Reading the weather

EADING THE
WEATHER

By- T. MORRIS LGNGSTRETH

READING THE WEATHER

Courtesy of Richard F. Warren

SHOWER BEHIND VALLEY FORGE

READING THE
WEATHER

BY
T. MORRIS LONGSTRETH

ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS

BY RICHARD F. WARREN

©UT'INC

HANDBOOKS

Number 43

NEW YORK

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY

MCMXV

Copyright, 1915, by
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY

All rights reserved.

DEDICATED

with love, to my grandmother

MARY GIBSON HALDEMAN

herself responsible for so
much sunshine.

324956

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

FORECAST i

I OUR WELL-ORDERED ATMOSPHERE n

II THE CLEAR DAY 20

III THE STORM CYCLE 4*

IV SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 64

THE CLOUDS 65

THE WINDS 76

TEMPERATURES 86

RAIN AND SNOW 99

DEW AND FROST 112

THE THUNDERSTORM EXPOSED 116

THE TORNADO 129

THE HURRICANE 133

THE CLOUDBURST 139

THE HALO 140

V THE BAROMETER 147

VI THE SEASONS 157

VII THE WEATHER BUREAU 167

VIII A CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS 175

CONDENSATIONS 185

SIGNS OF FAIR WEATHER 185

SIGNS OF COMING STORM 187

SIGNS OF CLEARING 189

WHEN WILL IT RAIN? 190

SIGNS OF TEMPERATURE CHANGE 191

SOME UNSOLVED WEATHER PROBLEMS . . .192
WHAT THE WEATHER FLAGS MEAN . . . .193
OUR FOUR WORLD'S RECORDS, — AND OTHERS . 195

ILLUSTRATIONS

Shower Behind Valley Forge Frontispiece

PAGE

Cirrus Deepening to Cirro-Stratus 16

Cirro Stratus with Cirro-Cumulus Beneath .... 32

Cirro-Cumulus to Alto-Stratus 48

Alto-Stratus 80

Cumulus 96

Stratus 128

Nimbus 160

FORECAST

Science is certainly coming into her own nowa-
days,— and into everybody else's. Every ac-
tivity of man and most of Nature's have felt her
quickening hand. Her eye is upon the rest.
Drinking is going out because the drinker is
inefficient. The fly is going out because he
carries germs. And for everything that goes
out something else comes in that makes people
healthier and more comfortable, and, perhaps,
wiser.

One strange thing about this flood-tide of
science is that it overwhelms the old, buttressed
superstitions the easiest of all, once it really sets
about it. For instance, nothing could have been
better fortified for centuries than the fact that
night air is injurious and should be shut out of
house. Then, science turned its eye upon night
air, found it a little cooler, a trifle moister, and
somewhat cleaner than day air with the result
that we all invite it indoors, now, and even go
out to meet it.

Once interested in the air, science soon began

ii FORECAST

to take up that commonplace but baffling phase
of it called the weather. Now, of all matters
under the sun the weather was the deepest in-
trenched in superstition and hearsay. From the
era of Noah it had been made the subject of
more remarks unrelieved by common sense than
any other. It was at once the commonest topic
for conversation and the rarest for thought.
Considering the opportunities for study of the
weather this conclusion, we must admit, is more
surprising than complimentary to the human
race. But it is so. The fact that science had
to face was this: that the weather had been and
remained a tremendous, dimly-recognized factor
in our level of living. So talk about it all must.
And science set about finding some easy funda-
mental truths to talk instead of the hereditary
gossip about old-fashioned winters or the usual
meaningless conversational coin.

Two groups of men had always known a good
deal about the weather from experience : the
sailor had to know it to save his life, and the
farmer had to cultivate a weather eye along with
his early peas. But the ordinary business man
(and wife), the town-dweller, and even the
suburbanite knew so few of the proven facts that
the weather from day to day, from hour to hour,
was a continual puzzle to them. The rain not

FORECAST iii

only fell upon the just and unjust but it fell un-
questioned, or misunderstood.

At last Science established some sort of a
Weather Bureau in 1870, in our country, and
after this had triumphed over great handicaps,
the Government set it upon its present footing
in 1891. An intelligent interest in the weather
was in likelihood of being aroused by maps,
pamphlets, frost and flood warnings that saved
dollars and lives. Then suddenly, or almost
suddenly, a new force was felt in every commu-
nity. It was the call of outdoors. The new
land of woods and lakes was explored. Men
learned that living by bread alone (without air)
made a very stuffy existence. Hence the man in
town opened all his windows at night, the subur-
ban majority planned to build sleeping porches,
the youngsters begged to go to camp, their
fathers went hunting and fishing in increasing
numbers, and, most important of all, the fathers'
wives began to accompany them into the woods.

Thus, living has been turned inside out, — the
very state of things that old scientist Plato
recommended some thirty thousand moons ago.
And among the manifestations of nature the
weather is holding its place, important and even
fascinating. For the person who most depends
on umbrellas and the subway in the city needs

iv FORECAST

to watch the sky most carefully in the woods.
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 veteran. The
veteran's wife settles it very quickly. She con-
siders the cloud. When the commuter goes
camping he rightly likes his comforts. A wet
skin is not one of these. Therefore he studies
the feel of the wind.

And so it comes about that the person who
talks about storm centers and areas of high pres-
sure and cumulus clouds is no longer regarded
as slightly unhinged. Men are eager to learn
the laws of the snowstorm and the cold wave;
for, with the knowledge that snow is not poison
and cold not necessarily discomfort, January has
been opened up for enjoyments that July could
never give.

Bookwriting and camping are both explained
by the same fact, — a certain fondness for the
thing. I wanted to see the commoner weather
pinned down to facts. The following chapters
resulted. They constitute a sort of Overhead
Baedeker, it being their pleasure to show up the
sureties of the sun and rain and to star the
weather signs that can be relied upon. For,
after all, even the elements, although unruled,
are law-abiding.

READING THE
WEATHER

CHAPTER I

OUR WELL-ORDERED ATMOSPHERE

IF there is anything that has been overlooked
more than another it is our atmosphere.
But it absolutely cannot be avoided — in
books on the weather. It deserves a chapter,
anyway, because if it were not for the atmos-
phere this earth of ours would be a wizened and
sterile lump. It would float uselessly about in
the general cosmos like the moon.

To be sure the earth does not loom very large
in the eye of the sun. It receives a positively
trifling fraction of the total output of sunheat.
So negligible is this amount that it would not be
worth our mentioning if we did not owe" our
existence to it. It is thanks to the atmosphere,
however, that the earth attains this (borrowed)

importance. It is thanks to this thin layer of

11

WEATHER

gases that we are protected from that fraction
of sunheat which, however trifling when com-
pared with the whole, would otherwise be suffi-
cient to fry us all in a second. Without this gas
wrapping we would all freeze (if still unfried)
immediately after sunset. The atmosphere
keeps us in a sort of thermos globe, unmindful
of the burning power of the great star, and of
the uncalculated cold of outer space.

Yet, limitless as it seems to us and inexhaust-
ible, our invaluable atmosphere is a small thing
after all. Half of its total bulk is compressed
into the first three and a half miles upward.
Only one sixty-fourth of it lies above the twenty-
one mile limit. Compared with the thickness
of the earth this makes a very thin envelope.

Light as air, we say, forgetting that this stuff
that looks so thin and inconsequential weighs
fifteen pounds to the square inch. We walk
around carrying our fourteen tons gaily enough.
The only reason that we don't grumble is be-
cause the gases press evenly in all directions per-
meating our tissues and thereby supporting this
crushing burden. A layer of water thirty-four
feet thick weighs just about as much as this air-
pack under which we feel so buoyant. But if
these gases get in motion we feel their pressure.
We say the wind is strong to-day.

OUR ATMOSPHERE 13

As it blows along the surface of the earth this
wind is mostly nitrogen, oxygen, moisture, and
dust. The nitrogen occupies nearly eight-tenths
of a given bulk of air, the oxygen two-tenths,
and the moisture anything up to one-twentieth.
Five other gases are present in small quantities.
The dust and the water vapor occupy space inde-
pendently of the rest. As one goes up moun-
tains the water vapor increases for a couple of
thousand feet and then decreases to the seven
mile limit after which it has almost completely
vanished. The lightest gases have been de-
tected as high up as two hundred miles and sci-
entists think that hydrogen, the lightest of all,
may escape altogether from the restraint of
gravity. One strange fact about all of these
gases is that they do not form a separate chemi-
cal combination, although they are thoroughly
mixed.

At first glance the extreme readiness of the
atmosphere to carry dust and bacteria does not
seem a point in its favor. In reality it is.
Most bacteria are really allies of the human
race. They benefit us by producing fermenta-
tions and disintegrations of soils that prepare
them for plant food. It is a pity that the few
disease breeding types of bacteria should have
given the family a bad name. Without bacteria

14 READING THE WEATHER

the sheltering atmosphere would have nothing
but desert rock to protect.

Further, rain is accounted for only by the
dust. Of course this sounds very near the
world's record in absurdities. But it is a half
truth at least, for moisture cannot condense on
nothing. Every drop of rain, every globule of
mist must have a nucleus. Consequently each
wind that blows, each volcano that erupts is lay-
ing up dust for a rainy day. Apparently the
atmosphere is empty. Actually it is full enough
of dust-nuclei to outfit a fullgrown fog if the
dewpoint should be favorable. If there were
no dust in the air all shadows would be intensest
black, the sunlight blinding.

But the dust particles fulfill their greatest mis-
sion as heat collectors, — they and the particles
of water vapor which have embraced them. 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 tem-
peratures. 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 radiation. The heat is grabbed by
the lowest layer of air as it goes by. The air
snatches it both going and coming. The little
particles get about half of it on the way down

OUR ATMOSPHERE M

and when it is radiated back very little escapes
them.

So it comes about that the heavy moist air
near the earth is the warmest of all. It would,
of course, get very warm if, as it collected its
heat, it didn't have a tendency to rise. As it
rises, moreover, it must fight gravity, that arch
enemy of all rising things. And as it fights it
loses energy, which is heat. So high altitudes
and low temperatures are found together for
these two reasons. But after the limit of mois-
ture content has been reached the temperature
gets no lower according to reliable investiga-
tions. Instead a monotony of 459° below zero
eternally prevails — 459° is called the absolute
zero of space.

The vertical heating arrangements of the
atmosphere appear somewhat irregular. But
horizontally it is in a much worse way. The
surface of the globe is three quarters water and
one quarter land and irregularly arranged at
that. The shiny water surfaces reflect a good
deal of the heat which they receive, they use up
the heat in evaporation and what they do absorb
penetrates far. The land surfaces, on the con-
trary, absorb most of the heat received, but it
does not penetrate to any depth. As a conse-
quence of these differences land warms up about

16 READING THE WEATHER

four times as quickly as water and cools off about
four times as fast. Therefore the temperature
of air over continents is liable to much more
rapid and extreme changes than the air over the
oceans.

The disparity of temperature is also rendered
much greater because of differing areas of cloud
and clear skies, because of interfering mountain
masses, because of the change from day to night,
or the constant progress of the seasons. At
first blush it seems remarkable that the atmos-
phere should not be hopelessly unsettled in its
habits, that there should belong to it any hint of
system. As a matter of fact, in the main its
courses are as well-ordered as the sun's. Cause
and not caprice are at the bottom of the wind's
listings. Its one desire is rest.

But rest it rarely succeeds in finding. For-
ever warming, rising, cooling, falling, it rushes
about to regain its equilibrium. With so many
opposing forces at work the calm day is the real
marvel, our weeks of Indian Summer the rank-
ing miracle of our climate. The very evolution
of the myriad patches of air quilted over the
earth with their different opportunities to be-
come heated, to cool their heels, precludes sta-
bility in our so called Temperate Zone. But
over great stretches of the earth's surface condi-

OUR ATMOSPHERE 17

tions are continuous enough to discipline the
atmosphere into strict routine. Conjure the
globe before your eyes and you will find the
scheme of atmospheric circulation something
like this :

A broad band of heated air perpetually rises
from the sweltering equatorial belt of lands and
seas. The supply never ceases, the warming
process goes on night and day, and to a great
height the light warm incense mounts. Then,
cooling, from this altitude it begins to run down
hill toward the poles. This is happening all the
way around the globe. So naturally the com-
mon centers, the poles, cannot accommodate all
this downrush of air. Therefore as it ap-
proaches the goal it falls into a majestic file
about the center, very much as water does in
running out of a hole in the center of a circular
basin. The nearer north, the cooler this vast
maelstrom grows and the nearer has it sunk to
the earth. It descends circuitously and, by the
force arising from the earth's rotation, is
sheered to the right in the northern hemisphere,
to the left in the southern.

Watching the water circle out of the basin you
will notice the outside whirl is in no hurry to get
to the center. This corresponds to the easterly
trades of commerce, geography, and fiction.

18 READING THE WEATHER

The direction of the upper currents flowing back
to the poles is from southwest to northeast; but
in our middle zones this becomes almost from
west to east, is constant and is known to the pro-
fession as the prevailing westerlies.

Look up some day when wisps of clouds are
floating very high. You will notice that their
port is in the east, mattering not what wind may
be blowing where you are. They are above the
petty disturbances of the shallow surface winds.
They follow a Gulf Stream of immeasurable
grandeur. Onward, always onward, they sail,
emblems of a great serenity.

Beneath this vast drift of air, which increases
in velocity as it nears the pole, is an undertow
from two to three miles thick. It is the move-
ments of this undertow that affect our lives.
These movements are influenced by all the
changes of temperature and by the configura-
tions of land. They take the form of whirls.
These whirls may be small eddies, local in effect,
or vast cyclones with diameters of fifteen hun-
dred miles. Small or large they roll along
under the Westerlies, translated by friction, and
invariably moving for most of their course in
an easterly direction, like their tractor above.
They circle across the United States every few
days. Their courses do not vary a great deal,

OUR ATMOSPHERE 19

and yet enough to make each one a matter for
conjecture. And all the conjecturing centers
upon the condition of the atmosphere, — the
changing atmosphere which is yet so dependable.
The weather we are used to, the daily weather
that catches us unprepared, and yet that does not
mistreat us all the time is the product of these
little whirls, which are so remotely connected
with the grander atmospheric movements of
our planet. Remembering this, we can at last
come back to earth, and set about our real busi-
ness which is to see why certain kinds of weather
come at such uncertain times and how to tell
when they will arrive.

CHAPTER II

THE CLEAR DAY

WE owe our fair weather to that de-
partment of atmospheric activity
called anticyclone by the weather-
man. The anticyclone is an accumulation of
air which has become colder than the air sur-
rounding it. This accumulation oftener than
not has an area near the center where the air is
coldest. About this coldest area the air cur-
rents revolve in the direction of a clock's hands.
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 environment.

One comes to think, therefore, of the anti-
cyclone as a huge pyramid of cold air moving
slowly across the country from west to east and
all the while melting down on all sides, like a
plate of ice-cream, into the surrounding terri-
tory. 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

20

THE CLEAR DAY 21

felt in Texas and Pennsylvania. It does not
extend equally far, however, to the north and
west of its head, which is really sometimes where
its tail ought to be. That is, 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 Coast.

The anticyclone draws its power from the in-
exhaustible supplies of cold air from the upper
levels. This air is very dry and accounts for
the almost invariably clear skies of the anti-
cyclone.

In winter when the intensity of all the atmos-
pheric activities is greatly increased, the anti-
cyclone develops into the cold wave. 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 hour, tumbling the mer-
cury thirty, forty, fifty degrees.

These cold waves first appear in the north-
west. 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 title,
for even cold waves have been standardized by
the Government. But although nearly all the
cold waves choose Montana or the Dakotas as a

22 BEADING THE WEATHER

base, they have at least two definite lines of
action. Those which are born amid the moun-
tains or on the great plains of Montana have a
curious habit of bombarding the Texas coast be-
fore starting on their eastward march. 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 City.

It is this rapid onslaught from Montana to
Texas that produces those notorious blizzards
of that section called northers, during which
the cattle used to be frozen on the hoof. 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 as-
sault. When the cold wave, after following
this path, does swing toward the Atlantic Coast,
as most of them do, it has lost interest and
usually produces only seasonably cold weather
along the Appalachians.

Those cold waves that recruit their strength
in Canada and enter the United States through
Minnesota or, rarely, 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 States.

THE CLEAR DAY 23

Cold waves almost always follow a storm.
The storm, being an area of low pressure makes
a fit receptacle for the surplus of the high pres-
sure, and since the whole business of the weather
is to seek peace and pursue it, the greater the
discrepancies the more violent the pursuit.
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
succeeding. This principle of action and reac-
tion is almost the sole principle of the weather
and is nowhere more clearly demonstrated than
in the winter's succession of storm and cold
wave.

In summer the anticyclones are not only actu-
ally but relatively more moderate than in winter.
But their influence is still the same, — clear skies,
cooler nights, dry, westerly winds. During the
year the anticyclone furnishes us with about
sixty per cent, of our weather. The cyclone is
responsible for the remaining forty per cent.
The weather depends on the cyclone for its va-
riety and upon the anticyclone for its reputa-
tion. So it is well to be able to recognize an
anticyclone when one appears.

The first and most reliable symptom of the
approach of an anticyclone is the west wind.
This sign is valid the country over, and is one of

24 READING THE WEATHER

the very few signs that hold true for most of
the North Temperate Zone. In summer over
our country the west wind comes from the south-
west, to be Irish, and in winter from the north-
west. 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
nights. And it is these crisp, clear days and
cloudless, brilliant nights which we have in mind
when we boast to English friends of our Ameri-
can weather.

The west wind is so popular because it has a
slight downward flowing tendency. It also
blows from land to sea over all America except
the narrow Pacific coast. These downward,
outward directions allow it to gather only
enough moisture to keep it from becoming seri-
ously dry. Its upper sources supply it with
ozone. Its density gives it weight and by its
superior weight it prevails. It dries roads
faster than a brace of suns could do it. It is
tonic. And curiously enough, although the anti-
cyclone loads half a ton excess weight upon us
we like it. The greater the burden the more we
feel like leaping and shouting. Our good cheer
seems to be ground out of us, like street pianos.

The reverse holds, too. For when the anti-
cyclone moves off us and the cyclone hovers over

THE CLEAR DAY 25

us, removing half a ton of pressure, instead of
feeling relieved we feel depressed, out of spirit.
The animals share this reaction with us. In fact
barnyards antedated barometers as forecasters,
because all the domestic creatures, with pigs in
particular, evidenced the disagreeable leniency
of the low pressure areas upon their persons.

" Grumphie smells the weather
An' Grumphie smells the wun'

He kens when clouds will gather
An' smoor the blinkin' sun."

The only trouble about this rather extravagant
tribute to the pig, versatile though he is, 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 meteorol-
ogy finally comes to supplant barnyardology.

The coming of the anticyclone is foretold by
the shifting of the wind from any quarter to the
west. The course that the center of the anti-
cyclone is keeping may be watched by the same
agency. 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 wind, blowing outward from the center, will
work from west to northwest and from north-
west to north and slightly east of north.

26 READING THE WEATHER

If the wind has shifted into the west on a
Wednesday, it will likely be cold by Wednesday
night and colder on Thursday. By Friday
morning the wind will be coming from the north,
likely, with the lowest temperature of all. By
Saturday the cold will moderate, the wind will
tire and gradually die to a calm or become
weakly variable. The four day supremacy of
the anticyclone will be over. But, mind you,
there are a dozen variations of this routine. I
am only suggesting a usual one.

If after blowing two or three days from the
west the wind shifts to the southwest and south,
you may know that the central cold area is pass-
ing south of you and that its intensity will not
be great. While these anticyclones that float
down and to the right of their normal path
linger longer, they are never so severely cold,
nor, alas, so uniformly clear as the others. It
is a profound law of anticyclones and even more
particularly of cyclone^, that if they deviate to
the right they weaken, if they are pushed by an
obstacle to the left they increase greatly in in-
tensity.

Occasionally the central portion of an anti-
cyclone passes over your locality. Then the
wind will fall. The frost will be keen and the
cold will be notably dry and invigorating. In

THE CLEAR DAY 27

summer although the sunlight may be power-
fully bright and the heat great, yet the air will
have a buoyant effect, the body a resilience.
And the nights will cool swiftly. Soon after the
center passes from the locality a wind will spring
up from the east with rapidly rising temperature
and increased humidity.

The coldest part of the anticyclone i's not, as
one would suppose, at the center, but in advance
of it; and its authority, like a schoolmaster's, is
rapidly dissipated after its, back is turned upon
a place.

The intensity of an anticyclone is measured
by its wind velocity and by the degree of cold
obtaining under its influence. But the greatest
cold occurs rarely in conjunction with the great-
est velocity of the wind. 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 blowing.
But, windy or calm,, the period about sunrise is
normally the coldest of the day, even extending
in midwinter for as much as half an hour after
sunrise, so slow are the feeble rays at restoring
the balance of loss and gain of heat.

The greatest falls occur at the advent of the
cold wave, no matter whether it arrives at ten
in the morning or at midnight. If the tempera-

28 READING THE WEATHER

ture starts to decline gradually during the day, a
further and decided fall may be expected at
nightfall if the sky is clear. And if the tem-
perature rises gradually during the night the
normal processes are being displaced and a
change from fair to foul is a surety. In sum-
mer the hottest time of day is not at noon, any
more than the coldest part of the winter day was
at midnight, for the reason that the sun can pour
in its heat faster than the earth can radiate it,
and the hour for the maximum temperature is
pushed as far along toward evening as four or
five or even six o'clock.

The average anticyclone continues its influ-
ence for clearness for about four days. Some,
however, hurry the whole thing through in two.
Others are interrupted by a more vigorous cy-
clone and are put to rout. Others are held up
by an inherent weakness and are forced to mark
time over one locality until strengthened or dis-
sipated. And a few great ones hold sway over
the country for a week. These choose the
north-center of the country in which to locate.
There they pile up the cold air until its very
weight causes it to move majestically on. Its
skirts sweep the Gulf coast where they are a bit
bedraggled by invading cyclones. It gives the
New Englanders a fortnight of nipping, brisk

THE CLEAR DAY 29

days and the mercury in Minnesota and the
Dakotas does not emerge above zero. Once,
in Montana, one of these refrigerating systems
established the record of sixty-three degrees be-
low zero. But in Siberia where the immense
extent of the land surface collaborates with a
prolonged night, an anticyclone built up an area
of superior chilliness that left a world's record
of ninety-one below.

In summer a succession of these highs causes
the frequent droughts of weeks which harass the
West and New England. The air becomes so
dry that it parches and then shrivels the green
leaves. Any little cyclones that, under ordinary
conditions, would suck in moist air from the
Gulf and relieve the situation with a rain are
dried out and frustrated by the unclouded sun.
It requires a cyclone of great depth to overthrow
the supremacy of these summer anticyclones.

While the anticyclone furnishes fair weather
the sky is not necessarily or even usually free
from clouds under its influence. In summer the
evaporation during the long days overloads the
air for the time being. Normally about eleven
in the morning little balls and patches of white
clouds dot the blue. These increase in number
and size until about three in the afternoon when
they will have grown little black bellies and

30 READING THE WEATHER

fluffy white tops. By five they will have dwin-
dled and by eight entirely vanished. These
heaped clouds, known as cumulus, are a guar-
antee of a normal atmosphere and continued fair
weather. They mean that currents of warm,
moist air have risen until they have struck a level
so cool as to cause them to condense part of their
moisture. This condensation sinks until it en-
ters a warmer stratum and the cloud is dissi-
pated. The total movement is a reasonable ex-
change that preserves the equilibrium of the
air, very much as a person bends one way and
then another to maintain his balance.

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 clouds. Sometimes these
stratus clouds may cover the sky at midday, but
in thin platings and not leadenly. In winter as
in summer they tend to disappear toward even-
ing. They are often accompanied by an un-
pleasant wind, but rarely by the snow flurry
which is the " April shower " of the winter
months.

But when the snow flurry does come there is
no better sign for the woodsman of coming cold ;
it never fails. The morning will have begun

THE CLEAR DAY 31

brilliantly, but soon great summery puffs of
cloud form and increase and darken on their
under sides. Their tops are vague and wear a
veil. It is the snow. The reason is simple.
The coming anticyclone strikes the upper air be-
fore it hits the earth's surface. The sudden
cold causes rapid condensation. Hence the
flurries. But the anticyclone is an agent of dry-
ness, hence their short duration. Sometimes the
veil of snow does not reach the earth. Some-
times it blots out everything in a spirited squall.
But it never lasts long, except in the northwest
states. And it is invariably followed by a
period of colder weather.

In summer local evaporation may be so long-
continued or so vigorous that the cumulus clouds
cannot hold all their moisture content when
cooled. A shower is the result, usually a tri-
fling one and mostly without thunder. The
great thunderstorms are always in connection
with the passing of a cyclone. The small heat
thunderstorms are only the indulgences of a
spell of fair weather. These tiny showers are
daily and sometimes hourly accompaniments of
clear weather in the mountains. The air warms
rapidly in the valleys and is speedily cooled on
rushing up a mountain side and a threat and a

32 READING THE WEATHER

sprinkle are the result. When a performance
of this sort is going on nobody need fear un-
pleasant weather of long duration.

Another pledge of a clear day that does not
appear too credible on the face of it is the morn-
ing fog in summer. In winter it is a different
matter. 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 hun-
dred feet. By ten o'clock the sun has eaten into
this lowest stratum, heated it and yet begins to
decline in power before the balance swings the
other way, so that a cloudless day often follows
a fog in those months. About three mornings
of fog, however, are enough to discourage the
sun and a rain follows. Of course this is be-
cause the anticyclone with its special properties
has been losing power.

When these conditions of clear nights with no
wind follow the first two or three windy days of
the anticyclone, particularly in autumn and
spring, frost results. In winter the chances that
a fog will be dissipated are rather slim. But if
it shows a tendency to rise all may yet be well.

An excellent sign of clear weather is this fact
of the morning mist rising from ravines in the
mountains. And even if you haven't any moun-

H gw -

THE CLEAR DAY 33

tain ravines at command the altitude of clouds
can be observed. It is safer to have them
lessen in number rather than increase, scatter
rather than combine. The higher the clouds
the finer the weather. 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 beyond.

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 promise.
And the best time to read this promise is in the
morning or evening when the half lights empha-
size the coloring.

Soon after the close observation of cloud col-
ors has commenced the amazing discovery is
made that the same color at sunrise means ex-
actly the reverse of its meaning at sunset.

" Sky red in the morning

A sailor's sure warning,
Sky red at night

A sailor's delight."

Christ seized upon this phenomenon to throw
confusion into the Pharisees and Sadducees when
they asked that He would show them a sign
from Heaven. As Matthew reports it : — " He
answered and said unto them, When it is evening
ye say, It will be fair weather for the sky is red.

34 READING THE WEATHER

And in the morning It will be foul weather to-
day for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypo-
crites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but ye
cannot discern the signs of the times."

The reasons for this contradictory evidence
of color are not nearly so obvious as the fact
itself. Taking the scientist's word for it need
not stretch one's credulity overmuch if he can
be followed step by step. He says that sunlight
is white light, and white is the sublime combina-
tion of every color. If no atmosphere existed
about us the light would all come through, leav-
ing the sky black. The atmosphere, however,
which is full of dust and water particles, breaks
up these rays, these white sheaves of light, into
their various colors. The longest vibrations,
which are the red, and the shortest, which are
the violet, get by and the rest are turned back,
mixing up into the color which we call our blue
sky.

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 usual.
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
dirtier. If these water globules mass together
so as to reflect all the rays alike the result is a

THE CLEAR DAY 35

whitish appearance. That is why a fog bank,
composed of tiny droplets, each reflecting with
all its might, can make the sky a dull and uni-
form gray.

As evening approaches the temperature of
the normal day lowers. As the temperature
lowers it is the tendency of the moisture in the
air to condense about the little dust particles in
the air. And as these particles increase in size
their tendency is to reflect more and more of
the waning rays of light. Therefore if the sky
is gray in the evening it means that the atmos-
phere already contains a good deal of condensed
moisture. If the coaling should go on through
the night, as it normally would, condensation
would continue with rain as the likely result.

If, on the other hand, 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 condensa-
tion will not be sufficient to cause rain. Hence
the natural delight of the sailor.

A gray morning sky implies an atmosphere
full of water precisely as an evening gray does.
The difference lies in the ensuing process. By
morning the temperature has reached its lowest
point and if this has not been sufficient to cause

36 READING THE WEATHER

cooling to the rainpoint the chance for rain will
be continually lessened by the growing heat of
the rising sun. The gray, therefore, is the nor-
mal indication of a clear cool night which has
permitted radiation and therefore condensation
to this degree. It is for this reason that we
have the heavy fogs of August and September
followed by cloudless days.

A red morning sky shows, like the red evening
sky, that condensation has not taken place to
any extent. But this is abnormal for a clear
night causes condensation. The red therefore
means that a layer of heavy moist air above the
surface levels has prevented the normal radia-
tion. Hence when the day's evaporation adds
more moisture to that already at the higher
levels the total humidity is likely to increase be-
yond the dewpoint with the resultant rain.

These two color auguries are among the most
reliable of all the weather signs. Unfortu-
nately the sunrises are scarcely ever on hand to
be examined except by milkmen. But a careful
scrutiny of the sunset will make one proficient in
shades. In summer when the sun burns round
and clear-cut and red on the rim of the horizon
the air contains much dust and smoke, the ac-
companiment of dry weather. And as dry
weather has a way of perpetuating itself such a

THE CLEAR DAY 37

sun makes dry and continued weather a safe
prophecy. In winter the same red and flaming
sun setting brilliant as new minted gold is a sure
indication of clear and cold weather. In all
seasons the light tints of the evening sky mean
the atmosphere at its best. A golden sunset, a
light breeze from the west, a glowing horizon as
the sun goes down, slow fading colors all con-
stitute a hundred to one bet for continued fair
weather. The sunset colors that are surely fol-
lowed by storm will be discussed in the next
chapter.

The sky is too little regarded. Architects
that do not consider the sky are behind in their
calling. Maxfield Parrish has made himself
famous by allying himself with its seas of color.
The hunter can read it and learn whether he
may sleep dry without his tent. Only we who
shut ourselves within rooms and behind news-
papers forget that there is a sky — until it falls
and we are taken to a sanitarium.

From the night itself much may be discovered
about the continuance of fair weather. A sky
well sown with stars is a good sign. If only a
few stars are visible the clear spell is about over.
Stars twinkle because of abrupt variation in the
temperature of the air strata. If the wind is
from the west cold and clear will result no mat-

38 READING THE WEATHER

ter how much may twinkle twinkle little star.
But if he twinkle with the wind from the south
or east the cloud will soon fly. That is the way
with these weather signs. One sign does not
make a prophecy. It is the combination that
has strength and reliability. Furthermore the
eye must be trained by many comparisons.

Of all the conditions that make night fore-
casting easy the later evenings of the moon are
the best. The moon furnishes just the proper
amount of illumination to betray the air condi-
tions. If she swims clear and triumphant well
and good. If she rides bright while dark belly-
ing clouds sweep over her in summer, inconse-
quential showers may follow. But if she dis-
appears by faint degrees behind a thin but close
knit curtain of cloud the clear weather is being
definitely concluded.

A great many changes in the weather take
place after three in the morning. Most camp-
ers are accustomed to waking anyway once or
twice to replenish the fire, and a glance at the
stars will show the sleepiest what changes are
occurring in the eternal panorama. A man may
have gone to bed in security to get up in a snow-
storm, whereas a survey of the skies at three
would have noted the coming change. The
habit of waking in the dead of night, — which

THE CLEAR DAY 39

isn't really so dead after all, — is not an unpleas-
ant one. Its compensations are set forth in a
beautiful and vivid chapter of Stewart Edward
White's " The Forest." Every camper knows
them, and this added mastery that a knowledge
of the skies gives him lends a sense of power,
which lasts until the unexpected happens.

For the unexpected happens to the best regu-
lated of all forecasters, the Government.
Equipped with every instrument and with an
army whose business is nothing else than to hunt
down storms and warn the public, the Weather
Bureau is still surprised fifteen times out of a
hundred by unforeseeable changes in atmos-
pheric pressure. It is scarcely likely then that
amateurs without flawless barometers and with-
out reports of the current weather in three hun-
dred places could hope to foretell with complete
accuracy. But there is a place for the amateur,
aside from his own personal gratification and
profit. The Weather Bureau within the limits
of the present appropriation cannot expect to
predict for every village and borough. That
the amateur may do and with as great accuracy
for the few hours immediately in advance.

The Weather Bureau may predict with this
large percentage of accuracy — 85% — for
forty-eight hours in advance because its scope is

40 READING THE WEATHER

country wide. It may even forecast in a gen-
eral way for seven days and still maintain a con-
siderable advantage over almanac guesswork.
But the man who is relying upon local signs is
limited to ten or at most twelve hours. Of
course he may guess beyond that but it is only a
guess. The work that the Bureau does and that
he may do within his limits is not guesswork.
Meteorology is an exact science, and forecasting
is an art. Both may be studied now in classes
under professors with degrees in the same way
that any other science and art may be studied.
The old sort of weather wisdom which was a
startling compound of wisdom, superstition, and
inanity has passed away, or is passing away as
rational weather talk spreads.

These limits of the layman — ten hours with
no instruments — are further defined by his lo-
cality. In mountainous country changes come
more quickly than in level localities, in winter
than in summer, so that one's prophetic time-
limit is shortened.

While the best indications of the clear day are
the great fundamental ones, there are many little
signs that bolster up one's confidence in one's
own predictions. The lessened humidity coinci-
dent with clear weather is responsible often for
many little household prognostics. Salt is dry.

THE CLEAR DAY 41

The windows (of your summer cottage) do not
stick. The children are less restless. Smoke
ascends, or if the wind is blowing is not flattened
to the ground. Flies are merely insects, for the
time being, and not the devil. Swallows and
the other birds that eat insects fly high because
that is where the insects are. Spiders do not
hesitate to make their webs on the lawn. They
welcome dew but distrust rain. Cow and sheep
feed quietly, rarely calling to one another as
they do before a storm. In short the general
aspect of these is normal and therefore remains
unnoticed.

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 season.
The Weather Bureau with its maps and barom-
eters follows its every movement. The man in
the woods whose comfort in summer and whose
life in winter may depend upon his prepared-
ness for the approaching storm does well to
read its warnings and know its laws.

CHAPTER III

THE STORM CYCLE

DOUBTLESS those who hope for a
Hereafter of unmitigated ease and
song, desire, on this earth, one long,
sweet anticyclone. But theirs, in most of the
United States, is disappointment. With an ir-
regularity 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 storm, — there is no telling which very
long in advance. And that is why American
weather ranks high among our speculative in-
terests.

To emphasize this irregularity a seemingly
regular succession of events may be noticed. It
will cloud up, let's say, on a Sunday, rain on
Monday and Tuesday, clear on Wednesday,
staying clear until Sunday when it will cloud up
for the repeat. During this past season it
rained on a dozen washdays in succession. The
newspapers grew jocular about it. And very
often one notices two or three rainy Sundays in

42

THE STORM CYCLE 43

a row. By actual observation this year we en-
joyed fifteen clear Thursdays in succession in a
normal spring.

The weather gets into a rut. And if the anti-
cyclones and cyclones were all of the same in-
tensity it is conceivable that the rainy Sundays
might go on until the Day of Rest was changed
by Statute. But the intensities of the whirls
differ. Before long an anticyclone feebler than
ordinary is overtaken by a cyclone and annihil-
ated. Or one stronger than the average may
dominate the situation for several days. 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 push.

Mostly, however, three days of anticyclonic
influence and three days of cyclonic influence
with one day in between for rest, the transition
period, make up a normal week of it. Let the
American farmer thank his stars (and clouds)
for that. For no other regions of the earth are
so consistently watered and sunned all the year
round as the great expanse of the North Ameri-
can Continent.

The cyclone is that activity of the atmosphere
which prevents us from suffering from an eter-

44 READING THE WEATHER

nal drought. The cyclone is an accumulation
of air which has become warmer than the air
about it. This area of air usually has a central
portion that is warmest of all. Since warmth
expands, this air grows lighter and rises. Na-
ture, steadfast in her grudge against a vacuum,
causes the surrounding air to rush it. Since
these contending currents cannot all occupy the
central area at once they fall into a vast ascend-
ing spiral that spins faster and faster as it ap-
proaches the center. Imagine an inverted
whirlpool. It is a replica on a much smaller
scale of the great polar influx, except that the
latter has a descending motion.

The cyclone thus is tails to the anticyclone's
heads, the reverse of the coin. Where the
anti's air was cool and dry the cyclone's is warm
and moist. The anti had a downward tendency
and a motion, in our hemisphere, flowing out-
ward from the apex in generous curves in the
direction of clock hands. The cyclone has an
upward tendency, flowing inward to the core
contrariwise to clock hands.

From these two great actions and reactions
come all the varieties of our weather. To un-
derstand the procession of the cyclones and anti-
cyclones across our plateaus, our mountains, our
plains, and our eastern highland is to know why,

THE STORM CYCLE 45

and often when, it will be clear or not. To
mentally visualize the splendid sweep of the ele-
ments 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 sleet
Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is pre-
paredness.

The anticyclone suggests a pyramid of cold,
dry air. The cyclone suggests a shallow circu-
lar tank in leisurely whirl. But all comparisons
are misleading and a caution is needed right
here. For a storm is NOT a watering cart
driven across our united skies by Jupiter Tonans
Pluvius. It is NOT a receptacle from which
rain drips until the supply is exhausted. A cy-
clone is a much more delicate operation than
that. It is a process. It can renew itself and
become a driving rain storm after it had all the
appearance of being a sucked orange for a thou-
sand miles.

Suppose that our cyclone, this organization of
warm, moist air with its curving winds, enters
the state of Washington on a Wednesday, from
the North Pacific. As early as the Monday aft-
ernoon before the wind throughout all that sec-
tion of the country would have shifted out of the
west and have started to blow in some easterly
direction,- — northeast in British Columbia and

46 READING THE WEATHER

southeast in lower Idaho. But since these
winds are blowing from the interior they are
dry, and consequently rain does not fall much
before the storm center is near, that is on the
Wednesday. If the storm center passes north
of Tacoma the winds, shifting by south and
southwest, bring in the ocean moisture and
heavy rain commences which continues until the
rising barometer and westerly winds indicate
the approach of another anticyclone. So much
for western Washington.

As the cyclone passes eastward it mounts the
Cascades and its temperature is lowered, its
moisture is squeezed out, and it stalks over
Montana, the mere ghost of its former self, as
far as energy and rainfall are concerned. To
be sure it preserves its essential characteristics
of relative warmth, and inwhirling winds. But
let it continue. As its influence begins to be felt
over Wisconsin and the Lake region the moister
air is sucked into the whirl and rain, evaporated
from Superior, falls on Minnesota. The east
winds are the humid ones now, the west ones the
dry. Eastward the center moves, over Indiana,
Ohio, New York, the rainfall steadily increas-
ing as the ocean reservoirs are tapped.

The first time you tell a New Englander that
his easterly storms come from the west you are

THE STORM CYCLE 47

in danger, unless he be a child, for it is to the
children that one may safely appeal. 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
generation. They teach their parents. These
latter find it difficult to believe, however, that the
storms which hurl the fishing fleets upon the
coast in a blinding northeaster have not origi-
nated far out at sea, but have come across the
continent. 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 shift-
ing where lies the center of the storm and its
greatest intensity.

In Tacoma when the wind shifted by way of
southeast, south, and southwest that was proof
that the storm center was passing north of the
city. Likewise if in New York the winds shift
by way of northeast, north, and northwest the
storm center is passing south of that city. As
it drifts out to sea it is gradually dissipated by
the changing influences on the North Atlantic.
Very few of our storms ever reach Europe, al-
though some have been traced to Siberia.

The Government has put its sleuths on the

48 READING THE WEATHER

track of every storm that has crossed the United
States in the last thirty years. These weather
detectives with a thousand eyes have made
diagrams of their actions, mapped their courses,
computed their speeds, and if we don't know
where all our discarded storms go to, we at least
know where most of them came from and how
they acted when with us.

About a hundred and ten areas of low-pres-
sure affect the country during the normal year.
Of these all but seven, speaking in averages,
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 %io of
the time. But even that small fraction is no
exception to the general law, because those seven
storms are not born in Newfoundland but in our
East Gulf States. They come up the Coast,
and the wind blows from the northeast and north
into their centers while they are still on the
Carolina coast. The great hurricanes which
are cradled in the tropics and march westward
under the influence of the trades are genuine ex-
ceptions to the general westward rule, although
they always eventually turn toward the east.
They will be given the prominence they demand
later, since the eastbound schedule must not be
sidetracked now.

THE STORM CYCLE 49

Three cyclones a year form over the lower
Ohio River basin. On account of their origin
over land instead of over water they rarely ac-
quire much energy. Once in a decade such de-
pressions deepen rapidly. 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 Christ-
mas Blizzard, a surprise to her citizens and to
the Weather Bureau, for most of the snow fell
with the mercury above freezing. The flare-
back which gave Taft his big inaugural snow-
storm is another example of the way a depres-
sion may deepen on approaching the coast.
Until the upper atmosphere is as well under-
stood and watched as the lower, or until instru-
ments are perfected whereby the weather condi-
tions can be made self -announcing such surprises
are absolutely unavoidable. Under conditions
that warrant any suspicion of sudden develop-
ments the Bureau at Washington is careful to
order extra observations in the areas likely to
be affected, but no surface observations can quite
suffice.

Fifteen storms a year originate over the west
Gulf States, or, drifting in from the Pacific over
Arizona and New Mexico begin to acquire en-
ergy in Texas, Twelve are set up over the

50 READING THE WEATHER

Colorado mountains. These usually dip down
into Texas before starting their drive toward
the northeast. After both these sets of storms
get under way they strike resolutely for the
same locality, — the St. Lawrence Valley. The
conformation of the St. Lawrence region pro-
vides an irresistible attraction for American
storms. 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 Florida. But such occa-
sions are exceptional. Give the ordinary cy-
clone its head, and, ten to one, you will find it
on the way to the St. Lawrence. The inhabit-
ants will confirm this statement, I am sure.
They do not feel discriminated against in the
matter of weather. They get nearly everything
that is going. 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 weather. With the opti-
mism of that section of the country they say, " If
you don't like our weather, wait a minute."

Ten storms a year originate over the Rocky
Mountain Plateau, north of Colorado. About
twenty cross over from the Canadian Provinces
of Alberta and British Columbia. And all our
other storms, about forty each year, enter our

THE STORM CYCLE 51

country from the North Pacific by way of Wash-
ington and Oregon. Many of these drift
across the northern tier of states without any
great display of energy, at least before they
reach the Lake region. But the majority loop
down somewhat into the middle west as far
south as Kansas, and then make their turn to-
ward the inevitable St. Lawrence. They usu-
ally require four days to make the trip from
coast to coast by this route, as also by the more
direct northern route, because on that they
travel more at leisure. But the storms from
Texas, whose energy is greatest because of
greater heat and moisture, occasionally speed
from Oklahoma to New York in thirty-six
hours.

In summer all speeds are reduced. This is
because the disparities in temperature are less.
In winter where greater extremes of tempera-
ture are brought into conjunction the processes
of the storm are all more violent. And it is a
bit disheartening to know that a storm is ag-
gravated to even greater endeavors by its own
exertions. Its energy provides the conditions
to stimulate greater energy, and, like a fire, it
increases as it goes. If it did not run out of
the zone which nourished it and proceed into
another zone where conditions were distinctly

52 READING THE WEATHER

discouraging the limits of the storm would be
much extended, and vast territories would be
devastated by the self-propelling combination
of wind and water.

To the generality of us the word storm
means rain. To the scientist it means wind.
In reality the cyclone is rare that crosses our
country without causing rain somewhere along
its track. The curiosity of the Weather Bu-
reau 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 occur. But whether or not there is pre-
cipitation on the path of the cyclone it is rated
as a storm if there is a lowering of pressure and
consequent wind-shift.

The storm centers are not always well-
defined, and quite often the circulation of the
wind about them is not complete. Such cy-
clones never amount to much, although there is
always the possibility of their closing in and de-
veloping a complete circulation with the attend-
ant increase of energy. The incomplete cy-
clones ovw the desert and plateau regions are
lame affairs, lacking interest and advancing tim-
idly if at all. But once let them drift into a
locality where they can be supplied with moist

THE STORM CYCLE 53

air, they pick up energy, keep a definite course,
and advance with increasing speed.

Very often the center will split up, the circu-
lation perfecting itself around both centers of
depression. 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-bell.
This formation is more likely to have been
caused by the two centers appearing simultane-
ously than by a split in an original center. The
weather reports call this fashion of storm a
trough of low pressure. The southern center
is the one that develops the more energy on its
turn to the northeast. If the two centers should
unite on reaching the northeast a very heavy pre-
cipitation is the invariable result.

All cyclones have much greater length than
breadth. They frequently stretch from un-
known latitudes in Canada into unrecorded
distances into the Gulf, while on the other
hand it is a very large storm that rains si-
multaneously upon the Mississippi and the At-
lantic. Behind a cyclone of pronounced energy
a second whirl, called a secondary depression,
often develops, in which case the period of wet
weather is prolonged. Also, more rarely, an

54 READING THE WEATHER

offshoot forms ahead of the main depression.

A sluggish, sulky cyclone either in winter or
summer provides more opportunity to humanity
for self-discipline than almost any other feature
of our national environment. In winter when
the depression slows up it settles down upon one
community in the guise of fog, and stays by the
locality until an anticyclone blows in and noses
it out. Fog is aggravation, but a hot wave is
suffering and the hot wave is caused by a depres-
sion weak in character but generous in dimen-
sions getting held up on the northern half of our
country. By its nature it attracts the air from
all sides, and being in the north, the direction of
the wind over most of the country would be
southerly. Air from the west and north has a
downward tendency, but south and east winds
are surface currents. Consequently these
winds, blowing over leagues of heated soil, be-
come dry and parching. If the depression lin-
gers long the entire country to the east, south,
and west soon suffers from superheated air. At
last the very intensity of the heat defeats itself
and the reaction to cooler is effected dramat-
ically through a thunderstorm.

The well-developed cyclone in winter causes
what we all know as a three days' rain, although
continuous precipitation rarely lasts over ten

THE STORM CYCLE 55

hours. The rest of the time is occupied by gen-
eral cloudiness with occasional sprinkles and a
final downpour as the wind shifts to the west
and the anticyclone nears. In summer the de-
pressions, being shallower, rarely cause continu-
ous cloudiness for three days, although their in-
fluence often lasts as long as that in the guise
of a series of thunderstorms. The line of
storms extends several hundred miles, bombard-
ing all the towns from Albany to Richmond.
These thunderstorms sometimes achieve in an
hour or two even greater results than their win-
ter relatives can accomplish in three days in the
matter of rainfall, wind velocity, and general
destructiveness. Our wettest months are July
and August and not December and January.

The freedom of the wind has been the sub-
ject of much poetic and prosaic license. As a
matter of fact the wind is the veriest slave of all
the elements. It is harried about from cyclone
to anticyclone, wound up in tornadoes, directed
hither and thither by changing temperatures.
It blows, not where it listeth, but where it has
to. And circuitously at that. For once the
path of duty is not straight. That is another
fact that the Boston mechanic would have been
slow to accept, — that the wind blows in curves.
A little consideration, however, of the fact that

56 READING THE WEATHER

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 line.

Thus it becomes the surest indication that a
cyclone is to the west of one if the wind blows
from an easterly point. The storm is bound to
move toward the east, therefore the rapidity
with which the clouds move and thicken will sig-
nify when the area of precipitation will reach
the observer. The cycle of the storm is nor-
mally this : After a cloudless and windless
night a light air springs up from a little north
of east. At the same time strands of thin wavy
clouds appear, very high up. They may be
seen to be moving from the southwest or north-
west. Their velocity is great. Their name is
cirrus, and they are called mares' tails by the
sailors. They are followed by several hours
of clear skies, usually; but if the storm is
smaller and close at hand there is no clear inter-
val.

Before the larger storms these cirrus clouds
are sent up as storm signals twenty-four and
even forty-eight hours in advance. The day
that intervenes is very clear, the air feels softer,
the temperature is higher. In midafternoon
more cirrus appears, and as condensation fol-

THE STORM CYCLE 57

lows the quick cooling the silky lines increase in
number. Beneath them a thicker formation,
known as cirro-stratus, forms a dense bank in
the west and southwest. The sun sets in a gray
obscurity. If there is a moon it fades by de-
grees behind the veil of alto-stratus, and the halo
which first was seen wide enough to enclose sev-
eral stars narrows until it chokes the moon in its
ever-thickening cocoon of vapor.

There is no value whatever in the old super-
stition that the number of stars within the halo
foretells the number of days that it will rain or
snow. The same halo that encloses three stars
at eight o'clock may have narrowed down to one
by midnight, or none at all, so that the prophetic
circle is bound in the very nature of its increase
to contradict itself. The presence of a halo is
a pretty sure sign of some precipitation within
twenty-four or thirty hours. It fails about thir-
teen times in a hundred. If the halo is observed
around the sun it is an even surer sign, failing
only seven times the hundred.

During the time of cloud-increase the wind
will probably lull before a snow, so that the
hour or so before precipitation begins is one of
intense brooding calm. Or if there is no calm
the wind, now easterly, will be very gentle.
Soon after the precipitation begins the wind will

58 READING THE WEATHER

begin to freshen and will continue to increase in
velocity until the center of the storm is close to
the locality. This will require about eight
hours for the average storm. 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 wind. If it in-
creases gradually the storm will be of long du-
ration. If the wind rises fitfully and swiftly it
will not likely be long but may be severe. If the
wind reaches any considerable velocity before
the rain or snow begins the storm is sure to be
short and severe.

The color and formation of the clouds will
tell when the precipitation is about to begin.
In summer, no matter how striking and black
are the shapes and shadows of the clouds, rain
will not fall until a gray patch, a uniform veil
called nimbus is seen. In the little showers of
April this patch of unicolored cloud is there, as
well as behind the great arch of the onrushing
thunderstorm. In winter raindrops are smaller
and the tendency of the clouds is to appear a
dull, uniform gray at all times. But the careful
observer can detect a difference between the
nature of the clouds several hours before pre-
cipitation and their color immediately before.

When snow is about to fall no seams are visi-

THE STORM CYCLE 59

ble. An impenetrable film obscures all the
joints. From such a sky as this snow is sure to
fall. But if seams are visible, if parts of the
skyscape are darker than others, then, no mat-
ter whether the temperature on the ground is
below freezing a rain storm will ensue. Very
often these winter rains begin in snow or sleet,
but the clouds register the moment when the
change from snow to rain is to be made. 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 atmosphere. This variety of cloud
is called scud, and accompanies rain and wind
rather than foretelling it long in advance.

If the storm is approaching from the south-
west the precipitation begins near the coast
about twelve hours after the cirrus clouds com-
mence to thicken and about twenty-four after
they were first seen. 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-point. Just a little ob-
servation will enable one to gauge the ordinary
length of time required to bring things to the
rain-pitch in one's own country. Of course no
two storms in succession make the trip under the
same auspices and with the same speed. The

60 READING THE WEATHER

sign of the Universe should be a pendulum.
One period of cyclone, anticyclone, cyclone will
traverse the country rapidly. Then there will
be a halt all along the line, and the next series,
— anticyclone, cyclone, anticyclone, will take
three days longer to make the crossing. Other-
wise our weather would have a deadening regu-
larity.

On an average our storms cross the country
at the rate of about six hundred miles a day.
This is the average. Some delay, linger, and
wait for days over one locality. Others do a
thousand miles in the twenty- four hours. They
thicken up enough to cause rain from two hun-
dred to six hundred miles in advance of their
centers. It stops raining not long after the
actual center has passed.

But for picnic purposes the storm is far from
being over. For even though continuous rain-
ing has stopped the low pressure still induces a
degenerate sort of precipitation called showers,
or oftener mist for another twelve hours (usu-
ally in winter). Then as the cooling influence
of the anticyclone approaches the rain recom-
mences. This time it is not for long, however,
and is followed by permanent clearing, the wind
shifting into the west. Sometimes the change
to blue sky is abrupt. But if the subsequent an-

THE STORM CYCLE 61

ticyclone is not very well defined, cloudy condi-
tions may linger for a couple of days. Such
clouds are usually much broken and show white
at the edges and never cause more than a chilly
feeling.

This attempt to outline the customary cycle
of the storm, — clear sky, cirrus cloud, wind-
shift to the east, the denser cirro-stratus, the
pavement-like stratus, the woolly nimbus, the
first continuous hours of rain, the misty interval,
the windshift to the west, the final shower, and
breaking cloud, the all-blue sky — this storm-
schedule is always subject to change. But the
fundamentals are there in disguise every time.
They only have to be looked for and there is
some satisfaction in penetrating the disguise.

When a storm comes up the Atlantic Coast,
as happens a few times a winter, the process is
shortened, because the effects of the larger east-
erly quadrants are felt only at sea. The most
prominent recent illustration of this type of
storm was the severe snowstorm that swept the
coast states from Carolina to Maine the Satur-
day before Easter, 1915. Its calendar read as
follows: Friday, 8 P. M., cirrus clouds thicken-
ing into cirro-stratus. Midnight, stars faintly
visible, wind from northeast, 12 miles an hour.
Sunrise, stratus clouds, wind rising in gusts at

62 READING THE WEATHER

Philadelphia to 30 miles; 8 A.M., rapid con-
solidation of clouds with snow shortly after,
although the temperature at the surface of the
earth was as high as seven degrees above the
freezing point. This rapidly dropped to freez-
ing. Flakes were irregular in size. Until one
o'clock in the afternoon the snow thickened with
gusts of wind up to forty miles. Snowfall for
five hours was 14 inches, an unprecedented fall
for this locality.

Then the storm waned for five hours more,
5 inches more of snow falling. Precipitation
practically ceased at 6 P. M. By sunrise on
Sunday the skies were free of clouds and the
wind blew gently from the northwest.

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 everybody. Occasionally,
too, the transcontinental storms are driven
north or south of their accustomed paths.
While the divergence may be slight, it causes a
margin of variance from the accuracy of the Bu-
reau's report. Then arises a second storm, —
one of indignation — from all the people on
one side of the strip who carried umbrellas to
no purpose, and from the others, — who didn't.

This pushing aside of the cyclone is caused by

THE STORM CYCLE 63

pressure variation that only hourly reports from
many localities could detect. Vast hidden influ-
ences shift the weights ever so little and the me-
teorological express is wrecked. But this hap-
pens, at most, fifteen times in a hundred, and
remembering the unseen agencies to be coped
with people are refraining more and more from
the tart criticisms of former times, not in char-
ity but in justice, although there is small tend-
ency yet to forward eulogies to the Bureau in
recognition of the eighty-five times it is right.

CHAPTER IV

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS

THE weather-wise, even more so than
poets, are born. But that only goes to
say that weather-wisdom can be fa-
thered. For poetry and canoeing and the art
of making fires, once the desire for these things
is born, may be aided infinitely by observation
and practice. Nobody can teach a man the
smell of the wind. But the chap who feels na-
ture beating under his heart can, by taking
thought, add anything to his stature. So it is
with those who are called weather-wise. An
unconscious desire, a little conscious knowledge,
a good deal of experimentation with the cycle of
days, and you have a weatherman.

These chapters aim to put the little conscious
knowledge into the hands of the people with the
unconscious desire, so that when they take their
week in the woods for the first time (and their
month for the second time) they may enjoy the
shifting scenery of the sky-ocean and, inciden-
tally, a dry skin. For I take it that everybody

64

SKY SIQNS FOR CAMPERS 65

will soon be camping. Maine and the Adiron-
dacks have become a family barracks. It is Hud-
son Bay for bachelors. And over this expanse of
woods and children the weather problem ranks
with the domestic one. For naturally if a soak-
ing would endanger his vacation the husband
must not permit a rain, — unexpectedly. In all
seriousness, 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 demand, what
woods burn well, and what mushrooms can be
eaten, even though one can get along without
knowing these things until perchance the artery
is severed or the arched squall catches one far
from shore.

At the very least, one grain of weather wis-
dom prevents a mush of discomfort. And if,
fellow-camper, the following observations gath-
ered on a thousand thoughtless walks do not
tally (for the northeastern states) with yours,
write me, so that in the end we may finally con-
trive together a completer handbook of our
weather.

THE CLOUDS

Clouds are signposts on the highway of the
winds. Every phase of the weather, except
stark clearness, is commented upon by a cloud

66 READING THE WEATHER

of some sort. When danger is close they
thicken. When it passes they disappear. The
aviators of the future will be cloud-wary. He
who flies must read or never fly again.

The cirrus cloud is always the first to appear
in the series that leads up to the storm. It
looks like the tail of Pegasus and for it the old
forecasters in their forecastles made a special
proverb.

"Mackerel scales and mares* tails
Make lofty ships carry low sails."

These white plumes and scrolls which are in
reality glistening ice-breath, fly at the height of
five, six, seven, and even eight miles. And as a
sign of coming storm they are about as infallible
as anything may be in this erratic world. They
were born in the cradle of a storm. The storm
center was breathing warmed air upward to
great heights, and although the disc of the
storm itself was only two or three miles deep,
its nucleus, crater-like, shot warm columns twice
as far. With just enough moisture content to
make a showing against the blue these streamers
flowed to the eastward. At those dizzy heights
the prevailing westerlies are in full force, blow-
ing from eighty to two hundred miles an hour
night after night and day after day. These
westerlies caught the storm exhalations, the

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 67

streamers, and hurled them eastward at greater
speed than the main body of the storm. And
that is the reason that we see these cirrus clouds
always eight, mostly twelve, often twenty-four
and sometimes forty-eight hours before the
storm is due.

Just a few strands of cirrus have little sig-
nificance. They may be condensation from a
local disturbance, or a back fling from a past
storm. 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 approaching. Occasionally the
storm center is too far to the south or north to
cause rains at your locality, but the cirri bank
up on the horizon and their lacework covers the
sky. If they appear to be moving toward the
region of greatest cloudiness it is not a sign of
precipitation. This condition is most apparent
at Philadelphia when the storm center over Ala-
bama or Mississippi floats out to sea by way of
Florida without having the energy to turn north.
Then the cirrus is seen thickly on our southern
horizon. Looking closely one sees that the
cirri are moving from the northwest, and are
being drawn into the storm area instead of pro-
ceeding in advance of it.

Careful watching will sometimes enable one

68 READING THE WEATHER

to tell whether the tails are increasing or de-
creasing in size. If they dissolve it means that
the cyclone from which they were projected is
losing strength because of new conditions.
Cloudiness may follow but no precipitation of
consequence. Tke plumy tails are expressive:
pointing upward they mean that the upward
currents are strong and rain will follow; point-
ing downward they mean that the cold dry upper
currents have the greater weight and clear
weather is likely. 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 drought.
As the proverb goes, " all signs of rain fail in
dry weather," and there is some truth in it.

The fine wavy cirrus clouds often increase in
number, develop in texture until the blue sky
has become veiled with a muslin-like layer of
mist. This is the cirro-stratus, and is a devel-
opment of the cirrus, but it does not fly so high.
Its significance is of greater humidity and is the
first real confirmation of the earlier promise of
the cirri. Another form that the cirro stratus
may assume is the mackerel sky, — clouds with
the light and shade of the scales of a fish. If
this formation is well-defined and following cir-
rus it is a fairly accurate storm indicator. It is

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 69

not quite infallible, however, as the same forms
may be assumed when the process is from wet
to dry.

The old proverb, " Mackerel sky, soon wet
or soon dry," expresses this uncertainty. If
dry is to follow the scales will appreciably lessen
in size and perhaps disappear. If the cirro-
stratus or scaly clouds are followed by a con-
spicuous lowering it is only a question of a few
hours until precipitation begins. The cirro-
stratus at a lower level is called alto-stratus and
this becomes heavy enough to obscure the sun.

The cloud process from stratus on is slow
or rapid, depending upon the energy of the
coming storm and the rate of its approach. In
most cases the clouds darken, solidify, and be-
come a uniform gray, no shadows thrown, no
joints. Soon after the leaden hues are thus
seamless the first snowflake falls. If it doesn't
it is a sign that the process of condensation is
halting: the storm will not be severe. Some-
times there is no precipitation after all this prep-
aration, but under these circumstances the wind
has not ventured much east of north. From the
time that the snow starts the clouds have chance
to tell little. Only by a process of relative
lightening or darkening can the progress of the
storm be followed and the wind, and not the

70 READING THE WEATHER

clouds at all, is the factor to be watched; for oc-
casionally the sun may shine through the tenu-
ous snowclouds without presaging any genuine
clearing so long as the wind is in the east.

But in summer the clouds become even more
eloquent than the wind. The rain-cloud, called
the nimbus, becomes different from the dull win-
ter spectacle. 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 (or ice-cream
cones) of a summer afternoon. These piled
masses of vapor are cumulus clouds, and if they
don't overdo the matter are a sign of fair
weather. They should appear as little cottony
puffs about ten or eleven in the morning, in-
crease slowly in size, rear their dazzling heads
and then start to melt about four in the after-
noon.

But perhaps the upward rush of warm, moist
air has been so great in the morning that the aft-
ernoon cooling cannot dispose of it all without
spilling. Then occurs a little shower, — the
April sort. Often in our mountainous districts
it showers every day for this reason. The
great thunderstorms come for greater reasons :
they are yoked to a low pressure area and rep-

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 71

resent the summer's brother to the winter's
three-day storm.

Cumulus clouds are called fair weather clouds
until their bellies swell and blacken and they
begin to form a combination in restraint of sun-
light. Even then it will not rain so much out
of the blackness as out of the grayness behind it,
and if there is no grayness chances are that you
will escape a wetting. 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 cloud. If you can see the other
clouds through it or the landscape the shower
will be slight. If a gray curtain obscures every-
thing behind it you had better pull your canoe
out of the water and hide under it if time is less
valuable than a dry skin. Such showers may
be successive but rarely continuous.

Rain clouds have been observed within 230
yards of the ground. Very often it can be seen
to rain from lofty clouds and the fringe of
moisture apparently fail to reach the earth, be-
cause the condensation was licked up and totally
absorbed on entering a stratum of warmer air.
The reverse of this occurs on rare occasions; —
condensation takes place so rapidly that a cloud
does not have time to form, and rain comes

73 BEADING THE WEATHER

from an apparently clear sky. This phenome-
non has been witnessed oftenest in dry regions
and never for very long or in great amounts, al-
though a half hour of this sort of disembodied
storm is on record.

If the cumulus clouds of the summer's after-
noon do not decrease in size as evening ap-
proaches showers may be looked for during the
night. And if the morning sfcy is full of these
puffy little clouds the day's evaporation on add-
ing to them will probably cause rain. A trained
eye will distinguish between a stale and fresh
appearance in cloud formation, the light, newly
made, fresh clouds, like fresh bread, contain
more moisture. If the clouds have much white
about them they need not be feared as rain-
bearers. Clouds are much higher in summer
than in winter and the raindrops of warm air
are larger than those of cool.

If cumulus clouds heap up to leeward, that
is, to the north, or northwest on a south or
southwest wind a heavy storm is sure to follow.
This is notably so as regards the series of show-
ers in connection with the passage of a low-
pressure area. The wind will bear heavy show-
ers from the south (in summer) for a whole
morning and half the afternoon with intervals
of brilliant sky and burning sun. Or perhaps

SKY SIGNS FOB CAMPERS 73

the south wind will not produce showers, but all
the time along the northwest horizon a bank of
cloud grows blacker and approaches the zenith,
flying in the face of the wind or tacking like a
squadron against it. About the time that the
lightning becomes noticeable and the thunder is
heard the wind drops suddenly, veers into the
west, and the face of things darkens with the
onrush of the tempest.

Although no rain may have fallen while the
wind was in the southern quarter yet that con-
stituted the first half of the storm and the on-
slaught of rain and thunder the second. While
the storm area moved from the west to the east
the circulation of air about the center was viv-
idly demonstrated by the south wind blowing
into the depression, whose center was epito-
mized by the moment of calm before the charge
of the plumed thunderheads from the north-
west.

Most camping is done either in hilly or moun-
tainous country where the movement of clouds
is swifter and more changeable than over flat
lands. There is one sign of great reliability:
if the mountains put on their nightcaps the
weather is changing for the wetter, and if clouds
rise on the slopes of the hills or up ravines, or
increase their height noticeably over the moun-

74 BEADING THE WEATHER

tain-tops, the weather is changing for the dryer.
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 quickly. But even in the
mountains the big changes give plenty of warn-
ing.

Often clouds may be noticed moving in two
or even three directions on different levels at
once. The upper stratum will probably be cir-
rus from the west. Cumulus or stratus may be
floating up from the south. A light drift of
vapor called scud may fly on the surface easterly
wind. Such a confused condition of wind cir-
culation betokens an unsettled system of air
pressures and as frequent collisions of the air
bodies at varying temperatures are inevitable
rains, probably heavy, will follow.

On clear days one will be surprised to see iso-
lated clouds, usually the torn, thin sort, drifting
across the sky from the east. A change will fol-
low soon.

In winter black, hard clouds betoken a bleak
wind.

Clear winter days several times a season
show a brilliant blue sky filling with great cumu-
lus clouds of dark blue, blurred at the top and
gray at the base. They will sprinkle snow in

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 75

smart, short flurries, and are ushering in a pe-
riod of clear and much colder weather.

A sky full of white clouds and much light is
a cheerful sign of continuing fair weather.

The softer the sky the milder the weather
and the more gentle the wind. It is the dark
gloomy blues that bring the wind. But do not
mistake the woolly softness of the rolling clouds
before a thunderstorm. A sudden and often
violent gust follows. Tumbling clouds in any
event should make one wary of venturing on
water. Summer drownings would not be so nu-
merous if the portent of the squall were heeded.

To this data might be added many singular
cloud formations that are not observed often.
The funnel shaped cloud of the tornado, the
green shades of the hurricane cloud, the green
sky of cold weather showing out between layers
of steel blue, coppery tints that show before
heavy storms sometimes, variations of color at
sunset each of which has a meaning which prac-
tice in deciphering will make clear. 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 par-
ticles. Nobody with eyes should be caught un-
awares by day. The look of the sunset shad-
ows forth much of the coming night. And

76 READING THE WEATHER

throughout all this truth holds : the greater the
coming storm the longer and clearer are the
warnings given to the watchful.

THE WINDS

The wind is the ring-master of the clouds.
It whistles and they obey. Therefore to be
windwise is to be weatherwise, almost.

One can get a hold on the wind by learning
to gauge its strength. Look at the trees or the
smoke from your city chimneys and guess how
fast it blows at eight o'clock in the morning, or
eight at night. The weather report the next
day will tell you how nearly you were right.

Beginning is easy; anybody can guess a
calm. When the leaves are just moving lazily
the Weather Bureau calls it a light or gentle
breeze, moving from 2 to 5 miles an hour. A
fresh breeze, from 6 to 15 miles will stir the
twigs at first and finally swing the branches
about. From 16 to 25 miles, a brisk wind, will
cause white caps on the lakes, tossing the tops
of the trees, but breaking only small twigs. In-
creasing from 26 to 40 miles it becomes a high
wind that breaks branches on trees, wrecks signs
in the towns, causes high waves at sea and roars
like the ocean in heavy squalls through the
woods. From 40 to 60 miles an hour makes a

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 77

gale. Sailing craft are now in danger. The
pressure at 50 miles an hour is 13 pounds to the
square foot, having risen from three-quarters
of an ounce at 3 miles. This pressure becomes
40 pounds per foot when the wind reaches a ve-
locity of 90 miles.

At 60 trees are uprooted, chimneys may go, it
is difficult to walk against, the noise becomes
very great but rather inspires than frightens.
As the gale increases from 60 to 80 (which ve-
locity the Bureau rather weakly calls a storm
wind), danger rapidly increases. Trees are
prostrated, the uproar becomes terrifying, walk-
ing without aid is impossible, the great ocean
liners are in danger, the sea becomes a whitened
surface of driving spume that heaps up into
piles of water thirty or more feet high, windows
are blown in and frame houses cannot stand
much greater velocities. Anything from 80
miles an hour up is well called a hurricane.
Everything goes at 100. At Galveston the ma-
chine that registered the wind velocity blew
away at 100.

They have better instruments now, and in
many places velocities of over a hundred miles
an hour have been recorded. As high as 186
miles was registered on the top of Mt. Wash-
ington, and in a single gust no at Montreal.

78 READING THE WEATHER

The great hurricane winds are most felt at a
few of the exposed places on our coasts. Cape
Mendocino, on the Pacific, has 144 miles an
hour to its credit in a January hurricane. But
enough destruction is done at 90 miles. Fields
are stripped of their crops, or leveled; houses
are demolished unless they are specially built,
like the New York sky-scrapers, to withstand
much higher velocities. In the small whirling
storms called tornadoes the wind is estimated to
reach a velocity of 200 to 500 miles, and noth-
ing but the cyclone cellar will shelter one from
the fury of the elements when they are really
unleashed.

The higher one goes the greater the velocity
of the wind. On the top of Mt. Washington
100 miles is rather common for hours at a time
and 150 is recorded now and then. That is
only 6000 feet above Boston. If such a force
struck Boston for a minute it would be blown en
masse into the Bay.

Velocities on land are less than those at sea,
because of the resulting friction from obstacles.
Velocities in summer are lower (thunder gusts
excepted) than in winter. Since the wind is
caused by differences in atmospheric pressure,
and that in turn by disparities in temperature,

SKY SIGNS FOE CAMPERS 79

winter holds the palm for greater velocities be-
cause the wide whirl of a cyclone over the great
plains may cause to mix air from Texas with a
temperature of 60 degrees with air from Mon-
tana of 30 degrees below zero, while the sum-
mer temperatures in both states might easily be
80 degrees.

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 country. West winds, for in-
stance, are an almost universal guarantee of
clear weather. The Pacific Coast and western
Florida are the exceptions.

Northwest winds bring clear skies and cool
weather everywhere. In winter in the north
plateau section heavy snows arrive in advance
of the severe cold waves that come on these
northwest gales.

North winds are the cold bearing ones.
Clear skies prevail under their influence.

Northeast winds are cold, raw snow-bearing
winds in winter and spring and bring chilly rains
in midsummer.

East winds are the surest rainbringers of all
for the eastern two-thirds of the country, and
are soon followed by rain with a shift of wind

80 READING THE WEATHER

over the other third. Their temperatures are
more moderate than those of the northeast
storms.

The greatest falls of rain occur, however,
with the southeast winds, whose moisture con-
tent is greater than that of the others because
they are warmer and blow off water except in
Rocky Mountain districts.

South winds are warm and contain much mois-
ture, which falls in showers rather than in con-
tinuous rains.

The southwest winds of winter precede a
thaw and are much damper than west winds.
In summer over much of our country they are
hot, parching winds that injure vegetation.

The average velocity of the wind from these
different quarters is variable in different parts
of the country, the severest being on the south-
east and northwest quadrants. The highest
winds are always where the steepest gradients
are; that is, where the barometric pressure de-
creases or increases the fastest. The steepest
gradients are usually on the northeast and north-
west sides of the storm center, with the excep-
tion of the Atlantic Coast where the southeast
winds are often highest. The average for the
northeast quadrant is 16 miles, for S. E. 30, for
S. W. 20, and for the N. W. 30 miles an hour.

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 81

But averages can deceive. As a matter of fact
single instances of great wind velocities occur
from each point of the compass. The greatest
velocity ever recorded at Philadelphia occurred
in October, 1878, when the wind blew seventy-
five miles an hour from the southeast. But the
record velocities for eight of the other months
were registered in the northwest quadrant.

The period of time when the barometer is be-
ginning to rise after having been very low is
that when the strongest winds blow.

Some sections of our country have special
kinds of wind that are peculiarly their own, no-
tably Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana where
the chinook reigns. This phenonemon belongs
only to the cold season and only to the coldest
days of it. It is a warm wind that begins to
blow without much warning from the southern
quarter. It is caused by a body of cold air sud-
denly falling from a great height. 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 causes.
The increase in temperature will be as much as
forty degrees in fifteen minutes.

This sudden dry heat is a great snow-eater.
If it were not for the chinook the snow-blanket
would stay so much longer on the cattle ranges

82 READING THE WEATHER

that they would be useless as such. In north-
eastern 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
chinook.

Another phenomenon of the air that is of
tremendous benefit to man is the sea-breeze.
During the intense heat of a hot wave the wind
may shift to the east in Boston and in fifteen
minutes coats are comfortable. Such a shift
may bring relief to a strip of land two hundred
miles wide along our entire eastern seaboard.
The sea-breeze is explained by the fact that the
land cools more quickly than the sea and also
warms more easily. During the whole fore-
noon of a summer's day the sun has been pour-
ing upon land and sea, but the land-air has be-
come much hotter than the air over the sea. It
rises and the sea-air rushes landward. By mid-
night the land has cooled off even more than the
sea and the heavier air now presses out to sea
again. On every normal day this balancing
process takes place.

If it doesn't conditions are abnormal and
chances are that mischief is brewing. This ebb
and flow of warmer and cooler air is, on a small
scale, exactly what is happening on a vastly

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 83

larger field of operations between cyclone and
anticyclone. 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 winter, as the cyclone pre-
vents the night land breeze from taking place
when it is central off the eastern coast.

The exchange of air between mountain side
and valley is similar to the land-and-sea breeze.
The rarer air on the mountain side heats faster
by day and cools faster by night than the denser
air in the valley. Therefore during the day it
rises and the valley air rushes up to take its
place ; during the night it cools and sinks into
the valley. 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 skies. The at-
mosphere is acting properly and will remain set-
tled so long as the air blows up your ravine for
most of the day, and turns about sundown and
blows out and down the ravine like a flood of
refreshing water.

Of course many valleys are so large as to be
affected, not by these local causes, but by the
larger movements of the anticyclones when the
sure-clear west wind may blow up the valley for
three days at a time. But, nevertheless, for
most mountainous places the logic holds and you

84 READING THE WEATHER

may expect rain if the wind does not blow coolly
down the ravine at night. Of course watch
your clouds for confirmation.

In times of calm prepare for storm. An emi-
nent meteorologist has frowned upon me for
saying that. It is not the whole truth, I admit,
but there is a certain kind of calm which hap-
pens often enough to justify the remark. It
happens this way. A severe storm has passed.
The customary anticyclone with its brisk north-
west 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 time; that is, three or four days.
But suddenly in the early afternoon, just when
it should be blowing its hardest, the wind drops,
lulls, shows a tendency to change its direction.
There is only one explanation. Another cy-
clone has developed off in the west. It has
knocked the anticyclone on the flank, taken the
teeth out of the gale.

The wind shows this before clouds can. The
absence of wind when there ought to be a lot
shows it before even the first cirrus swims over-
head. The chance is that when the flow of an-
ticyclonic air has been thus rudely cut off and
stillness follows, it will be storming by morning.
It is best to keep an eye on these abnormal, pre-

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 85

cipitous calms. In times of peace prepare for
rain.

But the eminent meteorologist was eminently
right when he said that the statement was mis-
leading unless explained. For there are many
kinds of calms that do not portend coming
storms. Nearly every day, winter and summer,
but particularly in summer, the wind drops to a
calm at sunset. That is a time of adjustment.
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 dawn. At
sunrise, however, there is another truce. If
this truce is neglected either at sunrise or at sun-
set it is a sign that either a cyclone on an anti-
cyclone is very much in the ascendency. These
truces are most often observed at the seashore
when you are out sailing and the smell of sup-
per fills your nostrils but is not sufficient to fill
your sails. These calms are normal and the
best sign of a fair day on the morrow, provided
the other signs agree.

During the great transition period from sum-
mer to winter comes that autumnal truce, Indian
Summer, which is the chief claim to fame of
American weather. For day after day a brood-
ing haze sleeps in the air, sometimes for weeks
there is no wind of any strength. Winter ad-

86 READING THE WEATHER

vances insidiously in the fall but retreats in com-
motion, and the cooling off process permits of
these still days while they are uncommon in the
spring. The wind checks off more mileage in
March than in any other month.

While the regular day's end calm and the
calm of the year's exhaustion mean continued
fair weather, there is one calm that everybody
knows, which is the most dramatic moment in
the whole repertory of the weather: the fore-
boding, ten-count wait before the knockout blow
of the thunderstorm. But when that calm
comes every one is already sitting tight so that
it is not much account as a warning. They say
that the intense stillness before the hurricane
strikes is uncanny.

Whether inshore or afloat the wind is to be
watched if you would know what weather is to
be. 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 weather.

TEMPERATURES

Considering that the temperature of the sun
is 14,072 degrees Fahrenheit and the tempera-
ture of space is absolute zero, 459 degrees be-

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 87

low ours, we do very well on earth to be as com-
fortable as we are.

And we owe it all to the atmosphere which
keeps the sun from concentrating upon us. 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 day. But that is suffi-
cient to do a lot of damage if it could get at us.

But even the paltry range of temperatures so
far recorded on our planet, — from 134 degrees
above zero one day in California, to 90 degrees
below zero one night in Siberia, — is* by no
means a fair statement of the extremes we are
called upon to bear. Only twice a decade in our
country does the mercury vary as much as sixty
degrees in twenty-four hours, and there are vast
areas where the daily change amounts to only a
few degrees.

The changes that do come so suddenly to us,
particularly in winter and that are known as
cold waves, are in reality beneficial. To them
we Americans may owe our energy, our vivacity,
our changeability of mood. The refrigerated,
revivified air sweeping down from the north is
tonic. It is heavy, and issuing from antiseptic
altitudes, drives the humid, germ-nursing air
from our city streets. If we had arranged a

88 READING THE WEATHER

process of refreshment like this at vast expense
we should have been intensely proud of it. As
it is we are intensely annoyed at it and occasion-
ally a few people are frozen to death. The
Weather Bureau warnings and the coal clubs are
reducing the loss in property and lives.

If you are sleeping out it is of great impor-
tance to know when the mercury is going to take
one of these swoops, for sleeping cold means
little real rest because one's muscles are tense,
and the next day's packing needs all the relaxa-
tion one can get. Two generalizations govern
pretty much every change of temperature : the
mercury will rise before a storm and it will fall
after one, winter and summer, but much more
conspicuously in winter.

There are two reasons for this. Our cy-
clones 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 anticyclone. Also
the process of precipitation causes heat. 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 sun. Thus a nor-

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 89

mal storm is doubly sure to warm up the en-
vironment.

In summer the reverse is partially true, 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
influence. So that in summer we have a sultry,
sunny day as the first half of the storm area and
then a cooling shower. Also after two or three
days of warm weather in spring and autumn we
have a rainstorm of the winter type which low-
ers the temperature instead of raising it. This
is because the heat produced by the storm is less
than that of the sun's rays intercepted by the
clouds. The clear skies of the preceding anti-
cyclone had permitted the land to warm up very
fast under the midsummer sun, and the clouds
of the cyclone, by cutting off the supply, had
made a relative chill.

In winter the sunrays are so much feebler be-
cause 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 radiation.
Therefore the rainy area is the warmest of all.
Even in summer the winds from the southeast,
south, and southwest are warmer than those
from the opposite quarters, not only because

90 READING THE WEATHER

they blow from a quarter naturally warmer on
account of the sun, but because they are surface
winds and have absorbed some of the heat from
the soil. Being denser, they absorb it more
readily and hold it longer.

The change, then, from the period of fair
weather to that of storm brings an increase of
temperature. But the rate of increase varies.
The faster the storm is approaching the faster
the temperature will rise; and the route of the
storm's center makes all the difference as to the
amount of the rise. If the wind shifts by way
of the north and holds in the northeast until
precipitation begins the rise in temperature will
be very slight. The great snowstorms of the
northern half of the country occur under just
such a circumstance. 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 pronounced, as
much as thirty degrees sometimes in a few
hours, and the winter storm that started in as
snow soon changes to sleet and rain.

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 rain. If the wind shifts only so far as
the south the rise will be highest of all and blue

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 91

sky will often appear between the showers,
showing that the air is heated to a considerable
height.

The progress of the temperature changes
from the maximum of the cyclonic area to the
minimum of the anticyclone is also dependent
upon the wind. If the storm center is passing
south and the wind begins to pull into the north-
east and north the temperature will fall steadily
and slowly. The rain or snow often cease
gradually by the time the wind has reached the
north, but the temperature continues to fall
slowly until it reaches very low levels in mid-
winter. 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 compara-
tively high temperatures swings into the south-
west, the temperature falls somewhat.

There is usually a final downpour and a rapid
shift of the wind into the west or northwest, but
almost never directly into the north. The tem-
perature falls several degrees in a few minutes,
quite unlike the gradual decline of the north-
east-by-north shift, and clear skies come at once
with rapidly diminishing temperatures. In the
vicinity of Philadelphia a fall of twenty-five de-
grees would be most unusual on the northeast
shift, — such storms reaching 38 degrees and

92 READING THE WEATHER

falling to 15, while with the other shift a fall
from 55 degrees to 15 would not be unusual.
Of course any one set of figures given could only
show the tendency and not the rule or limits.

After the manner of the wind-shift the inten-
sity of the storm is a good gauge of the tempera-
ture change to be expected by the camper. As
a rule the greater the intensity of the storm the
greater will be the degree of cold that follows it.
The storms that have a complete wind circula-
tion about them are always more severe than
those with incomplete circulation and are in-
variably followed up by some reduction in tem-
perature. If the decrease is not proportion-
ately great and the subsequent wind has only a
moderate clearing quality look out for another
cyclone.

In such a case the temperature is the best
witness of the contemplated change. For in-
stance, after a summer thunderstorm a decided
coolness is de rtgeur. If this does not occur
it means nearly every time that there is another
thunderstorm in process of construction.
There may be not a cloud in the sky, there may
be no wind (although there should be) so that
the course of the thermometer is the only means
of telling what is to be the next event. Any-
body can take a thermometer with him although

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 93

a barometer — the most accurate forecaster of
all — may be thought too much expense and
bother.

At some future date the Weather Bureau will
be able to predict the temperature of seasons
in advance. This, together with the amount of
rain scheduled to fall, will be an invaluable aid
to everybody and to the farmers most of all.
At present mild seasons that have severe storms
without the appropriate degree of cold after
them cannot be entirely explained, let alone be-
ing prediscovered. 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 yet.

Sometimes clear weather may intensify,
growing brighter, stiller, colder. This is be-
cause the pressure is increasing. Cold seasons
are distinguished usually by a succession of anti-
cyclones. There is no way of telling how long
a certain spell of cold weather is to last, but I
have noticed that the same characteristics rarely
predominate for longer than a month at a time.
In other words, if December has been warm
and rainy, January will likely be cold and dry.
Of course, that is precisely the unscientific sort
of generalization which the Bureau very rightly

94 READING THE WEATHER

frowns upon, but which one may nurse privately
until science has provided a substitute as she
already has in so many instances.

With a little practice it is an easy matter to
estimate the temperature to within a very few
degrees. Try guessing for a few mornings and
then look at the thermometer. You will hit
within three degrees every time after a week of
this.

Allowance must be made for the amount of
moisture in the air and for the force of the
wind. Damp air feels colder by several de-
grees than crisp, dry air, and a breeze increases
the difference still more. Air in motion is not
necessarily colder than calm air. As a matter
of fact the lowest temperatures of all are re-
corded about sunrise after a still, clear night.
The amount of radiation accomplished during
the last hours of the night is amazing, and the
downward impetus of the thermometer is often
carried on for an hour or more after the sun
has appeared above the horizon. A self-re-
cording thermometer is an amusing toy which
will show this and becomes a valuable instrument
if one raises fruit.

In winter three o'clock of an afternoon sees
the highest temperature usually, and in summer
this maximum occurs as late as half-past five,

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 95

due to the fact that the sun can pour in its heat
faster than the earth can radiate it off. For
the half hour before and after sunset, particu-
larly in winter, the loss of heat is relatively
greatest; then the pace slackens till three or
four in the morning, when the plunge of the
mercury is accelerated until the rays of the rising
sun counteract the radiation.

If the mercury does not rise appreciably on
a clear winter's day it is a sign that a cold wave
is stealing in, due, doubtless, to a gradual in-
crease in pressure without its customary bluster.
Very often snow flurries predict its approach,
but this may be so gradual that only the restric-
tion of the daily thermal rise may indicate it.
By the next morning the temperature will likely
be twenty degrees colder.

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 radiation. Unsettled weather is
almost sure to follow unless this wet blanket is
itself dissipated and the mercury takes its cus-
tomary tumble before morning.

If the temperature falls while the sky is still
covered with clouds clearing, possibly after a
little precipitation, will soon follow.

Hot waves approach insidiously. A night

96 READING THE WEATHER

will not cool off as it properly should, the sun
will rise coppery, and while the day is yet young
everybody begins to realize that all is not ex-
actly right. But the heat increases usually for
several days, not only by reason of steadily
lowering pressure, but also by accumulation.
Finally when a climax is reached it departs
abruptly on the toe of a thunderstorm.

A cold wave reverses the process. It arrives
abruptly on the heels of a departing cyclone
and, after losing power, steals away without any
commotion whatever. Its rate of progress is in
close relation to the cyclone ahead of it.

Our mountains play a great part in our
weather. They are a right arm of Providence
to our agricultural communities. Due to their
north and south trend a cold wave of any se-
verity reaches the Pacific Coast only once a
generation. 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 flake. East of the mountains the belt of des-
ert makes natural crops impossible for a thou-
sand miles, 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 grown. It is also due to the wide

sis2!

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 97

insweep of winds from the Gulf that the plains
states are so well watered.

In lesser fashion the Appalachians protect
the Atlantic seaboard. They withstand the im-
pact of the cold waves to a great extent, al-
though they are not high enough to divert the
flow of cold air entirely toward the south and it
is not desirable that they should. As things are
the cold strikes Alabama before it hits New Jer-
sey, and is often more severe there.

Comparative cold is often registered by the
green color of the sky. A fiery red continues
the prevailing heat.

The day that is ushered in by a fog, in sum-
mer, will likely be warm, providing the fog lifts
by ten o'clock.

The temperature of a night with even a thin
covering of clouds will be a good deal higher
than if the sky is clear. In the British Isles the
whole difference between freezing and no freez-
ing lies .with the fairness of the heavens.
Everywhere frost will not form while the sky is
covered, although the temperature may be be-
low the freezing point. In summer radiation
on a still clear night may be so rapid that frost
may follow a temperature of fifty degrees at
nightfall.

The temperature at the surface of the earth

98 READING THE WEATHER

may easily deceive, as a colder or warmer stra-
tum of air may overlie that immediately next to
the ground. I have seen water particles fall
when the temperature was as low as 16 degrees
above zero, showing that the stratum of cold air
was very thin. Our sleet storms in which im-
mense damage is done to trees and telegraph
wires occurs from just such a situation, — a cold,
shallow layer of air close to the earth, with the
warm moisture-bearing air flowing over it. The
reverse of this situation is not uncommon — the
sight of a snowstorm proceeding merrily along
with the ground temperature at 35 or even 40
degrees.

Coming warmth may be noticed by the in-
crease in size of snow flakes, with finally hail
and rain. Coming cold is foreshadowed by
hail mixed with the rain and lastly snow flakes
which have a tendency to decrease in size.
Colors of the clouds predict temperature
changes, but it takes much practice to distinguish
the cold, hard grays from the soft, warm ones.
A warm sky is always less uniform in color than
a cold one. The colors of winter sunsets are,
as a rule, much brighter than those of summer
skies.

The stars seem brighter on a night that is to
be cold. If they twinkle it is because of rushing

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 99

air currents, and if the wind is from the north-
west the result may be a subsequent lowering of
temperatures.

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 going, and will soon be able to guess
the distance pretty fairly.

RAIN AND SNOW

East of the Mississippi River rain falls with
the utmost impartiality upon every locality.
Thirty to fifty inches are delivered at intervals
of three or four days throughout the year.
And if there is a slight irregularity in delivery
one can be sure that from 125 to 150 of the 365
days will be rainy. Occasionally there is a
more or less serious hold up of supplies, but this
rarely happens in the spring of the year and
never happens to all sections at once. And if
there is a desire to make amends for the
drought, we have what we call a flood and blame
it on the weather instead of on pur precipitous
denudation of the watersheds.

West of the Mississippi particular people
have to go to particular places for their rain.

100 READING THE WEATHER

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 day. It rains a good
deal at Eastport, Maine, — about 45 inches a
year ; that is, nearly an inch a week, — but at
Neal Bay, Washington, at about the same lati-
tude, in one year it rained 140 inches, and it
never stops short of 100 inches any year.

On the other hand, if the Washington people
are tired of it they need only escape to Arizona
where it rains about two inches a year, and they
can live in an enterprising hotel down there
whose manager believes that it pays to advertise
the sun. He guarantees to provide free board
on every day that the sun doesn't shine.

In the plateau section enough snow falls every
year to store up enough water for irrigation
purposes, and the little rain that falls arrives in
just the right season to do the most good, the
spring. In California what the farmers lose in
amount they make up in the regularity of its ar-
rival.

North of the Ohio River most of the precipi-
tation from November to April is snow.
About 50 inches of it falls on the average over
this tremendous territory. And it is more use-
ful than rain, — the handy blanket that makes
lumber-hauling easy, that keeps the ground

SKY SIGNS FOR f CAMBERS .101

from freezing to Arctic depths, that fertilizes
the soil, and that acts as a great reservoir, hold-
ing over the meat and drink of the vegetable
kingdom till the thirsty time arrives. In upper
Michigan and Maine the average depth be-
comes 100 inches. Averages are very mislead-
ing when snowfall is being considered, some
winters producing very scanty amounts and oth-
ers heaping it on to the depth of 185 inches
once at North Volney, New York.

South of the Ohio the depth varies from sub-
stantial amounts in some winters to almost
nothing in others. Snow has been observed,
however, in every part of our country except the
extreme southern tip of Florida. Once and
only once on the records a great three-day snow-
storm visited all of southern California, extend-
ing to the Mexican border and to the coast.

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 rain. A compromise is usually affected
in this way. Before the clouding up began the
mercury may have stood at ten degrees below
zero. As soon as the wind acquired an easterly
slant the temperature increased. As it neared
the freezing point the snow would begin, first in

102 READING THE WEATHER

flakes of medium size which would enlarge until
after a particularly heavy fall of a few minutes
they would at once almost cease. Hail soon
would succeed, the mercury still rising, 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 reached, turning
the snow already on the ground to slush and
making a holiday for germs.

One can always tell when this change to
warmer is about to occur because the clouds
which have been part and parcel with the ob-
scuring snow suddenly show, not lighter but
darker. The sudden increase in size of the
flakes is another infallible symptom of increas-
ing warmth in the atmosphere for each large
flake is a compound of many smaller ones.
When the temperature is low the flakes are very
small, being grains and spicules in the severe
blizzards of the west and falling as snow-dust
in the Arctic. In the heavy storms of the guess-
ing-belt the flakes are not necessarily small.

I have noticed (in the latitude of Philadel-
phia) that our largest storms begin very lei-
surely indeed with small and regular-sized flakes.
A quarter of an inch may not fall in the first
hour. As the center nears the snow comes ever
faster and larger, but not large, flakes are mixed

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 103

with the original-sized flakes. Snow dust is ap-
parent. At the height of the storm flakes of all
sizes except the very large are falling, denot-
ing great activity in the strata of air within the
storm influence. In the ordinary storm an ac-
cumulation at the rate of an inch an hour de-
notes a storm of considerable intensity.

The snow will likely keep on falling as long
as the flakes are irregular in size. If they grow
large and few or very small a cessation is likely,
even though the wind is still blowing from an
easterly quarter. 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
rises. A storm's intensity is measured by the
amount of wind. A storm can be a storm with-
out a drop of rain or flake of snow if only there
be enough wind. And as long as the wind in a
snowstorm keeps rising the storm is likely to go
on, probably increasing in volume of precipita-
tion.

If the wind shows a tendency to edge around
to the southeast there is danger of the snow
turning to rain; if the wind veers slowly to the
northeast the temperature will fall slowly and
the rate of precipitation will likely increase for
a while. In such instances the snow does not
continue to fall after the wind has swung west

104 READING THE WEATHER

of north. Often clearing takes place with the
wind still in the north or even a point east of
north.

Contrary to superstition snow may begin to
fall at any hour of the day or night. But cer-
tain hours seem more propitious than others,
owing no doubt to the tendency of cooling air to
condense. Three o'clock of an afternoon and
eight o'clock in the morning are favorite times,
the one being the hour of a winter afternoon
when cooling is begun, the other the hour when
the coldest time is reached and condensation
likely if at all. Of course, one remembers
storms beginning at nine, ten, eleven, and every
other hour.

Storms that begin in the morning seldom
reach much activity before three o'clock in the
afternoon, while those that begin then quickly
increase in intensity as evening draws near and
the sun's warmth is withdrawn from the upper
air-strata. More snow falls at night than in
the daytime, also. Snow is more delicate than
rain and perhaps more responsive than rain to
the subtle changes of the atmosphere. Possibly
there is no ground on the Bureau records for
these ideas, possibly storms have a tendency to
start from the Gulf on their northeastward jour-
ney and so reach Philadelphia oftener at one

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 105

time than another. I would like my notions
confirmed that snowstorms increase at nightfall,
and that they prefer to start operations at sun-
rise and about sunset.

For the camper the snowstorm need have no
terrors. It gives a long warning of its ap-
proach. It comes mostly without destructive
winds. Its upholstery protects and warms the
walls of one's tent. It adds beauty to the leaf-
less woods, interest to the trailer, and a hundred
amusements among the hills.

But the value of snowy weather is not only
measured by its beauties and commercial uses.
There is another way: make it read character
for you. Watch the reactions toward the first
snowfall of half a dozen kinds of people. It
will show you what they are; give you a very
fair measure of their youth.

Our atmosphere contains a lot of moisture
that never gets precipitated. You can prove
this on any warm day by noticing the way the
atmosphere acts toward a glass of ice-water.
When the air of the room is much warmer than
the surface of the glass it surrenders its mois-
ture willy nilly. Sometimes this condensation is
enough to cause a miniature rainstorm that tric-
kles down the outside of the tumbler. If a
small cold surface can wring so much water out

106 READING THE WEATHER

of a little air it is small wonder that we get an
inch or so of rain from vast currents of air at
unequal temperatures.

Try to visualize the process. A stream of
vapor has been warmed and is ascending. A
mile up and it has cooled not only by the reason
of altitude but also by the process itself. About
each little dust-particle in the surrounding area
vapor forms — vapor cannot form without
something to form on, there being always
enough dust from deserts and volcanoes to go
round. If the cooling proceeds the tiny glob-
ules enlarge and as they increase in weight they
settle and fall. Falling, they unite with others.

If the air-strata are very warm and thick the
drops may grow to a very considerable size.
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 extensive.
Also the first few drops that come from the
thick, hot lips of the thundercloud are usually
immense.

The best way to measure the size of a rain-
drop is to have it fall in a box of dry sand. It
rolls up the sand and measurements can be eas-
ily and accurately made. But the most inter-
esting way is to let the first drops of the thun-
derstorm fall upon a sheet of blotting paper.

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 107

If the same sort of blotting paper is used the
measurements will be of just as much impor-
tance for comparison. Circles as big as tea-
cups are formed sometimes.

Heavy drops in winter mean a heavy fall, be-
cause they denote high temperatures which are
uncommon and are bound to be followed by
considerable condensation as the cooling pro-
ceeds back to normal temperatures. Small
drops in summer mean either cooler weather, or
sudden condensation. Small drops in winter
are a sign of very thin moisture-bearing strata,
or low temperatures, indicating that the rain will
be light, protracted, and liable to change to
snow.

Hail is frozen rain. Winter hail is small
and harmless and rarely falls to any depth be-
cause the exact temperatures that bring forth
the hail rarely continue for very long at a time.
Hail in winter is merely the stepping stone to
either rain or snow. But in summer hail is a
serious matter. It shows that there is a violent
disturbance of the atmosphere in progress.
Vertical air currents, probably abetted by elec-
tricity,— the authorities are not sure — often
carry the stones up several times. They take
on layer after layer, coalesce, and sometimes
fall the size of eggs, apples, or any other fruit,

108 READING THE WEATHER

barring melons. The usual summer hail does
not exceed the size of a robin's egg. Even a
projectile of that size, however, falling for a
half mile or more has a tremendous destructive
power. Greenhouses suffer, birds are killed,
cattle stunned, and loss of life has been known
to follow. In August in 1851 in New Hamp-
shire hailstones fell to the weight of 18 ounces,
diameter 4 inches, circumference 12 inches. In
Pittsburgh stones weighing a full pound have
crashed down, and in Europe where many de-
structive storms have occurred there are official
records of even greater phenomena. The light-
ning accompanying these hailstones is usually
very severe. A flake or ball of snow forms the
nucleus of a hailstone.

If a thundercloud looks particularly black or
if it can be seen in commotion think of hail and
seek shelter. It is pretty difficult to predict ex-
actly when hail is going to fall in summer. It
is a possibility with every large storm, but a
probability with only a very few during the sum-
mer. It accompanies tornadoes.

In winter hail falls before a rainstorm, even
when the ground temperature precludes the pos-
sibility of snow; some lingering stratum of cold
air has ensnared the drops on their way down.

Snow is not frozen rain. It has an origin of

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 109

its own. It is born in a temperature consist-
ently below freezing and on the condensation
of the invisible moisture becomes visible as a
tiny crystal. These infinitesimal crystals unite
and form larger, hexagonal shapes, elongated or
starry. They are wafted along, sinking, all
slightly differing one from another, although
forming a few types. 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 design. But
this branch of science is young yet and confus-
ing and the outdoor man has surer signs of the
vicissitudes of the storm, in the general size of
the flakes, the power and direction of the wind,
the clouds and temperature. 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 heights.

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 ground.

The wild disorder of the snow flurry will only
last a few minutes and never leave much snow
on the ground.

Snowstorms that come on the wings of the
west wind may be severe, but they will be short.
They are unusual in the east, but sometimes the

110 READING THE WEATHER

heaviest snows of the western states come on the
sudden cooling that follows the shift to west.

Snowstorms arriving on a high wind last only
a few hours.

Snowstorms that are long in gathering and in-
crease to considerable intensity continue a long
while.

Those that follow a sudden clouding up are
of no importance.

The snowstorms that leave on a high wind
from the west or northwest are followed by a
cold wave. Those that continue after the
storm wind has died away are succeeded by calm,
clear, and usually warmer weather.

In northern districts a snowstorm may be
looked for after a period of cold weather. In
middle districts if the cold has been severe the
reaction to warmer may bring rain instead. In
such cases generalities are of no use, and the
possibilities must be determined by the man on
the spot. 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 frigid-
ity. The cold air flows into the southern storm
with the result that the middle districts get the

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS ill

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 St. Lawrence.

If the storm has two centers, one over Texas
and the other over Montana, as is so frequently
the case in winter, 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 districts. Some-
times the cyclones cross the country on the Ca-
nadian border and enough warm air is sucked
over the line to give the inhabitants of Montreal
a thaw and rain. This happens to them only
once or twice a winter. And even more rarely
a cyclone over the Gulf with an anticyclone
above it will give the Gulf States a taste of win-
ter, but rarely more than a few flakes.

It really all depends on the influx of air, its
rate and direction. It rains in Alaska and
snows in Georgia on the same day merely be-
cause at one place the air is coming off the Pa-
cific, and at the other it is flowing from the cen-
ter of a refrigerated continent.

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 majesty, the one

READING THE WEATHER

thing that man cannot control. Even the snow
which is the citizens' curse as well as the farm-
ers' blessing becomes epic when it beleaguers an
empire for half a year.

DEW AND FROST

The very process that made the tumbler of
ice-water sweat on the hot day causes dew.
And the formation of frost is analogous to that
of snow. Frost is not frozen dew, but the for-
mation of moisture crystals at the temperature
of 32° or below. Frost or dew form only on
still, cloudless nights. Even if no clouds are
visible, neither will form if a stratum of humid
air has prevented radiation. Hence either dew
or frost is a fairly good sign of clear weather.

Three white frosts on successive mornings are
followed by a rain. This saying holds water
not because there is any virtue in frost to cause
rain, but because a storm is normally due once a
week. The frosts did not form when the anti-
cyclonic 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 appear.
Frost indicates a considerable amount of mois-
ture in the atmosphere, also, which tends to in-
crease as the cyclone approaches.

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 113

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
sunrise. The greatest frost damage occurs in
the spring because the tenderer crops are grow-
ing then. 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 off.
The march of civilization has actually pushed
back the frost line some distance.

Frost may occur when the amount of humid-
ity in the air is low and the barometer rising at
any temperature under 50 degrees at nightfall,
the clear skies permitting radiation enough un-
der those circumstances to produce the necessary
cooling. An evening temperature of 40 de-
grees with the clear skies and faint west breeze
will almost surely produce a frost, provided the
wind drops. In such circumstances the only
hope for the farmer is that there is enough hu-
midity in the air to cause a fog before the frost-
point is reached. A temperature touching 34
degrees would not bring frost, however, if the
sky was at all overcast. Frost is difficult to pre-
dict because a night shift in the wind, cloudiness
that forms after midnight, or even a wind aris-

114i READING THE WEATHER

ing before the coolest period at dawn will pre-
vent its formation. On the other hand, clouds
may disperse, the wind may fall or radiation
may be so rapid before sunrise as to cause a
killing frost unawares. The farmer who lives
in areas disputed by winter and spring may
never be quite sure, but precautions should be
taken on the still, clear, dry nights with the ther-
mometer at fifty or below.

Fruit-growers resort to fires or to coverings
to protect their crops. The fires are particu-
larly worth while, not so much for their heat
which at best cannot be expected to warm up the
great outdoors much, but for the smoke which
prevents radiation. A line of smudges such as
campers use to ward off the mosquito would
spread a pall of smoke over an orchard effica-
ciously. A snowstorm, the soft fluffy sort that
falls in April or May, can do much less damage
to vegetation than a severe frost.

Temperatures are much lower on the ground
than even six feet above the grass. Naturally
these temperatures are those that really influ-
ence most vegetation and in England tempera-
tures on the grass are given in the weather re-
port with the ordinary observations, being as
much as six or eight degrees lower on clear
nights,

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 115

In some of the hot, dry countries, such as Ara-
bia and Egypt, most of the moisture that they
receive falls in the form of dew. Falls, of
course, is a loose expression as the dew forms
and does not fall, being different from the mi-
nute particles of fog. The fog particles in sus-
pension in the air are estimated to be as small
as i-i8oth of an inch. When they grow to
i-8oth of an inch in diameter they commence to
fall. Fogs are chiefly caused by the soil being
warmer than the air above it; the vapor on ris-
ing condenses and becomes visible. In the
spring and fall currents of air blow over rivers
at different temperatures and the result is a fog.
One does not have a fog in the desert.

There are places in the ocean with cold and
warm currents with the air above them corre-
spondingly different where fog is of almost con-
stant occurrence. The Gulf Stream off the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland has a tempera-
ture of 78 degrees, while the water on the Banks
is 45 degrees so that fogless days are rare along
the line of meeting.

Frost is known in every part of our country,
many localities in the plateau section being ex-
posed to it every month of the year. The thin
air and cloudless skies of the altitudes make ra-
diation very easy and the daily variation of tern-

116 READING THE WEATHER

perature is much wider than along the humid
coasts. Those who have never looked into
frost conditions throughout our country will be
surprised to read the warnings of the Weather
Bureau.

From the station at Pensacola, Florida
(frost-proof Florida!), comes this statement:
1 Vegetables are subject to damage by frost dur-
ing all seasons of the year."

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, " Frost is likely
to damage fruit or other crops in May and Sep-
tember."

Phoenix, Arizona, " Frost is likely to do dam-
age in December, February, and March."

Baker City, Oregon, " Fruit and other crops
are most liable to damage by frost in April,
May, June, September, and October."

Kalispell, Montana, " Frost damage for
fruit, May I5th to July loth; for grain, June
25th to August ist."

Montgomery, Alabama, " During March,
April, and May fruit and early vegetables are
subject to damage by frost."

THE THUNDERSTORM EXPOSED

Probably nothing in the world causes more
terror than a flash of lightning. In an able-

SKY SIGNS FOE CAMPERS

bodied thunderstorm playing about a city there
are several dozen flashes, and every one of them
brings trepidation, fright, or positive terror to
thousands of human beings, — oftenest women,
sometimes men, and occasionally children. Yet
probably there is no alarm in the world so ill-
founded.

Thunderstorms play pretty generally over
our three million square miles with their hun-
dred million population. Yet lightning picks
out of this crowd only three hundred people a
year who are foolish enough to be killed. That
is, only three persons in each million to be sacri-
ficed to the most astounding and beautiful dis-
play in the world, a mere handful compared to
the mounds of motor car victims or to the 33,-
068 deaths a year attributable to railroads and
the perils of track-walking.

The trouble about the thunderstorm is that it
does not lull one into the sense of insecure re-
pose. It is too obviously after one. If the
thunder were toned down a bit and the lightning
a trifle duller the alliance might claim its thou-
sands, like the inconspicuous housefly, and never
meet an objection. But until the thunderstorm
foregoes its bravado it will continue to bully the
ladies into hysterics.

118 READING THE WEATHER

Of course, there is always the sporting chance
that you are one of the three in your particular
million to perish.

But you can lessen the chance. You must not
seek refuge under a tree. You should not take
doubtful shelter in a barn. And you had best
not sit in a draft by an open window if there is
a tree just outside it. By these three avenues
most of the thoughtless three hundred (a year)
invite their end.

Trees that are tall and otherwise exposed are
struck oftenest. The electricity in the cloud
and the electricity in the earth are always en-
deavoring to combine. When this tendency be-
comes so strong that the resistance of the inter-
vening air is counteracted the electric discharge
between thundercloud and earth takes place.
This happens most frequently from some
pointed thing as a steeple, a tree if they are
good conductors. Men and animals are some-
times charged with the electricity opposite to
that of the cloud. When the lightning is dis-
charged, even at a distance, the bodies revert
rapidly from the electric to the natural state.
This return shock or concussion occasionally
proves fatal.

That is the reason that trees are such poor
protectors from the storm's fury. Better a

SKY SIGNS FOE CAMPERS 119

wet skin in the middle of a field than precarious
dryness under an oak or cherry or tall pine or
almost any other tree. If it should hail hard
enough to stove in your head take to a beech or
a small spruce.

Barns are struck so often because the body of
warm, dry air in them favors the passage of
electricity. Those who hide in barns are some-
times cremated. After a severe thunderstorm
in the Poconos I have seen as many as three
barns on fire at once.

Open windows, porches, and exposure gener-
ally are safe, but not safest. The cellar, that
old stamping ground, is where instinct takes a
few. Any closed room on the side of a house
away from trees is good enough. But the risk
of annihilation is so very small that one is re-
paid for taking it by the spectacle. A great
thunderstorm surpasses anything in nature in the
matter of architecture, coloring, directness, and
surprise, — which, with selection, comprise the
essentials of art. Imagine the crowds that
would pay to wonder at the sight if a thunder-
storm could be staged, say, at the Hippodrome I

Some hot morning, if you have time to watch,
you may see a thunderstorm born in the moun-
tains. The warm, moist air flows up the moun-
tainside and the essential start is made. Cool-

120 READING THE WEATHER

ing, this air first shows as a fluffy cloud that
soon grows harder in appearance and becomes
tufted at the top. Its little belly swells and
grows blacker. It hovers over the valley.
Others add to it. Suddenly a sort of adoles-
cent thunder is heard. The tension has become
too great. A definite consolidation is visible, a
fringe lowers, and a few drops of rain may
reach you.

The incipient storm moves off, and having
started a whirl within itself, increases, like a
rumor, as it goes. Before it has moved beyond
your horizon it may have become a large patch
of dark blue with billowy white crests on the
top, and underneath hangs a curtain of rain.
Chances are that it will not go far before en-
countering conditions that dispel it, but it may
cover half a dozen counties before nightfall.
As a rule these little heat thunderstorms do not
amount to a great deal. They are originated
by local conditions and leave things pretty much
as they found them.

But when a cyclone is passing in summer a se-
ries of thunderstorms or heavy showers with
some thunder frequently take place instead of
the all day winter rain. These thunderstorms
mount up against the wind. Their clouds are
black. The word black is an indulgence of the

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS in

human weatherman meaning, of course, any
dark color, — a black sky would terrify the most
hardened of meteorologists.

The cyclone winds come from the south or
southeast just as they do in winter, but this quar-
ter may not bring the heaviest rainfall in sum-
mer. There may be showers or even clear
skies, but the day will be humid and hot. A
haze of cirro-stiatus cloud will gradually over-
spread the sky from the west, darkening into a
blue from the original whitish or gray. Light-
ning does not appear from the cirrus, but after
the sky has grown pretty dark a ridge or tum-
bled cloud will be seen low on the western hori-
zon. Meanwhile the wind will have died down.

The lightning, at first only a faint glimmer,
will have become more frequent and noticeable.
If it is striking at a distance of fifteen miles the
thunder will not be heard. As soon as the
storm center, where the heaviest rain and the
electrical display are taking place, gets within
the fifteen-mile radius thunder will be heard to
growl, and the tumbled cumulus clouds which
may have lain along the horizon for hours will
begin to approach. The storm will be upon
you in ten minutes likely after the arc of fore-
boding blue and white cottony cloud has begun
its charge across the sky. Light quickly fades

129 READING THE WEATHER

from the heavens. The wind drops entirely.
Streaks of lightning burn downward.

Behind the arc stretches a curtain of uniform
blue or gray. If the gray is lighter in places
the rainfall will not be heavy. If the curtain is
a uniform blue a heavy rain is sure. If the bow
of clouds can be seen to tumble or is continuous
and approaches fast the wind is certain to be se-
vere,— may be from 30 to 60 miles an hour for
the first few minutes. Sometimes a cloud of
dust advancing before it demonstrates its force.

This moment immediately before the storm
breaks is the dramatic moment of the entire cy-
clone. As in a tragedy, the interest has built
up to this supreme occasion, this knife thrust,
from which interest recedes until clear skies
show that the play is over. From 12 to 36
hours is the usual time required in winter. In
summer the cyclone takes even longer to pass a
given point, but the period of rainfall, in which
the winter storm's amount is often surpassed,
may not last fifteen minutes. First the blow,
then a crash of thunder, and the rain in big
drops, which lessen rapidly in size as the whole
world seems involved in the vast forces of the
storm center. Most of the precipitation occurs
in the first fifteen minutes, sometimes in the first
five. A hearty storm will deliver an inch in

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 123

short order. 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 succession, yet the first downpour is usually
the torrential one and the others die away until
the conditions that caused the outbreak have
passed off. With the severer storms hail falls.

The general condition of the air after a thun-
derstorm is cooler, dryer, and more invigorat-
ing than before. Ozone has been liberated,
dust has been washed from the air and vegeta-
tion. The surest sign of a continuation of un-
settled weather is the failure of the atmosphere
to cool off. If the air remains sultry and heavy
and depressing another shower is due. In such
circumstances the wind will not have begun to
blow with any great promise from the west.

A close, sultry morning is the best indication
of a thunder-gust. The large piles of cumulus
clouds are called thunderheads for the very rea-
son that they almost always precede a thunder-
storm. The heaviest electrical disturbances
have cirrus clouds a few hours in advance of
them very much as their winter relatives. A
thunderstorm that does not cause the barometer
to fall considerably will not amount to a great
deal.

READING THE WEATHER

At night the different kinds of lightning fur-
nish a running commentary to the storm. On
calm evenings the sky will be cloudless, with per-
haps the exception of a low rim on the northern
horizon. Yet flashes of lightning, of course
without thunder, may be seen illuminating that
entire quadrant of the sky. This is called heat
lightning and is popularly supposed to be the
result of the heat only. As a matter of fact it is
caused by a normal thunderstorm that is operat-
ing below the horizon. Reflections from this
storm are shown on the rim of clouds, or if no
clouds are visible, on the bowl of the sky. If
you see lightning be sure that there is a storm
somewhere.

If this disembodied sort of lightning contin-
ues to flash from the western sky it is quite pos-
sible that the storm will reach you. If it shows
on the northwest or north of you the chances
are that the storm will be carried around. If the
wind is from the southwest and the lightning ap-
pears there only the progress of the clouds will
show whether the storm is pursuing the nor-
mal track from the west and around you or
whether it is edging up toward you. One can-
not 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

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 125

the thunder gives fifteen minutes' notice on
most occasions.

The sort of lightning that spends itself illu-
minating the clouds in serpents and willowy
branches confines itself to the altitudes and is
very beautiful and harmless. It is accompanied
by thunder that sounds hollow, that rumbles
over the sky, and usually does not end with the
crash and thud of the more vigorous variety.
Such lightning and such thunder are more often
connected with the sort of storm that comes up
very swiftly on a western wind. It gives
shorter warning than any other sort of thunder-
storm and is not connected with the cyclonic
area. I have known such a storm to manifest
itself low in the west, approach, and break
within twenty minutes. Much wind results and
not much rain, although the temperature falls.
Lightning with storms of this impromptu kind
rarely does any damage.

But if the storm rises slowly against the wind,
requiring an hour or two or three to approach
and break, the lightning will grow almost con-
tinuously, some of the flashes being broad
streamers cleaving the western sky. It is this
sort of lightning that does the damage. The
thunder, instead of rolling like an empty barrel,
hits into a series of concussions. If the light-

126 READING THE WEATHER

ning strikes an object nearby the crash is rather
appalling. There are several freak sorts of
lightning such as the ball form, which are rare.

The approach of the center of disturbance
may be gauged by the length of time that elapses
between flash and crash. In reality the thunder
occurs immediately after the discharge of elec-
tricity, but sound travels so slowly, compared to
light, that a minute may intervene between
stroke and clap. You may count the seconds, no-
ticing the regular decrease, signifying the near-
ing of the crisis. Soon a flash in front and a
simultaneous peal will show you that you are in
the thick of things. The next bolt or two may
hit very close and you can appreciate what it
means to be on the firing line. Then the next
river of fire with its detonation streams behind
you and you are saved.

In a severe thunderstorm there are several
centers, several nuclei that shed destruction like
great batteries and their progress over and be-
yond you has its thrills. You may find the exact
number of feet away that the bolt hit by multi-
plying the number of seconds elapsing between
the lightning and thunder by 1 120. But an eas-
ier way is to allow a mile for every five seconds
on the watch. One or two seconds, and you are
pretty near the center of the fray.

SKY SIGNS FOB CAMPERS 127

Lightning compresses the air, leaving a par-
tial vacuum. The other air rushing in to fill
this partial vacuum forms the wave motion that
produces the noise. That is the whole why of
thunder. The reason thunder rolls is that the
lightning is a series of discharges each of which
gives rise to a particular detonation. If light-
ning were but one discharge, the thunder would
be but one stupefying crash. Reflections from
the clouds and from layers of air of different
densities and from the ground are agencies that
prolong the sound.

Our atmosphere is never lacking in electricity.
This electricity is always positive in clear
weather and sometimes negative in cloudy.
Science concludes, then, that negative electricity
invariably indicates rain, hail, or snow within a
radius of forty miles.

Moist air is a good conductor. Our power-
ful motors can now produce a spark of electric-
ity several feet long. But some of the flashes
that shoot across the sky in a big storm extend
over five miles. The duration of the flash va-
ries from i-3Ooth of a second to a second. The
reason that lightning does not always pass im-
perially along a straight line is that some air,
either molster or warmer than the air around it,
offers less resistance. The lightning takes this

128 READING THE WEATHER

line of least resistance along the pathway of
warmer or less dense air.

Altitudes of thunderclouds vary. They may
hover above the earth at 800 feet. They may
be a mile high. They have been observed on
peaks of mountains three miles high. Many
other electrical phenomena are observed in the
mountains. The study of these will undoubt-
edly benefit meteorology and perhaps go far to
explain the unsolved problems of the Service.

One kind of thunderstorm that is rather rare
is that which arrives in winter with the passage
of an energetic cyclone. Often when the wind,
having been in the southeast for most of the
storm, is passing around and reaches the south
or southwest the rainfall culminates in a deluge
and thunder is heard. One or two such storms
are a winter's complement. They usually ter-
minate the rainfall for that particular cyclone.
I have never heard of damage caused by these
winter electrical storms, and they occur only in
exceptionally well-developed areas of low pres-
sure.

Lightning has many times been observed
during heavy snow storms. I have never heard
any thunder with it. The discharge must have
been very faint.

The fascination that a thunderstorm has for

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 129

many people is explained partially by the fact
that one sees the whole process from beginning
to end. The officials of the Weather Bureau
have this privilege as regards cyclones. It is
their business and pleasure to watch the setting
up of these vast storms, to follow them on their
journey. It is small wonder then that they find
the spectacle fascinating.

THE TORNADO

The birds, the flowers, and the tornadoes are
all busiest in spring. And the tornadoes prob-
ably make the largest impression.

A tornado is merely a whirl of air, caused, as
are all the other whirls, by a striking difference
in temperature in adjacent areas. A tornado is
a local and restricted example of the same thing
that a cyclone is. But a tornado rarely crosses
more than a single state ; a cyclone strides conti-
nents. A tornado lasts, in one place, about a
minute; a cyclone affects the weather for three
days. A tornado never survives the night; a
cyclone plods on for a week. And yet if you
are betting on destruction put your money on the
tornado. What it lacks in the realms of space
and time it makes up in intensity. Its sting is
fatal.

Tornadoes occur chiefly in the spring because

130 READING THE WEATHER

the temperature changes are greatest then and it
is from these that the tornado sucks its nourish-
ment. Over the plains, for example, a limited
area is abnormally heated by a local cause. Ab-
normal cold comes in contact with the abnormal
heat. The great difference in pressure results
in a spiral as it did in the cyclone, only in a very
small spiral, and once begun its energy is self-
aggravating. The whole thing moves off to-
ward the northeast attended by the black cloud
of its condensation. From the black cloud a
funnel like an elephant's trunk sways back and
forth, now touching the ground and now escap-
ing it. The black cloud has been in the south-
west for some time probably before it has com-
menced to move. The day has been very op-
pressive. The sun rose rather coppery, in all
likelihood. As the black cloud with the sway-
ing funnel nears a roaring is heard. Darkness
falls. The roar increases. . . . Instantly it is
over.

Now that you've been through a tornado you
know how it feels, — almost. After the funnel
passes hail falls, lightning flashes through the
lessening murk. Heavy rain succeeds, and if
you're alive you go out and rescue the perishing.

The wind velocity in the path of a tornado is
enormous, — anything up to 500 miles an hour,

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 181

— but no instruments have been devised to with-
stand the strain. Varying pressures are re-
sponsible for the destruction. As the funnel
passes over a house where the normal air pres-
sure is about 2,000 pounds to the square foot it
removes 1,500 pounds for an instant. Natu-
rally the outside walls cannot withstand this
enormous inside out pressure and the house ex-
plodes like a projectile. Only under such con-
ditions could the vagaries of matter, — straws
piercing logs and chickens bereft of every
feather — be perhaps not explained but par-
doned.

Stories of any degree of incredibility crop up
after each tornado, often with accompanying
photographs as proof. People are plastered
with mud, pianos are deposited in neighboring
lots, babies are hung up unhurt by their clothes
in tree-tops, and often one person is killed and
another nearby escapes unhurt, Bible-fashion.

Tornadoes may form almost anywhere, but
they are never found on the immediate Pacific
coast. They are most common in the Missis-
sippi Valley, are rather common in the Gulf
States, and have occurred throughout most of
the East at one time or another.

Since there is no way of stopping them the
next best thing is to know the conditions that

132 READING THE WEATHER

make for their formation. If the Weather Bu-
reau predicts a cold wave for sections of the
country where the weather is already abnor-
mally warm the line of meeting will probably
produce a tornado somewhere. The officials,
however, advise you not to worry until you see
the intensely black cloud in the southwest trail-
ing its funnel. See where this funnel is tending
and run the other way. All tornadoes progress
from the southwest to* the northeast. Bad as
they are, this makes them far less terrifying
than if they whipped back and forth over a
town or chased you around the pasture. If you
happen to be in the house, take to the cellar, the
southwest corner of it. If you can't escape lie
face down to the ground.

The only tornado that I have ever witnessed
was an undeveloped one in England, and a bit
lethargic compared to those of the Prairie
States. But even this blew an entire train off
the track. It had all the other appurtenances
of a tornado, the hail, the twisted trees, the
narrow southwest to northeast path. The fact
that the houses had only corners of their roofs
blown off showed that as a tornado it was dis-
tinctly second-grade and without power to ex-
plode.

England, shortly after, was raided by three

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 133

water-spouts. These phenomena are caused by
precisely the same conditions as are the torna-
does. They form over the sea, and the funnel
is composed of water. They take considerable
bodies of water up into the skies and torrential
rains result over adjacent districts. If I re-
member correctly, two of the English water-
spouts broke against the cliffs and the other,
moving inland in modified form, gave Glouces-
ter a nine-inch rain. Ships have been known to
fire cannon at these spouts. If one hit a boat
directly damage might be caused, but they have
little of the destructive force of the tornado.

As our country builds up the destruction
from this most powerful of all phenomena is
likely to increase. Bureau warnings over
phones may result in the saving of some lives;
cellars will undoubtedly be built in the principal
zones. But the problem is an interesting one,
for unlike the waterspout, cannon cannot be em-
ployed to shatter an emptiness that stalks the
more malignantly the emptier it is.'

THE HURRICANE

The tropical hurricane is undoubtedly na-
ture's mightiest exhibit. The hurricane is the
cyclone par excellence. It does not differ from
our ordinary weekly cyclone in the essentials of

134 READING THE WEATHER

wind rotation or pressures or rainfall; but it
does differ in place of birth, in its course, and
chiefly in its intensity.

The genuine hurricane is a West Indian pro-
duction. It is generally cradled in those islands
south and east of Jamaica and Cuba. It is
nursed by the trade-winds. The first notice of
its birth is an alteration in these winds, which
are among the most regular observances on our
planet. An extensive formation of cirrus
clouds spreads over the sky and the barometer,
which has been stationary for some days, edges
off and begins a long and gradual fall. Great
rollers are noticed for a day or two before the
winds rise. A hurricane moves slowly.

This tropical organization is superior in
depth to our shallow, disc-like, continental cy-
clone which is one and rarely over two miles
thick. The hurricane rears its head three, four,
and even five miles high. Instead, too, of dis-
sipating its force over thousands of miles at
once it is only a few hundred miles in diameter.
Its center moves methodically along at the not
very impressive speed of fifteen miles an hour,
while our cyclones hurry along at thirty. But
the hurricane is thorough. The wind about its
center reaches a velocity of 120 miles an hour.
This velocity has never yet been attained on the

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 135

surface of the earth by our trans-continental cy-
clone.

Our cyclone always has an eastward trend;
the hurricane has a parabolic course. It begins
by moving west on the trades, drifting and deal-
ing destruction to the banana and sugar planta-
tions of Jamaica. It enters the Gulf of Mex-
ico, 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 St. Lawrence. If it passes out
through the Florida straits it never reaches the
St. Lawrence but speeds up the coast and out to
sea, usually at Hatteras to follow the shipping
routes across the North Atlantic.

But if it has become so involved in the Gulf
of Mexico that it cannot escape to sea again, it
comes up through the Gulf States and on toward
New England. Fortunately as it goes inland
its intensity diminishes because it has not so
much energy-giving moisture to draw from.
Also its sphere of action widens, its embrace is
less mighty, its characteristics more those of
an ordinary continental cyclone. It manages,
however, to deliver gales of 80 miles an hour
along the coastal plain, increasing to 100 at the
exposed places such as Hatteras and Block
Island.

136 READING THE WEATHER

The intensest hours of a hurricane are those
when its course is changing from westward to
eastward. Enormous rainfalls accompany
these storms, amounting to six inches in some
instances. Since one inch of rain amounts to
100 tons per acre, and 64,000 tons to a square
mile one can imagine the great amount of evap-
oration that has taken place to so saturate the
air as to drench vast territories to such an extent.

While scarcely a year goes by without one of
these West Indian hurricanes distinguishing
itself on our shores the one that visited Galves-
ton in 1904 eclipsed all. It chose to turn in
the vicinity of the city. The gale increased to
over 100 miles an hour and the wind gauge then
blew away. The waters of the Bay were
heaped up and three thousand lives were lost
in the flood and wreck of flying houses. This
peculiar storm did not turn northeast at once
but ascended the Mississippi, turning at the
Lakes and proceeding down the St. Lawrence
after having spent a week in our country.

The listless doldrums have sent us 121 of
these storms in the last generation. June has
seen 8, July 5, August 28, September 40, and
October 40.

Sea-yarners have seized upon the hurricane to
energize many a flagging chapter, and particu-

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 137

larly have they emphasized the eye of the storm.
The eye is that vortex where contending winds
neutralize each other into a calm, where the sun
shines out through the scud, where the waves,
relieved of the great pressure, leap upward in
wild disorder. Then the center passes and the
wind flings itself upon the unlucky bark from the
opposite quarter. Its first onslaught is always
represented as being the fiercest of the whole
storm and gradually lessening as the center
drives farther away. This is true in the same
way that the first attack of the thunderstorm is
usually the fiercest, both being when the pressure
begins to rise. 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' culmination. In no department of
meteorology has fiction adhered so closely to the
facts as in the sea-rover accounts of the hur-
ricane.

But in real life there is very little excuse for
the vessel to be caught anywhere near the dis-
astrous center of the storm. Indeed, for gen-
erations sea-captains have known how to escape
the deadly eye. By watching the barometer
and noticing in which direction the wind is work-
ing round they can tell the course to a nicety

138 READING THE WEATHER

and estimate its speed. Then the wise ones run
the other way for even the Olympics and Im-
perators of the sea are cowed by the might of
the West Indian.

The typhoons of the West Pacific are similar
manifestations.

The hurricane moves off from its birthplace
so slowly that our Weather Bureau has an op-
portunity to size it up, to chart its probable
course, and to warn shipping interests. The
ship-owners, as a class, appreciate the service of
the Bureau and obey its warnings. Vessels
with cargoes of a total value of $30,000,000
were known to have been detained in port on
the Atlantic coast by the Bureau's warnings of
a single hurricane. Now that a much vaster
commerce will steam through these dangerous
waters toward the Panama Canal the warnings
will assume an even greater importance.

The best description of a hurricane that it has
been my fortune to read is in a story entitled
" Chita," one of the remarkable fictions of
Lafcadio Hearn. As truthfully as a scientist
and with great beauty of style he has pictured
the long days of burning sun, the foreboding
calmr the thickening haze, the ominous increas-
ing swell of the ocean, a breathless night with
the lightning glowing from between piling

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 159

towers of cloud, the startling suddenness of the
wind's attack, its fury, the hissing rain, the
shrill crescendo of the gale.

CLOUDBURST

It is the American tendency to exaggerate.
We call every snowstorm a blizzard, every
breeze a gale, every shower a cloudburst. In
our generous vocabulary it never rains but it
pours. Consequently if we, in the East, ever
had a real blizzard or a real cloudburst we
should be at a considerable loss to find words
for an unprofane description. I do not know
how they manage out West where these things
occur.

A genuine cloudburst must be an amazing
spectacle. 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 blanket.

This phenomenon is staged in the mountains ;
most often in the Rockies where melting snow
and desert-hot ravines provide the necessary ex-
tremes of temperature. Wind blowing up a
mountain-side can maintain considerable force,
— so much that a man cannot possibly walk
against it. Black thunder clouds brew on the

140 READING THE WEATHER

peaks. Suddenly the collapse, and the person
who tells the story afterward finds himself
struggling in a torrent that a minute before had
been a dry gulch. The moral of the story
seems to be that if you are camping in the moun-
tains and there is a strong upstream wind blow-
ing and the clouds darken about the hill-tops
and the thunder mumbles then don't make your
bed in the creek-bottom lands. The high water
marks of former freshets, but not of cloud-
bursts, show on the side of the stream.

Even in the less impulsive East a couple of
inches of rain make a surprising rise in a little
creek.

THE HALO

The halo is a luminous circle around the
moon or the sun. It is caused by the refraction
of light passing through moisture, which at the
usual height is in the form of ice-crystals. The
halo when complete consists of two large circles
whose diameters are constant, 45 and 92 de-
grees. Then there are often other arches in
contact. At each point of contact occurs a par-
helion which is a mock sun of brilliant colors
and called a sun-dog. Since the sun-dog is
brighter than the other parts of the halo it some-
times appears when the rest of the halo cannot

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 141

be seen. Sun-dogs hunt in pairs or fours. If
the halo is colored the red is on the inside.
When the colors are caused by diffraction in-
stead of refraction, the red is on the outside of
the prismatic ring and the halo is called a corona.

Having now satisfied the demands of science
all that can be forgotten except that the halo
around either sun or moon means excess mois-
ture in the atmosphere. The wide halos are
seen in the high cirrus clouds 25, 36, 48 hours
in advance of a cyclone. At first the ring is
very wide and faint with several stars in it. If
the storm is advancing rapidly the halo bright-
ens and narrows and the stars fade. 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 nonsense.
For presently the ring closes and the stars dis-
appear 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 none.

The moon grows paler. The light that it
casts upon the earth is eerie at this stage.
Within a few hours the cocoon of mist is com-
pletely woven about the moon. The circle has
closed. Snow or rain begins within a few hours
after the moon has entirely disappeared. If it

READING THE WEATHER

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 observer. Also if the snow begins be-
fore the light of the moon is entirely suppressed
the disturbance is a shallow one and the storm
will be light.

When the halo is actually a corona (red out-
side) the approach of the storm can be gauged
by the rapidity with which the circle grows
smaller. For a decrease in diameter denotes
that the size of the moisture drops is increasing
and therefore the storm is approaching. As a
matter of fact the corona will have disappeared
long before the time for rain. Still it is useful
to know that if the corona increases in size the
conditions are clearing. With the halo the re-
verse holds. For when the clouds are very high
the halo looks small, and high clouds imply
swifter winds and a greater distance from the
storm center.

The Zufii Indians who have an eye for the
picturesque as well as for the truth state the
chief fact about haloes happily: "When the
sun is in his house it will rain soon." Another
saying of theirs anent cumulus clouds holds for
our country as well as for theirs : ;' When the
clouds rise in terraces of white, soon will the

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 143

country of the corn-priests be pierced with the
arrows of rain."

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 type. Who could describe an egg
for instance whose springtide of youth was far
behind and yet was not quite ready for the dis-
card! In nature it is the fleeting moment of
transition, the half-tones of the border that are
so hard to catch, so difficult to portray, and yet
so very important not to miss if one is to become
sure. 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 strength.

Moisture in the atmosphere helps sight* to a
certain extent. For when the air is full of mois-
ture its temperature tends to become equalized,
obliterating irregularities which would other-
wise reflect the vibrations producing sight and
sound. So if one hears better or sees better on
a certain day it augurs a moister atmosphere, —
an auxiliary sign if there is a view that you are
fond of looking at many times a day. In the
city, alas, clearer vision on one day than another
means merely that less coal is being used. But

144 READING THE WEATHER

in camp there is very often a perceptible differ-
ence in one's seeing ability even on days that
could all be classed as clear.

Another thing that the haunter of the woods
may notice is that his smelling capacity is in-
creased before a storm. The increase of hu-
midity which precedes a rain buoys up odors
and depresses smoke. 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 hu-
midity. One's sense of smell is a very slender
thread on which to hang a storm, however.

Fires burn more briskly in dry air than in
moist, but to tell the difference (if you can't
feel it) you must be very sure that your wood is
as dry on one day as on another.

Before a rain many plants close their flowers
or shift their leaves. The dandelion, pimper-
nel, red clover, silver maple are good examples
of this, but they would not be of much use in the
North Woods. The closing, too, takes place
only a few hours before rain and is merely con-
firmation of the signals rendered more ade-
quately by clouds and winds.

Bugs and flies are particularly annoying be-
fore a storm and it is surprising that the spider
should not take advantage of this to get a meal.

SKY SIGNS FOR CAMPERS 145

But spiders are cautious and they never spin a
web on the grass, at least on the day that brings
a storm. The insects do not fly so high on
these weather-breeding days and consequently
the birds that feed on them fly lower. The
chimney swifts are a particularly good guide
to the different altitudes at which insects fly.

The stars are on a par with bugs as weather
guides, although there are many proverbs that
grant them much. One circumstance should
not be neglected, however, and that is that wind
mixes air and when air is well mixed atmos-
pheric inequalities are less disturbing to vision.
Hence when one can see the stars and the moon
well wind currents are oftenest the cause. Even
if it is not blowing on earth these wind currents
may yet be blowing above to reach the earth
later. In this way cold waves arrive. There is
an old proverb about this condition, applying it
to the moon, " Sharp horns do threaten windy
weather."

But the stars are of second rate importance
because they are so soon obscured. If you can't
see them it is cloudy, but you do not know what
kind of cloud it is. If only the brightest show,
a veil of cirrus is arriving. A dark sky with
only a few dim stars is an omen of storms. If
the stars twinkle it is because the varying cur-

146 READING THE WEATHER

rents of the upper air are in juxtaposition. If
they twinkle while the northwest wind is on it is
a sign of colder weather, — not because they are
twinkling but because of the northwest wind.

In the days when almanacs were the sole
guides to the weather a man with a sense of
humor, Butler by name, got out one and dedi-
cated it to " Torpid Liver and Inflammatory
Rheumatism, the Most Insistent Weather
Prophets Known to Suffering Mortals." Rheu-
matism is following the almanac to the scrap
heap, and it would be harder for a camper to
guess what a torpid liver was like than to fore-
cast the weather, yet for the majority of " suf-
fering mortals " there is still much truth in the
amiable observation of Mr. Butler,

"As old sinners have old points

O' the compass in their bones and joints."

CHAPTER V

THE BAROMETER

*W" "Y THATEVER the foregoing chapters
% /\ I may imply as to the whole world

T T g°mg camping the fact is that the
woods are still, unfortunately, for the few.
The woodsman must yield gracefully to the
suburbanite, — in numbers.

But the weather is for everybody. To be
sure the sunrise that talks so confidentially to
the hunter of the coming day does not exist
for the commuter. But the coming day does,
even though the things it means are essentially
different. 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 day; personally it is of small moment. But
to the commuter what does the weather mean?
Dollars and cents, of course. His business goes
on, but to his person one unexpected shower =
the cost of pressing a suit; one thorough soak-
ing — one doctor's bill. For you cannot expect

147

148 READING THE WEATHER

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 news-
paper.

Weather wisdom is necessary for the hunter;
for the commuter it pays.

The hunter had to rely on local weather signs.
The commuter can go him one better by invest-
ing $10 (how finance will creep in!) in a little
aneroid barometer. The local weather signs
were good for twelve hours at the longest. The
barometer is a faithful instrument that adds
another twelve hours to a man's knowledge.
Half a day, or even a day before any local sign
of changing wind or growing cloud appears the
barometer is on the job. It will register in
Philadelphia the news of a disturbance ap-
proaching the Mississippi. So sensitive is it
that it is the slave to every wave of the great
air ocean.

The barometer gauges for the eye the amount
of atmosphere that is piled above one. If the
amount is normal and at sea-level the instrument
will measure 30.00 inches. This air pressure is
equivalent to a column of water 30 feet high.
As this would make unwieldy prognosticators
the scientists use mercury instead, which requires
a column less than three feet long. And for

THE BAROMETER 149

general purposes this is supplanted by the handy
little aneroid (which means "without fluid").
This is so fixed that the pressure of the air in-
fluences the upper surface of a vacuum chamber,
balanced perfectly between this pressure and a
main spring. This action is transmitted to an
index hand moving across the dial marked into
fractions of inches after the manner of the recog-
nized standard, the mercurial barometer.

When the warm moist light air of a cyclone
invades a locality the pressure is partially re-
moved, the vacuum chamber is not pressed so
hard and the dial hand or the mercury subsides.
When the cold, dry, heavy air of the anticyclone
lumbers in more pressure is applied and the mer-
cury, or the dial hand, climbs. So a falling
barometer means a storm, a rising one fair
weather.

That is a generality that glitters. If that
were all there was to it weather officials would
have a sinecure. But each cyclone varies in size,
intensity, and rate of progress. Some do not
advance for days. Therefore there has grown
up a pretty large body of information as each
storm has had to be watched and the barometric
movements recorded. The most important
variations follow:

Remembering that 30.00 inches is sea-level

150 READING THE WEATHER

normal, if the barometer is steady at 30.10 or
30.20 the weather will remain fair as long as
the steadiness continues, and on the turn, 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 days.

If the barometer rises rapidly from 30.10 the
fall will be equally rapid and rain or snow may
be expected within a couple of days. Since the
depressions of the atmosphere tend to a certain
regularity about the center of the storm it fol-
lows that the reactions will follow the actions in
similar manner, — a long rise portending a long
fall and a variable glass meaning unsettled con-
ditions.

The barometer does not rise with wind from
an easterly direction unless a shift is imminent.
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 condensed. Consequently
with winds from the south or southeast, even if
the barometer is 30.20 or 30.10 and falling
slowly rain usually arrives (and rain of course
is meant to include snow whenever the mercury
is below the freezing point) within 24 hours.
If the fall is rapid there may be precipitation

THE BAROMETER 151

within 12 hours, and the wind will rapidly in-
crease and the temperature rise.

If the wind is from the east or northeast and
the barometer 30.10 or above and falling slowly
it means rain within 24 hours in winter. In
summer if the wind is light rain may not fall for
a day or so. 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 north.

If the barometer is 30.00 or below and falling
slowly with northeast to southeast winds the
storm will continue 24 to 48 hours. 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 20 to 30 hours.

If the barometer is below 30.00 but rising
slowly the clear weather will last several days.

If the barometer is 29.80 or below and fall-
ing rapidly with winds south of east a severe
storm is at hand to be followed within 24 hours
by clearing and colder. Under the same con-
ditions but with northeast winds there will occur
heavy snow followed by a cold wave.

If these promises do not always bear fruit it
is because they will have been interrupted by an

152 READING THE WEATHER

unseen shifting of the atmospheric weights.
But the barometer will record them. A rapid
rise may be checked in ascent and the instrument
may fluctuate like a stock-ticker. Its tale is of
very unsettled weather conditions and conse-
quently no particular brand of weather will last
for very long at a time.

A sudden rise of the barometer may bring its
gale of wind as well as a sudden fall. But the
tendency will be toward clearing and much
colder.

A fall of the barometer on a west wind is not
common. It means rain. A rise on a south
wind means fair. A low barometer and a cold
south wind mean a change to west with squalls
for a while. On the other hand, a high barom-
eter with warmer weather means a shift of the
wind to southerly quarters and an imminent fall.

If the barometer rises fast and the tempera-
ture does, too, look for another storm. This
is often noticed in summer.

There is a slight daily oscillation of the mer-
cury, which, if other things are steady, registers
highest at 10 A. M. and 10 P. M. and lowest at 4
A. M. and 4 P.M.

If this data confuses bear in mind the simple
ordinary progress of the barometer in the usual
storm: First, it will stand steady for a day or

THE BAROMETER 153

so at any point between 30.10 and 30.50.
Then the glass will begin (for most storms) to
fall gradually. As the center nears the fall
hastens. After the lowest point has been
reached a slight rise will be followed by another
slight fall and then the final long rise will com-
mence. The rain begins and ceases at different
stages for different storms, depending upon the
wind's velocity and direction.

For every 900 feet of altitude the height of
the mercury is about one inch less. 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 re-
ports which are reduced to sea level. All the
figures given in this chapter are for sea level and
if your house is 1900 feet above you must move
the copper hand of your aneroid 1.95 inches
from the pressure hand. If the pressure hand
would read 28.05 the adjustable copper hand
would read 30.00 which is the sea level reading.

One good thing to remember is that a barom-
eter falls lower for high winds than for heavy
rain. A fall of two- or three-tenths of an inch
in four hours brings a gale. If the ordinary
gale the wind blows hardest when the barometer
begins its rise from a very low point.

In summer a suddenly falling barometer fore-

154 READING THE WEATHER

tells a thunderstorm, and if the corresponding
rise does not at once take place the unsettled
conditions will continue with probably another
thunderstorm. If you see the thunderstorm
first, that is, if the barometer is not affected by
the approaching black cloud you may be sure
that the storm will amount to nothing.

The man in the fields or along the shore has
many natural barometers in animal life. But
these natural barometers only corroborate ; they
do not foretell, at least very long before. Some
are useful at times and among these the birds are
foremost. The observant Zunis have incorpo-
rated this in one of their pretty proverbs,
' When chimney swallows circle and call they
speak of rain." As a matter of fact the swal-
lows are circling most of the time after insects.
If they are flying high it is because the bugs are
flying high and that is because there is no danger
of rain. As the rain nears the air gets moister,
the bugs and the birds fly lower.

Whether they do this because their instinct is
to avoid a wetting or because the lighter atmos-
phere of a cyclone makes flying more difficult,
particularly at altitudes, I do not know. For
weather purposes it is enough to watch their
comparative levels. Wild geese are excellent

THE BAROMETER 155

signs, I am told, but it would be a dry country
that waits for a sight of them for its rain.

Bees localize before a storm and will not
swarm. Flies crowd upon the screens of houses
when humidity is high, possibly because the ap-
petizing odors from within are buoyed afar by
the heavy air. Cuckoos seek the higher ground
in fair weather and disappear into bottom lands
before a rain. Although they are called rain-
crows they are heard in all weathers.

Smoke is as good an evidence of barometric
pressure as anything except the instrument
itself. On clear, still days it will mount; on
humid days without wind it will cling to the hill.
There is that difference. But it takes skill and
many comparisons to gauge its angles in the
wind. 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
currents.

No reference to barometers would be com-
plete without mentioning spiders. They show
a most delicate apprehension of changing condi-
tions. If the day is to be fine and without wind
they will run out long threads and be rather
active. If the rain is nearing they strengthen
their webs, shorten the filaments and sit dully in

156 READING THE WEATHER

the center. Fresh webs on the lawn insure a
clear day. But for the commuter, whose time
is money, there is little leisure to consider the
spider.

As a natural result of the variation in altitude
affecting the barometer the words which are
printed on the face become entirely useless. In
some places it would be impossible for the needle
to point higher than " Very Stormy." Even at
sea level a sudden fall to "Fair " would cause a
rain, much to the indignation of the person who
thought that he had purchased a self-registering
weather prophet. Disregard the words but
watch the needle and you will never be surprised
at what the weather is doing next.

CHAPTER VI

THE SEASONS

TOO great emphasis cannot be laid upon
the futility, at present, of trying to fore-
cast the weather for more than a very
few days in advance. 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 perfected, and the at-
tempt to investigate next winter's weather proves
scientifically impossible.

As usual, fakers step in where science fears
to tread. With goose-bones (not their own)
and hickory nuts they prophesy with all their
might. And if their prophecies come true, as
sometimes they must, there is wide rejoicing in
the newspapers and the cause of science is set
back by just so much. But science cannot be
thwarted in the end and every year new dis-
coveries are made, new speculations proved true
or forever false, and some time, doubtless, the

157

158 READING THE WEATHER

weather will be predicted from year to year with
the same 85% accuracy with which the 36 hour
forecast is now made. Experimenting is worth
the little that it costs, too, for to know when the
summer is to be dry or wet, hot or cold will be a
boon to everybody and to the farmer most of all.

One conclusion has already been reached by
officials in the Weather Bureau and scientists
generally. It has been decided by long search
through creditable records, painstaking compari-
sons of averages coupled with the most accurate
investigations for half a century, that, on the
basis of ten years, our seasons do not change.
That is, counting the decade as a unit, our
weather keeps to the same level of efficiency
through the centuries.

This statement comes always as a blow. It
always provokes argument and citations of
grandmother's blizzards. There is a great and
universal hesitation in believing that our weather
is as good to-day as it used to be. 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 more.
As a matter of fact there has been a change, but
it has been in our memories. In grandmother's
youth the trains, — if they had trains then, —
doubtless were stalled by a big snow for then

THE SEASONS 159

they did not have rotary plows. In father's day
they may have had an unbroken winter of sleigh-
ing. We couldn't now; sleighs are extinct.
But in our time, in fact every year, some record
is being broken and the records go back a re-
spectable length of time.

For example in Philadelphia the most accur-
ate records made by standard instruments have
been kept for 43 years. During this time the
highest wind velocity was recorded in 1878 (75
miles an hour). The greatest rainfall in 24
hours occurred in 1898 (5.89 inches). The
lowest temperature was registered in 1899 (6
degrees below zero) ; the highest in 1901 (103
degrees). The greatest number of thunder-
storms for any one year took place in 1905 when
we had 51. As late as 1909 the heaviest snow-
fall ever recorded at this station, amounting to
21 inches, occurred. And just a few weeks ago
(April 3rd, 1915) it snowed 19 inches in half as
many hours. All these items do not indicate a
climate decreasing in virility very swiftly.

But there is more evidence yet that Phila-
delphia is experiencing the same varieties of
weather in about the same proportions. Dia-
ries of observant men running back to 1700
show that almost any kind of memory could be
founded on fact, that the same violent changes

160 READING THE WEATHER

in temperature, the same deep snows and un-
seasonable seasons that we endure to-day were
noticed then. To quote :

'The whole winter of 1780 was intensely
cold. The Delaware was closed from the ist
of December to the i4th of March. The ice
was from two to three feet thick." We de-
spaired of ever living up to this until three years
ago when the same thing happened and sleighs
crossed the river a little above the city. And
despite the new ice-boats !

' The winter of 1779 was very mild, particu-
larly the month of February when trees were in
blossom."

" On the 3 ist of December, 1764, the Dela-
ware was frozen completely over in one night,
and the weather continued cold until the 28th
of March with snow about two and a half feet
deep."

" The winter of 1756 was very mild. The
first snow was as late as the i8th of March."

And so it goes. 1750 was mild; 1742 " one
of the coldest since the settlement of the
country"; 1741 was intensely cold, 1725 mild,
1714 very mild after the i5th of January, 1697
long, stormy and severely cold. The upshot of
it all is that February violets and April snows

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THE SEASONS 161

were just as well known to General Washington
as they are to us.

But though all facts point to the fact that the
climate does not change in a decade or a genera-
tion or a dozen generations, there is some com-
fort for those who are not satisfied in knowing
that it doesn't stay the same forever. During
the carboniferous times the poles were as warm
as the tropics and when the Ice Age came on it
was very chilly everywhere. If one might only
live an eon or two he might then well complain
of the changing climate.

Climate, however, is one thing, weather an-
other. The climate is the sum total of the
weather. Climate is as enduring as our Consti-
tution, the weather is as changeable as our city
governments. No matter how proud a scientist
may be of the lasting qualities of the climate, he
has to admit that our weather, taken day by day
or even year by year, is versatile in the extreme.
And the question he has set himself to solve is
how to explain the variations of the seasonable
weather. He wants to find out why all winters
are not alike, and why no two successive springs
are the same. Then he will be on firm ground
at last and able to make scientific forecasts for
the ensuing year.

162 READING THE WEATHER

The obvious thing was to find out as ac-
curately as possible what had happened and sci-
ence's keenest eye was focused on records in the
hope of discovering fixed periods of warmth or
wetness, cycles of cold and drought. So far no
cycles have been discovered that are beyond dis-
pute. Nothing has been found that cannot be
contradicted successfully. This is discouraging.

One of the most frequent starting places for
investigators is the spots on the sun. They
found that periods of three, eight, eleven, and
thirty-five years should bear some resemblance ;
1901 was eagerly looked forward to. They
wanted it to correspond with the remarkably
cool summer of 1867. When it started off in
July with a temperature of 103 degrees, the
highest ever recorded in Philadelphia, they con-
cluded that the sunspots were fooling them. A
connection between sunspots and weather has
not been established, therefore, although they
are now known to affect the electrical condition
of the earth's atmosphere. Longer periods of
observation will permit comparisons that may
yet define concurrent cycles of sunspots and
weather.

A definite weather cycle has not yet been dis-
covered, but one step in the way has been cleared

THE SEASONS 163

up. We now are pretty sure of one cause for
unusual single seasons of heat and cold.

There exist in winter great bodies of cold, dry
air heaped up over Canada and Siberia, which
are formed by the greater rapidity of radiation
over land surfaces than over water. These
mounds of cold air build up during December,
January, and February and form great so-called
permanent areas of high barometer. It is on
the skirts of the Canadian high that the smaller
highs form which sweep over our country, giv-
ing us our cold waves. Also in winter per-
manent lows form over the North Pacific and
North Atlantic where warm currents afford con-
tinuous supplies of warm moist air. From the
great Aleutian (Pacific) low spring most of the
cyclones which swing down below the border of
the Canadian high, make their turn somewhere
in the Mississippi Valley, and then head for the
Icelandic low.

It can be seen that if the Canadian high is a
little stronger than usual and spreads a little
farther south, then the northern half of our
country will come more directly under its influ-
ence and we will experience an unusually severe
winter. As the storms are pushed south and as
the cold air pours into the northern quadrants

164 READING THE WEATHER

the snow line is pushed south too. 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 borders.

Conversely, if this high is weaker than usual
the cyclones can cross the country on a line
farther north, there will be less snow, and the
cold waves that follow will be less severe or even
non-existent.

In summer the reverse occurs. Great oceanic
highs are built up over the South Atlantic and
South Pacific and a permanent low occupies the
center of our continent. The character of the
season is determined by the strength and posi-
tion of these areas. The eastern states are af-
fected especially by the slow movements of the
South Atlantic low. The puzzle is why should
these areas change their power and position, and
if they must change why don't they do it regu-
larly? The puzzle will undoubtedly be solved.
These great centers of action will be plotted
against and observed from every vantage point
by a thousand observers. A fascinating field
for scientific speculation opens.

At present our Government exchanges daily
observations with stations in Siberia, Canada,
and the West Indies. The great storm-breeder,

THE SEASONS 165

the Aleutian Low, is watched from Alaskan
shores. In the Atlantic the Bureau needs sta-
tionary ships to record the growth and decline
of the High over the Azores. Knowledge of
the wind circulation from this would inform us
whether our storms were to be shunted farther
north and pushed somewhat inland. A storm
which is pushed to the left of its normal track
increases tremendously in intensity. Whereas
a cyclone that limps slackly to the right of its
normal line loses intensity at once. It misses
coil. In this respect storms seem to resemble
rattlesnakes.

The energy of the Azores High influences the
number and destructiveness of the West Indian
hurricanes: the larger the area is the closer do
the hurricanes hug our shores and the more
destruction do they accomplish.

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 next. A guess, let me
add, is not a forecast. It is a gamble and dis-
approved of by the Bureau, but until they supply
us with a basis for judgment we will have to go
on guessing, for human curiosity is as near to
perpetual motion as the weather is to the lacking
fourth dimension.

166 READING THE WEATHER

One of these guesses is that if the winter has
been a warm one the summer will be cool, for
the very good reason that the yearly average
does depart so slightly from the fixture. Un-
fortunately one hot summer does not mean that
the following summer will be cool. Certain
sequences of the seasons have been observed
often enough to have been gathered into prov-
erbs. Everybody agrees that " A late spring
never deceives." " A year of snow, Fruit will
grow." " A green winter makes a full church-
yard."

Of the many hundreds of proverbs relating to
the seasons a few are sage, some outworn, and
many sheer nonsense. Nearly all refer to the
obvious fact that one kind of season is followed
by another rather unlike it, not much telling
what. And there, unsatisfactorily enough, they
leave one. But much is to be hoped for from
the scientific explorations now in progress. And
until they are heard from few of us will realize
how many seasonable seasons we really enjoy.

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 weather. And the information is correct
for more than four-fifths of the time. If stock
brokers never missed oftener, what reputations
would accrue !

Cheapness, accuracy, 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 almanacs. Almanacs have probably kept ap-
pearing ever since the art of printing first al-
lowed unscrupulous persons to juggle with
words. They cost fifty cents and their predic-
tions were based on nothing but the strength of
their author's imagination. Of course, 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 thunder-

167

168 READING THE WEATHER

storms he was often right. This gave him pres-
tige, but aided his clients little.

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 advertised. In hu-
mility the Bureau said that as things stood it
could not forecast with accuracy for more than
48 hours, and its honesty brought it into disre-
gard.

But, although the Weather Bureau, — 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 month. It was an
American scientist who discovered the rotary
motion of cyclones and their progressive charac-
ter, but due to the conservative nature of our
Government three other nations had established
weather services before we had. In 1870 the
War Department was authorized to start a sys-
tem of observations that would permit of a
rough sort of forecasting. The forecasts
proved of so much value to shippers and sailors

THE WEATHER BUREAU 169

that the work was handed over to the Depart-
ment of Agriculture and enlarged (1891).
To-day every part of our country contributes to
the knowledge of existing weather conditions.

At 8 A. M. observations are made at hundreds
of stations and wired to the Central Office at
Washington. The Chief there, knowing these
conditions, is enabled to locate a storm, to gauge
its rate of speed, to learn its course, and to
measure its intensity. He can dictate storm
warnings and be sure that within an hour every
sailing master will have a copy. He can detect
a cold wave at its entrance into our territory and
know that within an hour every shipper, every
truckster (who has signified that he wishes to be
informed) will have the facts that will save him
money.

At 8 P. M. the same stations telegraph the
changed conditions, and if any very violent dis-
turbance is in progress an observation is made at
noon. Besides the Washington distributing sta-
tion there are 1700 others from which warn-
ings are sent by telegraph, telephone, or mail.
There are 100,000 addresses on the mailing list
and 5,000,000 telephone subscribers can get
them within an hour. The newspapers reach
many millions. And all this at a cost of il/2
cents a year. If we, in a fit of generosity,

170 READING THE WEATHER

should pay 2 cents, or even 2^ the Government
would be enabled to work out many of the larger
problems awaiting only a larger appropriation
to be attacked.

The people's investment of $1,600,000 a
year is a good investment. In one year the
Service saves a great many hundred per cent.
A few known savings are worth giving; $3,500,-
ooo worth of protection was made possible from
one exceptionally severe cold wave; the Cali-
fornia citrus growers estimated that one warn-
ing saved $14,000,000 worth of fruit; $30,000,-
ooo of shipping (and cargoes) was known to
have been detained in port just on account of one
hurricane warning, and there are many warnings
of gales every year. Uncalculated savings have
been effected among the growers of tobacco,
sugar, cranberries, truck. The railway and
transportation companies save, through use of
the forecasts, in shipments of bananas, oysters,
fish, and eggs. Farmers, manufacturers, raisin
driers, photographers, insurance companies, and
about a hundred and fifty other occupations in-
crease their profits by a systematic study of the
forecasts.

The people who live along the rivers often
owe their lives and frequently much of their
property to telephone warnings of approaching

.

THE WEATHER BUREAU 171

floods. The flood stages in all the principal
rivers and streams have been calculated and
losses are reduced by 75 per cent, by accurate
predictions as to when the crest of the flood may
be expected and how high it will reach. A hun-
dred uses of river forecasts, even when flood
stages are not expected are given in the booklet,
" The Weather Bureau " which you can have
from Washington for the asking, like many an-
other of their publications.

Yet, with all the good it does, the man on the
street still regards the Bureau as an uninterest-
ing, undependable exhibit in the upper corner of
the newspaper, — if he regards it at all. It is
his child, however, who is instructing him. For
his child is being taught in the public school all
about it and he takes his teaching home and
becomes the teacher. The child is father of the
(old) man in lots of instances.

The most impressive thing about the whole
output of the Bureau to the child is its Map.
The Bureau issues a map every day which is
posted in post-offices and railroad stations and
in schools, too, if they ask for it. And every
day this map shows in all its gripping details the
way our storms are sidling across the continent
or rushing up our coasts. It prints the word low
where the stormy area of low barometer is.

172 READING THE WEATHER

About the low run continuous black lines num-
bered 29.7, 29.8, 29.9, etc., which show where in
the country the pressures are the same.

As the numbers run up to 30.0, 30.1, 30.2
they begin to circle about the word High which
denotes where the pressure is highest. Little
circles will be observed on the map. Some are
clear, indicating clear weather; others are half
clear, half black, indicating partly cloudy condi-
tions; others are all black, showing clouds;
others have R. or S. inside them, telling where
it is raining. The numbers under the circles
show how much it has rained or snowed and the
numbers under the other numbers are the veloci-
ties of the winds. The arrows through the
circles fly with the wind. A little zig-zag locates
each thunderstorm and the shaded portions show
over what portions of the country it has rained
during the last 24 hours. As an intelligent puz-
zle picture the map is unequaled and no wonder
the child likes it.

With this map you can tell at a glance what
the weather is doing to your uncle in Tacoma
and to your cousin in Missouri. With two suc-
cessive maps you can find out about how fast the
storms are traveling, in what direction, and how
low the temperatures are under their influence,

THE WEATHER BUREAU 173

and so estimate for yourself the weather for the
next three days.

Besides the invaluable daily weather map the
Bureau issues many other maps that present the
phenomena of the week, the month, and the sea-
son in graphic form. Masters of vessels are
now cooperating with the government to provide
observations at sea, and both on our northwest
and southeast coasts such information is very
valuable. In the west several hundreds of sta-
tions are maintained in the mountains for the
purpose of obtaining the depth and content of
the great snowfalls there. Estimates can then
be given out as to the amount of water to be
available for irrigating purposes. In addition
to the 220 stations of the first class there are
4200 cooperative stations at which observations
are made and mailed to 44 centers for distribu-
tion.

Special local data help to establish the rela-
tions between climate and forestry, agriculture,
water resources, and allied subjects. Many
bulletins are compiled by experts in their re-
spective lines and these are for free distribution.
A study of forest cover is being made in Colo-
rado and the effects of denudation on the flow of
streams will soon be scientifically established.

174 READING THE WEATHER

As soon as practicable the Bureau hopes to ex-
tend its period of forecasting. Weekly fore-
casts have been tried in a general way with suc-
cess, but long-range forecasting depends upon
so many relationships of the air that present
knowledge and facilities do not warrant its
adoption.

CHAPTER VIII

A CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS

IN the good old times when a man was born,
spent his life, and died in the same village
the weather proverb was fashioned. Gen-
erations had watched the clouds gather under
certain circumstances and scatter under certain
others and they naturally drew conclusions.
These conclusions crystallized until they resem-
bled nuggets of golden weather wisdom. Some
were even used as charms. And all contained
a deal of truth so long as they were only meant
to refer to the country in which they had
originated.

But nowadays when the very idea of remain-
ing in the same place for very long at a time is
obnoxious the weather proverb suffers. It suf-
fers chiefly by transportation. The weather in
County Cork is so very different from the
weather that makes Chicago famous that the
same weather lore does not fit. Yet it is often
applied. The old truths, treasured in pictur-
esque phrase and jingle, were brought over the

175

176 READING THE WEATHER

ocean unchanged and made to do duty, — a case
of new wine in old bottles again, for a gentle old
Irish proverb splits up the back when it tries to
accommodate itself to a week of our reckless but
magnificent weather.

Fairy stories are jewels to be cherished.
And it is a careless and unimaginative race that
perpetuates no legends. Even old saws are
quaint and should be preserved: "See a pin
and pick it up, all the day you'll have good
luck." Let that sort of thing go on because it
adds richness to our conversation. But if a
thousand men, after having picked up their
morning pins, sat around waiting for the ensu-
ing luck the progress of scientific business man-
agement would be halted. And precisely that
way is the knowledge of ordinary weather facts
halted, — a full-grown superstition sits in the
path. Instead of relying upon their eyes the
majority of people rely upon a bit of doggerel.
For example, millions of people firmly believe
that the ground-hog is a key to the weather.
They say that if the ground-hog does not see his
shadow on the 2nd of February that winter is
over!

This is the sort of thing that obscures the find-
ings of science not to mention common-sense.
Few of these people have ever seen a ground-

CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS 177

hog. Few of the rest have ever studied its
habits. The ant, the mouse, the fly, the rat, and
the mosquito have far more influence upon our
lives than the ground-hog has and the most am-
bitious animal cannot expect to influence atmos-
pheric pressure, which is responsible for our
weather. Yet as often as the 2nd of February
comes around the hopes of many are either ,
dashed or raised according to the actions of this
creature. As a matter of fact, whether Febru-
ary 2nd is clear or cloudy can have no influence
on the rest of the winter.

Almost all the other proverbs have a basis of
reason. But this puts its believers in the wrong
either way. If they say that it is the actions of
the animal that they rely upon they depend upon
a characteristic thoroughly and surely disproved.
No animal, although it may sense a change in the
weather a few hours in advance, is able to feel
it for three days ahead to say nothing of six
weeks. If these people say, on the other hand,
that a cloudy February 2nd means an immediate
and complete let up of winter, or that a clear
February 2nd means a certain continuance of
cold weather for six weeks, they have only to
trouble themselves to look at the files of the
nearest Weather Bureau for the last forty years.
They will find no connection. The trouble is

178 READING THE WEATHER

that they will not look, but keep on repeating the
bit of nonsense and believing in it, although the
strength of their convictions probably does not
reduce their coal-bills.

The same people are fond of saying that the
first three days of December show what the win-
ter will be like. That is, if the ist is fair so
will December be; if the 2nd is cold so will
January be; and if it snows on the 3rd, so will it
snow in February. If all three should be clear
and warm certainly a remarkable winter would
follow ! No rain, no snow, no cold ! You see
how absurd this superstition is.

" A dry moon lies on its back! " After the
ground-hog the moon is supposed to have the
most influence on our seasons. The Govern-
ment and many scientists connected with no gov-
ernments have made careful, exhaustive and con-
clusive investigations. No relation between the
moon and our weather has been discovered ex-
cept as she causes our tides and they affect at-
mospheric pressure in an infinitesimal degree.
We would still have just as much and just as
variable weather if there were no moon. The
weather changes with the changing moon, and
it does not change as the moon changes, and the
chances are about even that the times of change
will coincide. So there is, therefore, absolutely

CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS 179

no foundation for the dozens of proverbs that
yoke the changes of the moon with the changes
of our weather. Neither in science nor in ob-
servation has any sequence been deduced.

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 country,
and it can lie on its back for days and the coun-
try be drowned out if they do. There are
enough pretty things to say about the moon,
anyway, and will be more all the time for, to
commit a paraphrase : Science is stranger than
superstition.

" It will rain for forty days straight if it rains
on St. Swithin's Day," which, I might as well say
for the benefit of those who don't know their
saints, falls on July I5th every year. It would
be interesting to know how many people in a
hundred really believe this, or really believe all
the other things that are attributed to the saints,
— quite a few, probably. Luckily for St.
Swithin July and August are wet months, with
often several days of showers or thunderstorms
in succession. But never once in Philadelphia
has it rained for forty days, one right after
another, although half the July I5ths have been
rained on. This proverb is one of those that
had better never been transplanted from its na-

180 READING THE WEATHER

tive Ireland where rain for 40 days would excite
scarcely a curse.

" Long and loud singing of robins denotes
rain." It does not. Oftener than not it de-
notes the time of day. Just watch the robins
and listen to them and see what they do before
a storm, during it, after it, and then you will see
how little the songs of birds can be depended
upon to supplant the barometer.

" If March comes in like a lion it will go out
like a lamb," and the other way round. I have
seen March come in like a lion and go out like
a lion, come in like a lion and go out like a lamb,
come in like a lamb and go out like a lion, and
come in like a lamb and go out like a Noah's ark.
But I never have seen March do anything de-
pendable. It is quite impossible to tell how
March is going out on March 2yth, and abso-
lutely impossible to tell on March ist.

But there is this much observation expressed
in the proverb, that March is so changeable that,
if it comes in cold, windy, unsettled, there is not
so much chance for such weather still to be going
on at the end of the month, and still less in Eng-
land where the proverb came from. This is a
harmless proverb unless it should lead people to
actually count upon a pleasant spring just be-
cause March had an unpleasant inception. Mis-

CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS 181

fortunes rarely come singly, even on the weather
calendar.

" When squirrels are scarce in autumn the
winter will be severe." Aside from the scien-
tific truth that the animals cannot know in ad-
vance about the seasons there is little evidence
on either side to base a contention. Nobody
has made a squirrel census; nobody, probably,
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
seventh; nobody has connected their apparent
numbers year after year with the actual severi-
ties of the winters. And so nobody has a right
to promulgate the report (except as a bit of non-
sense like April Fool) that the ensuing winter
is going to be a record breaker because the squir-
rels have disappeared. It would be far truer
to say that u When squirrels are scarce in
autumn the hunters have been busy/' and let it
go at that.

There are a lot of proverbs in this connection
about goose bones and hickory nuts and wild
geese, which sound plausible but are never
proved. 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 decimated. Also it is not uncommon for

182 READING THE WEATHER

early migrations in the spring to arrive in the
north to be slain by the thousand by a belated
blizzard. It is granted that animals and birds,
having a far greater sensitiveness than man, oc-
casionally sense a catastrophe some hours before
it is evidenced by any visual signs, but seasonal
wisdom has not been proved in any one instance
and disproved in many. None of the proverbs
relating to the animals and birds are to be de-
pended upon. They deceive, much to the regret
of all the meteorologists who would welcome
any genuine clue to nature of the coming season.
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 com-
ing seasonal conditions.

The proverbs given indicate the range, possi-
bly, but certainly not the full absurdity of the
old weather sayings. There are many other
proverbs that contain at least a half truth.

" Enough blue sky to make a Dutchman's
breeches indicates clearing," is one that is true if
the wind has changed to the west. If the wind
still blows from an easterly quarter blue sky for
a Dutchman's whole wardrobe would not insure
clear weather. All sayings must be tested many
times before they are believed implicitly.

" There is always a thaw in January," is

CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS 183

about as true a generalization as can be made
about things for which generalizations are never
strictly in place. Even in Canada the severity
of the winter is often broken by a spell of
warmer weather with a rain, perhaps, in the dead
of winter. In the United States a winter with-
out some break in each of the months would be
a most unusual occurrence. So that it is quite
reasonable to expect the " January thaw " any
time from Christmas until the middle of Febru-
ary.

" A late spring never deceives," unless it is so
very late, like the phenomenal spring of 1907,
that the jump is made, perforce, into summer.
That is a cruel deception. What is meant of
course is that if the freezing weather continues
consistently, well past the average, the likeli-
hood of frost-damage to fruit is slight. There
is nothing much worse than for the blossoms to
be forced by a period of warm weather early, for
there is only a slim chance that it will continue
past the danger limit. It is surprising how late
frost may occur, — the last date for killing frost
in Pennsylvania is about May loth on the aver-
age, which makes it possible till June.

' The first robins indicate the approach of
spring." But certainly not its arrival.

"If the moon rises clear expect fair

184 READING THE WEATHER

weather." Right; because if it is summer even
the eastern horizon would show the humidity
necessary enough to cause a thunderstorm, and
in winter the cirrus clouds give several hours*
warning. But, again, the wind is the chief fac-
tor to be considered.

Proverbs, representing variations of the
truth, could be given about every. manifestation
of the skies as well as about things that were
never manifest except in the imagination, for
every country has contributed to the volume of
weather-lore. But, unfortunately, neither age
nor amount of repetition are as good as the
truth and they should be discarded if they are
false. The way to discard is not to repeat.

The man who desires weather-wisdom should
seek it with his eyes. His comparison will be
that which he sees with that which he has seen,
and he will soon form all the weather axioms he
needs for himself. The local Bureau or the Bu-
reau at Washington will answer all his inquiries,
cheerfully, promptly, and free of charge. Of
course there are things that the Bureau wants to
know itself. It is very curious about the higher
strata of air. Small balloons have carried very
light instruments to an altitude of fifteen miles
and brought considerable knowledge to earth,

CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS 185

but each bit makes more knowledge imperative.

The cry of " last frontier " hurts the adven-
turous, the exploring, the woods-loving as no
other cry has power to hurt. With the Poles
gone and Alaska in harness we are inclined to
think that it is all over. We resign ourselves to
our trammelling globe, — as the gold-fish do, —
forgetting. But there is plenty of interest left.
The birds must be brought back. Forests must
be made and patrolled, and the air-ocean is still
unknown. That, at any rate, has remained un-
spoiled by man.

The seas have been charted and the moun-
tains have been disemboweled, but the atmos-
phere is unconquered. More must be known.
Squadrons of aeroplanes cannot ride out the gale
until their pilots know all about the gale. Un-
til that time there need be no cry of last frontier,
for until that time the weather will continue to
be our overlord, whose dominions are flaunted
before the watcher on the porch and the runner
on the trail.

CONDENSATIONS

Look for continued fair weather when :
A gentle wind blows from the west, north-
west, or a little south of west.

186 BEADING THE WEATHER

The sun sets in a cloudless sky.

The sunset is composed of light tints, inclin-
ing to red or yellow.

The sunset is followed by a glowing and slow-
fading western sky.

The sun sets like a ball of fire (warmer).

The sun rises out of a gray sky.

The clouds are noticeably high for the sea-
son.

The clouds rise on the mountains.

The clouds have frequent breaks showing
blue sky between.

The puffy cumulus clouds show a lot of white.

The cumulus clouds decrease toward night-
fall.

The winter sky is mottled with a northwest
wind.

The summer morning fog breaks before ten
o'clock.

The dawn is low.

The blue sky has a tendency to show green
near the northern horizon (colder).

The sun breaks through a departing thunder-
storm and makes a rainbow.

Snow-flurries drift down a north wind
(colder).

Cirrus clouds, or others, dissolve, or cirrus
have tails down.

CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS 187

Spiders spin on the grass.

There is a moderate dew or frost.

The temperature is normal or colder than
normal, other signs being right.

The sky is sown with stars.

The moon rises clear.

The wind blows down mountain ravines after
nightfall.

The salt is dry, smoke ascends, birds fly high,
and animals act normally.

The barometer rises slowly, or is steady at or
above 30.00.

No change need be feared as the anticyclone
nears, or for three days after clear conditions
are established so long as the wind remains brisk
from some westerly quarter. The direction of
the wind, the kind of cloud, and the temperature
changes are the factors to watch if you have no
barometer.

Look for a change toward storms when :

The west wind suddenly drops.

The west wind shifts to south or northeast.

The cirrus clouds appear in well-organized
lines.

The cirrus clouds merge into cirro-stratus.

The sky looks like fish scales, so-called mack-
erel sky.

188 READING THE WEATHER

Light scud drifts across the sky from east to
west.

The summer cumulus clouds increase in size
as the afternoon proceeds.

Walls grow damp, flies are more of a burden
than usual, swallows fly low.

Smoke falls to the ground.

There have been three white frosts.

A halo appears around either the moon or
sun.

When sun-dogs appear about the sun, denot-
ing ice-particles in the air.

The summer morning is sultry and the wind
variable.

The temperature is much above the normal.

Few stars are visible and those are indistinct.
The clouds gather about the mountain tops, or
drop down the mountain-sides.

The wind continues to blow up ravines after
nightfall.

The sunset is a dull gray, or the sun sets into
a livid cloudbank.

The sunrise is a fiery red, and the dawn is
high.

The sun gradually is smothered in fine-tex-
tured clouds and the wind shifts.

The temperature does not fall at night.

The signs most to be heeded are the shift of

CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS

wind to a point east of north or south, the grad-
ual filming of the sky with cirrus and cirro-
stratus, and the increase of temperature. Of
course, the barometer is the best indicator of all.

Look for a change toward clearing when :

The wind shifts from the easterly quarter
into the west.

The temperature falls rapidly.

The clouds rise, or break, or lighten percepti-
bly in color.

Patches of blue sky appear through the rifts
in the clouds, wind north.

Raindrops grow smaller after the windshift.

Snowflakes drive less busily, float lazily down,
or thin out conspicuously.

Seams appear in the clouds, snow will cease
and rain probably.

The thunder and lightning occur only in the
eastern quarter.

Permanent clearing will not be effected until
the change of the wind to the points on the west-
ern half of the compass show that the cy-
clone has definitely passed to the north or
south or over the locality. In winter the cloud
covering may move off slowly, but there will be
little precipitation after the wind has reached
north or west. The bank of cirro-stratus gets

190 READING THE WEATHER

thinner and the moon or the sun gradually shines
through. In summer clearing is much more
abrupt, as is the clouding up. The ability to
sense accurately the moment when the weights
are shifted and the change to clearing com-
mences takes some observation to acquire, but
the advantage is worth it.

Rain (or snow) will fall:

Within five minutes after the arch of the thun-
dercloud is seen to move toward one.

Within five minutes when the curtain of fall-
ing drops obscures the landscape to the west
of one.

Within a few minutes after the bottoms of
cumulus clouds turn from black to gray, letting
down visible trailing showers.

Within a short while after the winter sky has
become uniform in color.

Within an hour after the pavement-like, but
scarcely discernible, thundercloud consolidates
along the west, if the wind is from the south-
west. If the wind is from the southeast this
cloud may take four hours to rise.

From two to eight hours after the sun or
moon has vanished behind the cirro-stratus.

From eight to forty-eight hours after the first
cirrus is seen, depending upon the distance from
the sea and the time of year.

CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS 191

Every little while from southwest showers in
the passing of a summer low.

For about eight to twelve hours continuously
in a winter storm, and intermittently until the
wind swings west.

For a very short while from a thunder cloud
rising on a west wind.

For an hour or more from a thundercloud
that rises on a southwest or southeast wind.

The temperature will fall when :

A thunderstorm breaks, continuing low if the
wind blows from the west after clearing.

Nightfall approaches and the sky is free from
clouds.

The mercury remains at the same level during
the sunny hours.

A cyclone is departing and the anticyclone
moving in.

The wind swings north of east in a storm, —
the fall will be gradual.

The wind swings west of south in a storm, —
the fall will be sudden.

A snowstorm begins, for a short time only.

A cloudy day clears at sunset.

Snow flurries are seen.

The sky shows green and the clouds look
hard.

192 READING THE WEATHER

The temperature will rise when :

A thunderstorm is brewing, or a day or two
before a winter cyclone.

After a thunderstorm if another is to follow.

The morning is free from clouds and if it is
not the first day of a cold wave.

The wind dips south of west or south of
northeast, the former shift bringing the more
sudden rise.

The sun sets as a ball of fire, at which one can
easily look.

A snowstorm gets under way, unless the wind
is swinging toward the north.

A PAGE OF PROBLEMS

One satisfying thing about meteorology is
that there is a constantly widening field for con-
quest. Among the questions that await solu-
tion, are :

What are the relative densities of clouds?

What is the original atmospheric electricity,
its distribution and laws ?

What are the causes and nature of precipita-
tion?

Will aerial ascents on all sides of an atmos-
pheric disturbance discover the mechanism of
storms ?

CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS 193

What relations are there of solar radiation to
our atmosphere ?

What influence do lunar tides bear to our
weather?

On what does the permanence of the summer
lows over the Rockies depend?

These questions are only samples. Many
certainties can be attained by merely complete
observations over a longer period of time, oth-
ers by new systems of observations that await a
more generous appropriation. Even the upper
air investigations on Mt. Weather, Va., have
had to be curtailed. The Bureau's record has
proved it efficient, of enormous benefit to the
country, and deserving of the encouragement in-
stead of the depreciation of every citizen.

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
are.

A plain white flag means fair weather.

A black triangle stands for temperature and
is always exhibited with some other flag. Its
relative position, either above or below indicates

194 READING THE WEATHER

higher or lower temperature. Therefore white
flag with the black below means fair and colder.
The white flag with the black above means fair
and warmer.

A white flag with a black square in the center
means a cold wave.

A blue flag means either rain or snow.

The blue with the black above would mean
rain or snow and warmer.

The blue with the black below would mean
rain or snow and colder.

A blue and white flag means a local shower.
The same meanings are attached to the black
triangle in connection with the blue and
white.

A red triangle indicates a dangerous local
storm, is called the information flag meaning
that shippers should apply to the Bureau for
news of the direction in which the storm is trav-
elling.

A red square with a black center means se-
vere winds.

1. Southwesterly with a white triangle below.

2. Northwesterly with a white triangle
above.

3. Northeasterly with a red triangle above.

4. Southeasterly with a red triangle below.

CHAPTER OF EXPLOSIONS 195

OUR FOUR WORLD'S RECORDS —
AND OTHERS

Maximum Temperature

United States, 134 at Greenland Ranch, Cal., July, 1913.
World, 134 at Greenland Ranch, Cal.
Minimum Temperature

United States, — 65 at Miles City, Mont., January, 1888.
World, — 98 at Verkhojansk, Siberia.
Absolute Zero of Space

— 459 degrees Fahrenheit.
Maximum Annual Precipitation

United States, 167.29 inches at Glenora, Oreg., in 1896.
World, 905.1 inches, Cherrapunji, India, 1861.
Maximum Monthly Precipitation

United States, 71.5 inches at Helen Mine, Cal., January,

1909.

World, 366 inches, Cherrapunji, India, July, 1861.
Maximum 24 Hour Precipitation

United States, 21 inches at Alexandria, La.
Minimum Annual Precipitation

United States, none at Bagdad, Cal., in 1913. (Only 3.93
inches fell at Bagdad during period 1909 to 1913, inclu-
sive.)
Maximum Annual Snowfall

United States, 786 inches at Tamarack, Cal., 1911.
Maximum Monthly Snowfall

United States, 390 inches at Tamarack, Cal., January,

1911.
Maximum Wind Velocity

United States, 186 miles per hour at Mt. Washington, on
Jan. ii, 1878. (Much higher velocities have undoubt-
edly occurred in tornadoes, etc., but have not been sus-
ceptible of instrumental measurement.)

THE END

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work. The chapter headings are: 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
Shotguns.

17. THE YACHTSMAN'S HANDBOOK, by Herbert

L. Stone. The author and compiler of this work is the editor of
** Yachting." He treats in simple language of the many problems
confronting the amateur sailor and motor boatman. Handling
ground tackle, handling lines, taking soundings, the use of the lead
line, care and use of sails, yachting etiquette, are all given careful
attention. Some light is thrown upon the operation of the gasoline
motor, and suggestions are made for the avoidance of engine
troubles.

18. SCOTTISH AND IRISH TERRIERS, by Wil-

Hams Haynes. This is a companion book to "The Airedale,"
and deals with the history and development of both breeds. For
the owner of the dog, valuable information is given as to the use of
the terriers, their treatment in health, their treatment when sick,
the principles of dog breeding, and dog shows and rules.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK:

19. NAVIGATION FOR THE AMATEUR, by Capt.

E. T. Morton. A short treatise on the simpler methods of find-
ing position at sea by the observation of the sun's altitude and the
use of the sextant and chronometer. 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
shore. Illustrated with drawings. Chapter headings : Fundamental
Terms—Time— The Sumner Line— The Day's Work, Equal Altitude,
and Ex-Meridian Sights — Hints on Taking Observations.

20. OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY, by Julian A.

1 Jimoek, A solution of all the problems in camera work out-of-
doors. The various subjects dealt with are : The Camera — Lens and
Plates — Light and Exposure— Development— Prints and Printing —
Composition — Landscapes — Figure Work — Speed Photography — The
Leaping Tarpon — Sea Pictures— In the Good Old Winter Time —
Wild Life.

21. PACKING AND PORTAGING, by Dillon

Wallace. Mr. Wallace has brought together in one volume all
the valuable information on the different ways of making and carry,
ing the different kinds of packs. The ground covered ranges from
man-packing to horse-packing, from the use of the tump line to
throwing the diamond hitch.

22. THE BULL TERRIER, by Williams Haynes.

This is a companion book to "The Airedale" and "Scottish and Irish
Terriers" by the same author. Its greatest usefulness is as a guide
to the dog owner who wishes to be his own kennel manager. A full
account of the development of the breed is given with a description
of best types and standards. Recommendations for the care of
the dog in health or sickness are included. The chapter heads
cover such matters as: — The Bull Terrier's History — Training the
Bull Terrier— The Terrier in Health— Kenneling— Diseases.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK

23. THE FOX TERRIER, by Williams Haynes.

As in his other books on the terrier, Mr. Haynes takes up the origin
and history of the breed, its types and standards, and the more ex-
clusive representatives down to the present time. 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
handled.

24. SUBURBAN GARDENS, by Grace Tabor.

Illustrated with diagrams. 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 garden, with the levels and contours necessary,
laying out the walks and paths, planning and placing the arbors,
summer houses, seats, etc., and selecting and placing trees, shrubs,
vines and flowers. Ideal plans for plots of various sizes are appended,
as well as suggestions for correcting mistakes that have been made
through "starting wrong."

25. FISHING WITH FLOATING FLIES, by

Samuel G. Camp. This is an art that is comparatively new in
this country although English anglers have used the dry fly for
generations. Mr. 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 fish. His book
takes up the process in that order, namely — How to Outfit for Dry
Fly Fishing— How, Where, and When to Cast— The Selection and
Use of Floating Flies — Dry Fly Fishing for Brook, Brown and
Rainbow Trout — Hooking, Playing and Landing— Practical Hints on
Dry Fly Fishing.

26. THE GASOLINE MOTOR, by Harold Whiting

Slauson . Deals with the practical problems of motor operation.
The standpoint is that of the man who wishes to know how and
why gasoline generates power and something about the various
types. Describes in detail the different parts of motors and the
faults to which they are liable. Also gives full directions as to re-
pair and upkeep. Various chapters deal with Types of Motors —
Valves — Bearings — Ignition — Carburetors — - Lubrication — Fuel —
Two Cycle Motors.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK

27. ICE BOATING, by H. L. Stone, illustrated with

diagrams. Here have been brought together all the available in-
formation on the organization and history of ice-boating, the build-
ing of the various types of ice yachts, from the small 15 footer to
the 600-foot racer, together with detailed plans and specifications.
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
volume.

28. MODERN GOLF, by Harold H. Hilton. Mr.

Hilton is the only man who has ever held the amateur champion-
ship of Great Britain and the United States in the same year. In
addition to this, he has, for years, been recognized as one of the
most intelligent, steady players of the game in England. This book
is a product of his advanced thought and experience and gives the
reader sound advice, not so much on the mere swinging of the clubs
as in the actual playing of the game, with all the factors that enter
into it. He discusses the use of wooden clubs, the choice of clubs,
the art of approaching, tournament play as a distinct thing in itself,
and kindred subjects.

29. INTENSIVE FARMING, by L. C. Corbett.

A discussion of the meaning, method and value of intensive methods
in agriculture. This book is designed for the convenience of prac-
tical farmers who find themselves under the necessity of making a
living out of high-priced land.

30. PRACTICAL DOG BREEDING, by Williams

Haynes. This is a companion volume to PRACTICAL DOG
KEEPING, described below. It goes at length into the funda-
mental questions of breeding, such as selection of types on both
sides, the perpetuation of desirable, and the elimination of undesir-
able, qualities, the value of prepotency in building up a desired
breed, etc. The arguments are illustrated with instances of what
has been accomplished, both good and bad, in the case of well-
known breeds.

31. PRACTICAL DOG KEEPING, by Williams

Haynes. Mr. Haynes is well known to the readers of the OUTING
HANDBOOKS as the author of books on the terriers. His new
book is somewhat more ambitious in that it carries him into the
general field of selection of breeds, the buying and selling of dogs,
the care of dogs in kennels, handling in bench shows and field trials,
and at considerable length into such subjects as food and feeding,
exercise and grooming, disease, etc.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY-NEW YORK

32. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN, by R. L. Watts.

This book ia designed for the small grower with a limited plot of
ground. The reader is told what types of vegetables to select, the
manner of planting and cultivation, and the returns that may be
expected.

33. AMATEUR RODMAKING, by Perry D. Frazer.

Illustrated. A practical manual for all those who want to make
their own rod and fittings. It contains a review of fishing rod his-
tory, a discussion of materials, a list of the tools needed, description
of the method to be followed in making all kinds of rods, including
fly-casting, bait-fishing, ealiaon, etc., with full instructions for wind-
ing, varnishing, etc.

34. PISTOL AND REVOLVER SHOOTING, by A. L.

A. Himmelwrigllt. A new and revised edition of a'work that has
already achieved prominence as an accepted authority on the use of
the hand gun. Full instructions are given in the use of both revolver
and target pistol, including shooting position, grip, position of arm, etc.
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 abroad.

35. PIGEON RAISING, by Alice MacLeod. This

is a book for both fancier and market breeder. Full descriptions
are given of the construction of houses, the care of the birds, pre-
paration for market, and shipment. Descriptions of the various
breeds with their markings and characteristics are given. Illustrated
with photographs and diagrams.

36. FISHING TACKLE, by Perry D. Frazer. Il-
lustrated. The subtitle is descriptive. "Hints for Beginners in
the Selection, Care, and Use of Rods, Reels, Lines, etc." It tells all
the fisherman needs to know about making and overhauling his
tackle during the closed season and gives full instructions for tour-
nament casting and fly-casting. Chapters are included on cases and
holders for the care of tackle when not in use.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK

37. AUTOMOBILE OPERATION, by A. L.

Brennan, Jr. Illustrated. Tells the plain truth about the little
things that every motorist wants to know about his own car. Do
you want to cure ignition troubles? Overhaul and adjust your
carbureter? Keep your transmission in order? Get the maximum
wear out of your tires? Do any other of the hundred and one
things that are necessary for the greatest use and enjoyment of your
car? Then you will find this book useful.

38. THE FOX HOUND, by Roger D. Williams.
Author of "Horse and Hound". Illustrated. The author is
the foremost authority on fox hunting and foxhound* in America.
For years he has kept the foxhound studbook, and is the final source
of information on all disputed points relating to this breed. His
book discusses types, methods of training, kenneling, diseases and
all the other practical points relating to the use and care of the
hound. An appendix is added containing the rules and regulations
of hound field trials.

39. SALT WATER GAME FISHING, by Charles

F. Holder. Mr. Holder covers the whole field of his subject
devoting a chapter each to such fish as the tuna, the tarpon, amber-
jack, the sail fish, the yellow-tail, the king fish, the barracuda, the
sea bass and the small game fishes of Florida, Porto Rico, the Pacific
Coast, Hawaii, and the Philippines. The habits and habitats of the
fish are described, together with the methods and tackle for taking
them. The book concludes with an account of the development
and rules of the American Sea Angling Clubs. Illustrated.

40. WINTER CAMPING, by Warwick S. Carpenter.

A book that meets the increasing interest in outdoor life in the cold
weather. Mr. Carpenter discusses such subjects as shelter equipment,
clothing, food, snowshoeing, skiing, and winter hunting, wild life in
winter woods, care of frost bite, etc. It is based on much actual ex-
perience in winter camping and is fully illustrated with working
photographs.

41. WOODCRAFT FOR WOMEN, by Mrs. Kath-

rene Gedney Pinkerton. 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 view. She gives sound
tips on clothing, camping outfit, food supplies, and methods, by
which the woman may adjust herself to the outdoor environment.

42. SMALL BOAT BUILDING, by H. W. Patterson.

Illustrated with diagrams and plans. A working manual for the man
who wants to be his own designer and builder. Detail descriptions
and drawings are given showing the various stages in the building,
and chapters are included on proper materials and details.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK

43. *READING THE WEATHER, by T. Morris

LongStreth. 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 Bureau, gives rules by
which the character and duration of storms may be estimated, and
gives instructions for sensible use of the barometer. He also gives
useful information as to various weather averages for different parts
of the country, at different times of the year, and furnishes sound
advice for the camper, sportsman, and others who wish to know what
they may expect in the weather line.

44. BOXING, by D. C. Hutchison, ^practical in-

stmction for men who wish to learn the first steps* in the manly
art. Mr. Hutchison writes from long personal experience as an
amateur boxer and as a trainer of other amateurs. His instructions
are accompanied with full diagrams showing the approved blows
and guards. He also gives full directions for training for condition
without danger of going stale from overtraining. It is essentially a
book for the amateur who boxes for sport and exercise.

45. TENNIS TACTICS, by Raymond D. Little.

Out of his store of experience as a successful tennis player, Mr.
Little has written this practical guide for those who wish to know
how real tennis is played. He tells the reader when and how to
take the net, discusses the relative merits of the back-court and
volleying game and how their proper balance may be achieved;
analyzes and appraises the twist service, shows the fundamental
necessities of successful doubles play.

46. *HOWTO PLAY TENNIS, by James Burns.

This book gives simple, direct instruction from the professional
standpoint on the fundamentals of the game. It tells the reader how
to hold his racket, how to swing it for the various strokes, how to
stand and how to cover the court. These points are illustrated with
photographs and diagrams. The author also illustrates the course
of the ball in the progress of play and points out the positions of
greatest safety and greatest danger.

47. TAXIDERMY, by Leon L. Pray, ninstratedwith

diagrams. Being a practical taxidermist, the author at once goes into
the question of selection of tools and materials for the various stages
of skinning, stuffing and mounting. The subjects whose handling
is described are, for the most part, the every-day ones, such as
ordinary birds, small mammals, etc., although adequate instructions
are included for mounting big game specimens, as well as the pre-
liminary care of ekina in hot climates. Full diagrams accompany
the text.

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK

48. THE CANOE— ITS SELECTION, CARE AND
USE, by Robert E. Pinkerton. Illustrated with photographs,
With proper use the canoe is one of the eafesti crafts that floats.
Mr. Pinkerton tells how that state of safety may be obtained. He
gives full instructions for the selection of the right canoe for each
particular purpose or set of conditions. Then he tells how it should
he used in order to secure the maximum of safety, comfort and use-
fulness. His own lesson was learned among the Indians of Canada,
where paddling is a high art, and the use of the canoe almost as
much a matter of course as the wearing of moccasins.

49. HORSE PACKING, by Charles J. Post.

Illustrated with diagrams. This is a complete description of the
hitches, knots, and apparatus used in making and carrying loads of
various kinds on horseback. Its basis is the methods followed in the
West and in the American Army. The diagrams are full and detailed,
giving the various hitches and knots at each of the important stages
so that even the novice can follow and use them. It is the only
book ever published on this subject of which this could be said.
Full description is given of the ideal pack animal, as well as a cata-
logue of the diseases and injuries to which such animals are subject.

51. *LEARMNG TO SKATE, by J.F.Verne. 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 time. Funda-
mental rules are laid down for learning the simpler strokes, carrying
the reader on through to speed and fancy skating. Advice is in-
eluded on the proper skates and clothing.

52. *TOURING AFOOT, by Dr. C. P. Fordyce.

Illustrated. 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 length. Various standard camping devices are described
and outfits are prescribed for all conditions. It is based on the
assumption that the reader will want to carry on his own back every-
thing that he requires for the trip.

53. *THE MARINE MOTOR, by Lieut.

Frank W. Sterling, U. S. N. Illustrated with diagrams.
This book is the product of a wide experience on the engineering
staff of the United States Navy. It gives careful descriptions of
the various parts of the marine motor, their relation to the whole and
their method of operation ; it also describes the commoner troubles
and suggests remedies. The principal types of engines are described
in detail with diagrams. The object is primarily to give the novice
a good working knowledge of his engine, its operation and care.

THIS

rv

OVERDUE.

THE SEVENTH

LD 21-100711-8,' 34

YB 27382

324956

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY