishing for ,lake ,trout4 ,the book is pervaded with a spirit of love for the streamside and the out-doors generally which the genuine angler will appreciate4 ,a companion book to ,fishing ,kits and ,equipment4 ,the advice on outfitting so capably given in that book is supplemented in this later work by equally valuable information on how to use the equipment4 #i4 ,,the ,,horse--,its ,breeding1 ,care and ,use1 by ,david ,buffum4 ,mr4 ,buffum takes up the common1 every-day problems of the ordinary horse-users1 such as feeding1 shoeing1 simple home remedies1 breaking and the cure for various equine vices4 ,an important chapter is that tracing the influx of ,arabian blood into the ,english and ,american horses and its value and limitations4 ,chapters are included on draft-horses1 carriage horses1 and the development of the two-minute trotter4 ,it is distinctly a sensible book for the sensible man who wishes to know how he can improve his horses and his horsemanship at the same time4 #aj4 ,,the ,,motor ,,boat--,its ,selection1 ,care and ,use1 by ,h4 ,w4 ,slauson4 ,the intending purchaser is advised as to the type of motor boat best suited to his particular needs and how to keep it in running condition after purchased4 ,the chapter headings are3 ,kinds and ,uses of ,motor ,boats--,when the ,motor ,balks--,speeding of the ,motor ,boat--,getting ,more ,power from a ,new ,motor--,how to ,install a ,marine ,power ,plant--,accessories--,covers1 ,canopies and ,tops--,camping and ,cruising--,the ,boathouse4 #aa4 ,,outdoor ,,signalling1 by ,elbert ,wells4 ,mr4 ,wells has perfected a method of signalling by means of wig-wag1 light1 smoke1 or whistle which is as simple as it is effective4 ,the fundamental principle can be learned in ten minutes and its application is far easier than that of any other code now in use4 ,it permits also the use of cipher and can be adapted to almost any imaginable conditions of weather1 light1 or topography4 #ab4 ,,tracks ,,and ,,tracking1 by ,josef ,brunner4 ,after twenty years of patient study and practical experience1 ,mr4 ,brunner can1 from his intimate knowledge1 speak with authority on this subject4 ,tracks and ,tracking shows how to follow intelligently even the most intricate animal or bird tracks4 ,it teaches how to interpret tracks of wild game and decipher the many tell-tale signs of the chase that would otherwise pass unnoticed4 ,it proves how it is possible to tell from the footprints the name1 sex1 speed1 direction1 whether and how wounded1 and many other things about wild animals and birds4 ,all material has been gathered first hand2 the drawings and half-tones from photographs form an important part of the work4 ,illustration #ac4 ,,wing ,,and ,,trap-,,shooting1 by ,charles ,askins4 ,contains a full discussion of the various methods1 such as snap-shooting1 swing and half-swing1 discusses the flight of birds with reference to the gunner's problem of lead and range and makes special application of the various points to the different birds commonly shot in this country4 ,a chapter is included on trap shooting and the book closes with a forceful and common-sense presentation of the etiquette of the field4 #ad4 ,,profitable ,,breeds ,,of ,,poultry1 by ,arthur ,s4 ,wheeler4 ,mr4 ,wheeler discusses from personal experience the best-known general purpose breeds4 ,advice is given from the standpoint of the man who desires results in eggs and stock rather than in specimens for exhibition4 ,in addition to a careful analysis of stock--good and bad--and some conclusions regarding housing and management1 the author writes in detail regarding ,plymouth ,rocks1 ,wyandottes1 ,orpingtons1 ,rhode ,island ,reds1 ,mediterraneans and the ,cornish4 #ae4 ,,rifles ,,and ,,rifle ,,shooting1 by ,charles ,askins4 ,a practical manual describing various makes and mechanisms1 in addition to discussing in detail the range and limitations in the use of the rifle4 ,treats on the every style and make of rifle as well as their use4 ,every type of rifle is discussed so that the book is complete in every detail4 #af4 ,,sporting ,,firearms1 by ,horace ,kephart4 ,this book is the result of painstaking tests and experiments4 ,practically nothing is taken for granted4 ,part ,i deals with the rifle1 and ,part ,,ii with the shotgun4 ,the man seeking guidance in the selection and use of small firearms1 as well as the advanced student of the subject1 will receive an unusual amount of assistance from this work4 ,the chapter headings are3 ,rifles and ,ammunition--,the ,flight of ,bullets--,killing ,power--,rifle ,mechanism and ,materials--,rifle ,sights--,triggers and ,stocks--,care of ,rifle--,shot ,patterns and ,penetration--,gauges and ,weights--,mechanism and ,build of ,shotguns4 #ag4 ,,the ,,yachtsman',s ,,handbook1 by ,herbert ,l4 ,stone4 ,the author and compiler of this work is the editor of ,yachting4 ,he treats in simple language of the many problems confronting the amateur sailor and motor boatman4 ,handling ground tackle1 handling lines1 taking soundings1 the use of the lead line1 care and use of sails1 yachting etiquette1 are all given careful attention4 ,some light is thrown upon the operation of the gasoline motor1 and suggestions are made for the avoidance of engine troubles4 #ah4 ,,scottish ,,and ,,irish ,,terriers1 by ,williams ,haynes4 ,this is a companion book to ,the ,airedale1 and deals with the history and development of both breeds4 ,for the owner of the dog1 valuable information is given as to the use of the terriers1 their treatment in health1 their treatment when sick1 the principles of dog breeding1 and dog shows and rules4 #ai4 ,,navigation ,,for ,,the ,,amateur1 by ,capt4 ,e4 ,t4 ,morton4 ,a short treatise on the simpler methods of finding position at sea by the observation of the sun's altitude and the use of the sextant and chronometer4 ,it is arranged especially for yachtsmen and amateurs who wish to know the simpler formulae for the necessary navigation involved in taking a boat anywhere off shore4 ,illustrated with drawings4 ,chapter headings3 ,fundamental ,terms--,time--,the ,sumner ,line--,the ,day's ,work1 ,equal ,altitude1 and ,ex-,meridian ,sights--,hints on ,taking ,observations4 #bj4 ,,outdoor ,,photography1 by ,julian ,a4 ,dimock4 ,a solution of all the problems in camera work out-of-doors4 ,the various subjects dealt with are3 ,the ,camera--,lens and ,plates--,light and ,exposure--,development--,prints and ,printing--,composition--,landscapes--,f igure ,work--,speed ,photography--,the ,leaping ,tarpon--,sea ,pictures--,in the ,good ,old ,winter ,time--,wild ,life4 #ba4 ,,packing ,,and ,,portaging1 by ,dillon ,wallace4 ,mr4 ,wallace has brought together in one volume all the valuable information on the different ways of making and carrying the different kinds of packs4 ,the ground covered ranges from man-packing to horse-packing1 from the use of the tump line to throwing the diamond hitch4 #bb4 ,,the ,,bull ,,terrier1 by ,williams ,haynes4 ,this is a companion book to ,the ,airedale and ,scottish and ,irish ,terriers by the same author4 ,its greatest usefulness is as a guide to the dog owner who wishes to be his own kennel manager4 ,a full account of the development of the breed is given with a description of best types and standards4 ,recommendations for the care of the dog in health or sickness are included4 ,the chapter heads cover such matters as3--,the ,bull ,terrier's ,history--,training the ,bull ,terrier--,the ,terrier in ,health--,kenneling--,diseases4 ,illustration #bc4 ,,the ,,fox ,,terrier1 by ,williams ,haynes4 ,as in his other books on the terrier1 ,mr4 ,haynes takes up the origin and history of the breed1 its types and standards1 and the more exclusive representatives down to the present time4 ,training the ,fox ,terrier--,his ,care and ,kenneling in ,sickness and ,health--and the ,various ,uses to ,which ,he ,can ,be ,put--are among the phases handled4 #bd4 ,,suburban ,,gardens1 by ,grace ,tabor4 ,illustrated with diagrams4 ,the author regards the house and grounds as a complete unit and shows how the best results may be obtained by carrying the reader in detail through the various phases of designing the garden1 with the levels and contours necessary1 laying out the walks and paths1 planning and placing the arbors1 summer houses1 seats1 etc41 and selecting and placing trees1 shrubs1 vines and flowers4 ,ideal plans for plots of various sizes are appended1 as well as suggestions for correcting mistakes that have been made through starting wrong4 ,illustration #be4 ,,fishing ,,with ,,floating ,,flies1 by ,samuel ,g4 ,camp4 ,this is an art that is comparatively new in this country although ,english anglers have used the dry fly for generations4 ,mr4 ,camp has given the matter special study and is one of the few ,american anglers who really understands the matter from the selection of the outfit to the landing of the fish4 ,his book takes up the process in that order1 namely--,how to ,outfit for ,dry ,fly ,fishing--,how1 ,where1 and ,when to ,cast--,the ,selection and ,use of ,floating ,flies--,dry ,fly ,fishing for ,brook1 ,brown and ,rainbow ,trout--,hooking1 ,playing and ,landing--,practical ,hints on ,dry ,fly ,fishing4 #bf4 ,,the ,,gasoline ,,motor1 by ,harold ,whiting ,slauson4 ,deals with the practical problems of motor operation4 ,the standpoint is that of the man who wishes to know how and why gasoline generates power and something about the various types4 ,describes in detail the different parts of motors and the faults to which they are liable4 ,also gives full directions as to repair and upkeep4 ,various chapters deal with ,types of ,motors--,valves--,bearings--,ignition-- ,carburetors--,lubrication--,fuel--,two ,cycle ,motors4 #bg4 ,,ice ,,boating1 by ,h4 ,l4 ,stone4 ,illustrated with diagrams4 ,here have been brought together all the available information on the organization and history of ice-boating1 the building of the various types of ice yachts1 from the small #ae footer to the #fjj-;foot racer1 together with detailed plans and specifications4 ,full information is also given to meet the needs of those who wish to be able to build and sail their own boats but are handicapped by the lack of proper knowledge as to just the points described in this volume4 #bh4 ,,modern ,,golf1 by ,harold ,h4 ,hilton4 ,mr4 ,hilton is the only man who has ever held the amateur championship of ,great ,britain and the ,united ,states in the same year4 ,in addition to this1 he has1 for years1 been recognized as one of the most intelligent1 steady players of the game in ,england4 ,this book is a product of his advanced thought and experience and gives the reader sound advice1 not so much on the mere swinging of the clubs as in the actual playing of the game1 with all the factors that enter into it4 ,he discusses the use of wooden clubs1 the choice of clubs1 the art of approaching1 tournament play as a distinct thing in itself1 and kindred subjects4 #bi4 ,,intensive ,,farming1 by ,l4 ,c4 ,corbett4 ,a discussion of the meaning1 method and value of intensive methods in agriculture4 ,this book is designed for the convenience of practical farmers who find themselves under the necessity of making a living out of high-priced land4 #cj4 ,,practical ,,dog ,,breeding1 by ,williams ,haynes4 ,this is a companion volume to ,,practical ,,dog ,,keeping1 described below4 ,it goes at length into the fundamental questions of breeding1 such as selection of types on both sides1 the perpetuation of desirable1 and the elimination of undesirable1 qualities1 the value of prepotency in building up a desired breed1 etc4 ,the arguments are illustrated with instances of what has been accomplished1 both good and bad1 in the case of well-known breeds4 #ca4 ,,practical ,,dog ,,keeping1 by ,williams ,haynes4 ,mr4 ,haynes is well known to the readers of the ,,outing ,,handbooks as the author of books on the terriers4 ,his new book is somewhat more ambitious in that it carries him into the general field of selection of breeds1 the buying and selling of dogs1 the care of dogs in kennels1 handling in bench shows and field trials1 and at considerable length into such subjects as food and feeding1 exercise and grooming1 disease1 etc4 ,illustration #cb4 ,,the ,,vegetable ,,garden1 by ,r4 ,l4 ,watts4 ,this book is designed for the small grower with a limited plot of ground4 ,the reader is told what types of vegetables to select1 the manner of planting and cultivation1 and the returns that may be expected4 #cc4 ,,amateur ,,rodmaking1 by ,perry ,d4 ,frazer4 ,illustrated4 ,a practical manual for all those who want to make their own rod and fittings4 ,it contains a review of fishing rod history1 a discussion of materials1 a list of the tools needed1 description of the method to be followed in making all kinds of rods1 including fly-casting1 bait-fishing1 salmon1 etc41 with full instructions for winding1 varnishing1 etc4 #cd4 ,,pistol ,,and ,,revolver ,,shooting1 by ,a4 ,l4 ,a4 ,himmelwright4 ,a new and revised edition of a work that has already achieved prominence as an accepted authority on the use of the hand gun4 ,full instructions are given in the use of both revolver and target pistol1 including shooting position1 grip1 position of arm1 etc4 ,the book is thoroughly illustrated with diagrams and photographs and includes the rules of the ,united ,states ,revolver ,association and a list of the records made both here and abroad4 #ce4 ,,pigeon ,,raising1 by ,alice ,mac,leod4 ,this is a book for both fancier and market breeder4 ,full descriptions are given of the construction of houses1 the care of the birds1 preparation for market1 and shipment4 ,descriptions of the various breeds with their markings and characteristics are given4 ,illustrated with photographs and diagrams4 #cf4 ,,fishing ,,tackle1 by ,perry ,d4 ,frazer4 ,illustrated4 ,the subtitle is descriptive4 ,hints for ,beginners in the ,selection1 ,care1 and ,use of ,rods1 ,reels1 ,lines1 etc4 ,it tells all the fisherman needs to know about making and overhauling his tackle during the closed season and gives full instructions for tournament casting and fly-casting4 ,chapters are included on cases and holders for the care of tackle when not in use4 #cg4 ,,automobile ,,operation1 by ,a4 ,l4 ,brennan1 ,jr4 ,illustrated4 ,tells the plain truth about the little things that every motorist wants to know about his own car4 ,do you want to cure ignition troubles8 ,overhaul and adjust your carbureter8 ,keep your transmission in order8 ,get the maximum wear out of your tires8 ,do any other of the hundred and one things that are necessary for the greatest use and enjoyment of your car8 ,then you will find this book useful4 #ch4 ,,the ,,fox ,,hound1 by ,roger ,d4 ,williams4 ,author of ,horse and ,hound4 ,illustrated4 ,the author is the foremost authority on fox hunting and foxhounds in ,america4 ,for years he has kept the foxhound studbook1 and is the final source of information on all disputed points relating to this breed4 ,his book discusses types1 methods of training1 kenneling1 diseases and all the other practical points relating to the use and care of the hound4 ,an appendix is added containing the rules and regulations of hound field trials4 #ci4 ,,salt ,,water ,,game ,,fishing1 by ,charles ,f4 ,holder4 ,mr4 ,holder covers the whole field of his subject devoting a chapter each to such fish as the tuna1 the tarpon1 amberjack1 the sail fish1 the yellow-tail1 the king fish1 the barracuda1 the sea bass and the small game fishes of ,florida1 ,porto ,rico1 the ,pacific ,coast1 ,hawaii1 and the ,philippines4 ,the habits and habitats of the fish are described1 together with the methods and tackle for taking them4 ,the book concludes with an account of the development and rules of the ,american ,sea ,angling ,clubs4 ,illustrated4 #dj4 ,,winter ,,camping1 by ,warwick ,s4 ,carpenter4 ,a book that meets the increasing interest in outdoor life in the cold weather4 ,mr4 ,carpenter discusses such subjects as shelter equipment1 clothing1 food1 snowshoeing1 skiing1 and winter hunting1 wild life in winter woods1 care of frost bite1 etc4 ,it is based on much actual experience in winter camping and is fully illustrated with working photographs4 #da4 ,,woodcraft ,,for ,,women1 by ,mrs4 ,kathrene ,gedney ,pinkerton4 ,the author has spent several years in the ,canadian woods and is thoroughly familiar with the subject from both the masculine and feminine point of view4 ,she gives sound tips on clothing1 camping outfit1 food supplies1 and methods1 by which the woman may adjust herself to the outdoor environment4 #db4 ,,small ,,boat ,,building1 by ,h4 ,w4 ,patterson4 ,illustrated with diagrams and plans4 ,a working manual for the man who wants to be his own designer and builder4 ,detail descriptions and drawings are given showing the various stages in the building1 and chapters are included on proper materials and details4 #dc4 99,,reading ,,the ,,weather1 by ,t4 ,morris ,longstreth4 ,the author gives in detail the various recognized signs for different kinds of weather based primarily on the material worked out by the ,government ,weather ,bureau1 gives rules by which the character and duration of storms may be estimated1 and gives instructions for sensible use of the barometer4 ,he also gives useful information as to various weather averages for different parts of the country1 at different times of the year1 and furnishes sound advice for the camper1 sportsman1 and others who wish to know what they may expect in the weather line4 #dd4 ,,boxing1 by ,d4 ,c4 ,hutchison4 ,practical instruction for men who wish to learn the first steps in the manly art4 ,mr4 ,hutchison writes from long personal experience as an amateur boxer and as a trainer of other amateurs4 ,his instructions are accompanied with full diagrams showing the approved blows and guards4 ,he also gives full directions for training for condition without danger of going stale from overtraining4 ,it is essentially a book for the amateur who boxes for sport and exercise4 #de4 ,,tennis ,,tactics1 by ,raymond ,d4 ,little4 ,out of his store of experience as a successful tennis player1 ,mr4 ,little has written this practical guide for those who wish to know how real tennis is played4 ,he tells the reader when and how to take the net1 discusses the relative merits of the back-court and volleying game and how their proper balance may be achieved2 analyzes and appraises the twist service1 shows the fundamental necessities of successful doubles play4 #df4 99,,how ,,to ,,play ,,tennis1 by ,james ,burns4 ,this book gives simple1 direct instruction from the professional standpoint on the fundamentals of the game4 ,it tells the reader how to hold his racket1 how to swing it for the various strokes1 how to stand and how to cover the court4 ,these points are illustrated with photographs and diagrams4 ,the author also illustrates the course of the ball in the progress of play and points out the positions of greatest safety and greatest danger4 #dg4 ,,taxidermy1 by ,leon ,l4 ,pray4 ,illustrated with diagrams4 ,being a practical taxidermist1 the author at once goes into the question of selection of tools and materials for the various stages of skinning1 stuffing and mounting4 ,the subjects whose handling is described are1 for the most part1 the every-day ones1 such as ordinary birds1 small mammals1 etc41 although adequate instructions are included for mounting big game specimens1 as well as the preliminary care of skins in hot climates4 ,full diagrams accompany the text4 #dh4 ,,the ,,canoe--,,its ,,selection1 ,,care ,,and ,,use1 by ,robert ,e4 ,pinkerton4 ,illustrated with photographs4 ,with proper use the canoe is one of the safest crafts that floats4 ,mr4 ,pinkerton tells how that state of safety may be obtained4 ,he gives full instructions for the selection of the right canoe for each particular purpose or set of conditions4 ,then he tells how it should be used in order to secure the maximum of safety1 comfort and usefulness4 ,his own lesson was learned among the ,indians of ,canada1 where paddling is a high art1 and the use of the canoe almost as much a matter of course as the wearing of moccasins4 #di4 ,,horse ,,packing1 by ,charles ,j4 ,post4 ,illustrated with diagrams4 ,this is a complete description of the hitches1 knots1 and apparatus used in making and carrying loads of various kinds on horseback4 ,its basis is the methods followed in the ,west and in the ,american ,army4 ,the diagrams are full and detailed1 giving the various hitches and knots at each of the important stages so that even the novice can follow and use them4 ,it is the only book ever published on this subject of which this could be said4 ,full description is given of the ideal pack animal1 as well as a catalogue of the diseases and injuries to which such animals are subject4 #ea4 99,,learning ,,to ,,skate1 by ,j4 ,f4 ,verne4 ,the general problem of the art of skating is taken up from the standpoint of the man or woman who puts on skates for the first time4 ,fundamental rules are laid down for learning the simpler strokes1 carrying the reader on through to speed and fancy skating4 ,advice is included on the proper skates and clothing4 #eb4 99,,touring ,,afoot1 by ,dr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,fordyce4 ,illustrated4 ,this book is designed to meet the growing interest in walking trips and covers the whole field of outfit and method for trips of varying length4 ,various standard camping devices are described and outfits are prescribed for all conditions4 ,it is based on the assumption that the reader will want to carry on his own back everything that he requires for the trip4 #ec4 99,,the ,,marine ,,motor1 by ,lieut4 ,frank ,w4 ,sterling1 ,u4 ,s4 ,n4 ,illustrated with diagrams4 ,this book is the product of a wide experience on the engineering staff of the ,united ,states ,navy4 ,it gives careful descriptions of the various parts of the marine motor1 their relation to the whole and their method of operation2 it also describes the commoner troubles and suggests remedies4 ,the principal types of engines are described in detail with diagrams4 ,the object is primarily to give the novice a good working knowledge of his engine1 its operation and care4