Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 November 1906 — PUSH WEATHER MAP. [ARTICLE]

PUSH WEATHER MAP.

UN ITE D STATES FORECASTSWILL EXTEND NORTHWARD. Washington Weather Men Hereafter to Reckon with World Conditions Instead of with Those of America Alone—Hemisphere Now Covered. Beginning this month, the United States weather map will be extended to Include a complete grasp of the northern hemisphere. Maps are being prepared, for use by forecasters of th«government, which will include Irkutsk, Tomsk and Ekaterinburg, in Siberia. In addition, the ‘lcelandic low,’’ which means the area of low winter barometer of the North Atlantic, "Boon will begin making reports by cable. The opening of cable service to Iceland, just announced, will make this possible. Already the weather bureau receives reports from western Europe, including London,- Paris;- Hamburg and half a dozen points in Great Britain. Every morning a cable from the Azores cov-. ers conditions in the South Atlantic region, Including -Lisbon. Arrangements are near completion for daily reports from the ’‘Bering Sea low” baromptric area. In the summer storm season the West Indies region is completely reported. Broadly speaking, the northern hemisphere will .report daily on its weather conditions to the bureau in Washington. There will still be large gaps;, as, for Instance, the Aleutian Island chain from Alaska across to Siberia, which will need to be covered later by arrangements for wireless reports, or for reports from steamships crossing the Pacific by the “great circle” route. Nome, Alaska, for the time being, will be the extreme report from American territory to the far Northwest As soon as possible—which means when observers can be engaged—reports from interior Alaska will be secured. For International Reports. And beyond this in the not distant future there will be an international weather reporting arrangement, just as there is now an international postal agreement, whereby the world’s weather conditions will be reported in co-operation and forecasts will be made, covering long periods. “We will be able,” said Chief Garrlott of the Chicago weather bureau, “at least to notify the Kansas farmer of the outlook for weather long enough in advance to enable him to pick a propitious harvest week. It is not only important to tell what the •weather will be, but to tell how long it will last; to forecast a rainy week and a fair week. We will be able to inform people when it will be safe to cut their hay and allow it to cure on the grounds, or to notify a farmer whe.her n coming week will be safe for cutting hay. A State fair management will be able to learn at the beginning of its week of entertainment whether the weather is likely to be good, or whether a postponement would be desirable.” The greatest land area on earth is the immense continental plain from St Petersburg east to the Pacific—7.(MX) miles in extent This area has pore to’ do with making weather than any other such area on earth, because land is subject to greater extremes of heat and cold than water. Hence, to forecast weather, it is desirable to know conditions prevailing over this land area. It Is this that the weather bureau has arranged to do. The arrangements just closed with the Central Physical Observatory at St. Petersburg will secure reports from the points named In this great area of land expanse. With them the whole realm of possibilities of weather forecasting will be vastly enlarged. Washington for the first time will be able to reckon Intelligently with world conditions, and as the experts become familiar with these conditions In detail, they will make accurate forecasts for a far longer time than ever before.