Practical Exercises in Elementary Meteorology

The amount of cloudiness is recorded on a scale of tenths. A clear sky is one that is less than 3⁄10 cloudy; a fair sky is from 3⁄10 to 7⁄10 cloudy; and a cloudy sky is over 7⁄10 cloudy. In observing the state of the sky, note such points as the times of clouding and of clearing; the arrangement of the clouds, i.e., whether they are few and scattered, or cover the sky with a uniform layer; the common forms of clouds; the changes in the amounts of cloudiness, etc.

Another new column must be added in the record book for the cloudiness. The table will now appear thus:—

Sample Record of Temperature, Wind, and State of the Sky.

Is the sky clear, fair, or cloudy to-day? Is there more or less cloud than there was yesterday? Than the day before yesterday? Is to-day a day of increasing or of decreasing cloudiness? Is the sky usually perfectly clear, or is it oftenest somewhat clouded over? How long does it take for the sky to become completely covered with clouds from the time when it first begins to become cloudy? When there are a few clouds in the sky, are these usually scattered all over the sky, or are they in groups? Have you noticed any particular form of clouds which seemed familiar to you? Do clouds seem to have certain definite shapes and appearances which are to be seen often? Do you discover any variation of cloudiness during the day, i.e., is it apt to be more cloudy in the afternoon than in the morning or at night? Can you make a list describing some of the clouds that you see most often? Can you give these common kinds of clouds some names of your own that shall describe them briefly? In what ways does a clear sky, with bright sunshine, affect us?

Rainfall.—Under the general term rainfall, meteorologists include, besides rain itself, snow, hail, sleet, etc. The term precipitation is also often used. Rainfall stands in close relation to human life and occupations. It feeds lakes and rivers, thus furnishing means of transportation, power for running mills and factories, and water supplies for cities. Regions of abundant rainfall are usually heavily forested, like the Amazon valley in South America, and parts of Equatorial Africa. In civilized countries lumbering is apt to be an important occupation in districts of heavy rainfall, as in Oregon and Washington in our own country, and in Southern Chile in South America. Where there is a moderate rainfall, and other conditions are favorable, there agriculture is possible, and farming becomes one of the chief occupations, as in the Mississippi and Missouri valleys in the United States, and in Western Canada. Districts which have a rainfall too small for successful agriculture, but are not by any means deserts, are often excellent grazing lands, as in the case of parts of Texas, Nebraska, and Kansas in the United States, and the Argentine Republic in South America. Where there is very little rainfall deserts are found. Cities are not built in deserts, because there are no occupations to attract large numbers of men. The inhabitants of the desert are wandering tribes, which move from place to place in search of water and food for themselves and their animals. Rain and snow cleanse the air, washing out impurities such as dust and smoke. Hence they are important agents in preserving health.

Note the kind of precipitation (rain, snow, hail, sleet); the amount (heavy, moderate, light, trace); and the time of the beginning and ending of the storm or shower.

The record book must now be further subdivided into columns, to make room for the rainfall observations, in this manner:—

Sample Record of Temperature, Wind, State of Sky, and Precipitation.

Does most of our rain come in brief showers, or in storms lasting a day or two? Do we have about the same amount of rain or snow every week and every month, or does the amount vary a good deal from week to week and from month to month? Do you notice much difference in the characteristics of successive storms, or do they all seem pretty much alike? Are thunderstorms limited to any particular season of the year? If so, to what season? Have you discovered any rule as to the time of day when rainstorms or snowstorms begin? When thunderstorms begin and end? Is it common or uncommon for us to have a storm lasting three or four days? How long does a thunderstorm usually last? Do we have most hail in winter or in summer? In what ways does a rainy day affect people? How are you yourself affected? How does a heavy snowstorm affect travel and transportation? In what ways does a snowstorm differ from a rainstorm as to the character of the precipitation and its effects?

After studying the temperature, wind, state of sky, and rainfall separately, take two elements together and see what relation one has to the other. Try to answer such questions as these:—

Temperature and Wind.—What relations can you discover between the direction of the wind and the temperature? Which winds are the coolest? Which the warmest? Does a hot, calm day seem warmer or cooler than a hot, windy day? Does a cold, calm day seem colder or warmer than a cold, windy day? Does the velocity of the wind have any effect on your feeling of cold or of warmth? If so, what effect?

Wind and State of Sky.—Has the direction of the wind anything to do with the cloudiness? Is there more apt to be considerable cloudiness with wind from one direction than from another? What winds are usually accompanied by the largest amount of cloud? What winds usually blow when the sky is clear? Is the relation of cloudiness to certain wind directions so close that, if you know the wind direction, you can make a prediction as to the probable cloudiness? Are the winds with clouds more common in one month than another? In one season than another? If so, which month? which season?

Temperature and State of Sky.—Do you notice any relation between the temperature and the state of the sky? In winter are our coldest days usually cloudy or clear? In summer are our hottest days cloudy or clear? Are the winds that give us the most cloudiness warm or cold winds in winter and in summer? Is a cloudy night colder or warmer than a clear night? Is a cloudy day colder or warmer than a clear day?

State of Sky and Precipitation.—How is rainfall or snowfall related to the cloudiness? Do we ever have rain or snow when the sky is not completely covered with clouds? Does the sky usually become quickly covered with clouds before a rain? Does a sky wholly covered with clouds always give us rain or snow? Does the sky clear rapidly or slowly after a rain? Are any particular kinds of clouds associated with rain or with snowstorms? With brief showers? With thunderstorms?

Wind and Precipitation.—Are any particular wind directions more likely than others to give us rain or snow? Are these the same winds as those which give us the most cloudiness? What winds are they? Has the velocity of the wind any relation to the rain or snowstorm? Does the wind blow harder before, during, or after the rain or snow? What changes of wind direction have you noted before, during, and after any storm? Have you noticed these same changes in other storms? Are they so common in our storms that you can make a rule as to these changes?

Temperature and Precipitation.—Does a shower or a rainstorm in the hotter months affect the temperature of the air in any way? How? In the winter does the temperature show any changes before a snowstorm? Is it usually warmer or colder then than a day or two before the storm and the day after? Is it usually uncomfortably cold during a snowstorm? Are rainy spells in the spring and the autumn months cooler or warmer than clear dry weather?

Part II.—Instrumental Observations

CHAPTER II.

ELEMENTARY INSTRUMENTAL OBSERVATIONS

The non-instrumental observations, suggested in the preceding chapter, prepare the way for the more exact records of the weather elements which are obtainable only by the use of instruments. The non-instrumental records are not to be entirely given up, even after the instrumental work and the weather-map exercises have begun, but should be continued throughout the course. Notes on the forms and changes of clouds, on the times of beginning and ending, and on the character of the precipitation, as outlined in the last chapter, and other observations made without the use of instruments, are an essential part of even the most advanced meteorological records.

The simpler instruments are the ordinary thermometer, the wind vane, the rain gauge, and the mercurial barometer (in a modified form). Observations with these instruments, although of a simple character, can be made very useful. The advance over the non-instrumental observations, which latter may be termed observations of sensation, is a decided one. In place of the vague and untrustworthy statements concerning hot and cold, warm and cool days, we now have actual degrees of temperature to serve as a basis for comparison of day with day or month with month. The measurements of rain and snowfall enable us to study the amounts brought in different storms, the average precipitation of the various months, etc. The important facts of change of pressure now become known, and also the relation of these changes to the weather. Just as we have, in the earlier work, become familiar with our typical weather changes and types, so we shall now have our eyes opened to the actual values of the temperatures and precipitation connected with these changes.

Fig. 1.

The ordinary thermometer (Greek: heat measure), the most commonly used and most widely known of all meteorological instruments, was in an elementary form known to Galileo, and was used by him in his lectures at the University of Padua during the years 1592 to 1609. Thermometers enable us to measure the temperatures of different bodies by comparison with certain universally accepted standards of temperature. These standards are the freezing and boiling points of distilled water. In its common form the thermometer consists of a glass tube, closed at the top, and expanding at its lower end into a hollow spherical or cylindrical glass bulb. This bulb and part of the tube are filled with mercury or alcohol. As the temperature rises, the liquid expands, flows out of the bulb, and rises in the tube. As the temperature falls, the mercury or alcohol contracts, and therefore stands at a lower level in the tube. In order that the amount of this rise or fall may be accurately known, some definite scale for measurement must be adopted. The scale commonly used in this country owes its name to Fahrenheit (born in Danzig in 1686; died in 1736), who was the first to settle upon the use of mercury as the liquid in thermometers, and also the first definitely to adopt two fixed points in graduating the scale. The division of this scale into 180° between the freezing point (32°) and the boiling point (212°) seems to have been taken from the graduation of a semicircle. Fahrenheit was a manufacturer of all sorts of physical apparatus, and it has been thought probable that he had some special facilities for dividing his thermometer tubes into 180 parts. Mercury is most commonly used as the liquid in thermometers, because it readily indicates changes of temperature, and because over most of the world the winter cold is not sufficient to freeze it. The freezing point of mercury is about 40° below zero (-40° F.). Alcohol, which has a much lower freezing point, is therefore used in thermometers which are to be employed in very cold regions. Alcohol thermometers must, for instance, be used in Northern Siberia, where the mean January temperature is 60° below zero.

The temperature which meteorologists desire to obtain by the ordinary thermometer is the temperature of the free air in the shade. In order that thermometers may indicate this temperature, they must, if possible, be placed in an open space where there is an unobstructed circulation of the air, and they must be protected from the direct rays of the sun. They are, therefore, usually exposed inside of a cubical enclosure of wooden lattice work, in an open space away from buildings, and at a height of 4 to 10 feet above the ground, preferably a grass-covered surface. This enclosure is called the shelter, and its object is to screen the instrument from the direct and reflected sunshine, to allow free circulation of air around the bulb, and to keep the thermometer dry. Sometimes the shelter, instead of being in an open space on the ground, is built on the roof or against the north wall of a building, or outside of one of the windows. Fig. 2 shows an ordinary shelter.

A still simpler method of exposure is described in the “Instructions for Voluntary Observers” (United States Weather Bureau, 1892) as follows: “Select a north window, preferably of an unoccupied room, especially in winter. Fasten the blinds open at right angles to the wall of the house. Fasten a narrow strip 3 inches wide across the window outside, and from 8 to 12 inches from the window-pane. To this fasten the thermometers.” If none of these methods of sheltering the instrument is feasible, the thermometer may be fastened to the window frame, about a foot from the window, and so arranged that it can be read from the inside of the room without opening the window.

Fig. 2.

Readings of the thermometer, to the nearest degree of temperature indicated on the scale by the top of the mercury column, are to be made at the regular observation hours, and are to be entered in your record book. Temperatures below zero are preceded by a minus sign (-). A table similar to that suggested towards the close of the last chapter (p. 8 (#page8)) may be used in keeping these instrumental records, except that actual thermometer readings can now be entered in the column headed “Temperature,” instead of using only the general terms warm, cold, chilly, etc. This is a great gain. You will now be able to give fairly definite answers to many of the questions asked in Chapter I. Answer these questions with the help of your thermometer readings, as fully as you can.

The greater part of the Temperate Zone, in which we live, is peculiar in having frequent and rapid changes of temperature, not only from season to season, but from day to day, and during a single day. In winter, we are apt to have a warm wind immediately after a spell of crisp cold weather. In summer, cloudy, cool days come as a sudden relief when we have been suffering from intense heat, with brilliant sunshine.

These changes give a variety to our climate which is, on the whole, very beneficial to man. The North Temperate Zone, with strong seasonal changes in temperature and weather, is the zone of the highest civilization and of the greatest energy of man. In the Torrid Zone the changes of temperature are, as a whole, small. There is no harsh winter. The climate is monotonous and deadening, rather than enlivening. Man finds it easy to live without much work, and the inhabitants of the Torrid Zone have not, as a rule, advanced far in the scale of civilization.

The wind vane used by the Weather Bureau is about 6 feet long, and has a divided tail made of pine boards, the two pieces making an angle of 22

⁄

°. The purpose of this divided tail is to steady the vane and to make it more sensitive to light currents.

Fig. 3.

A common wind vane on a neighboring church steeple or flagstaff will usually serve sufficiently well for ordinary use. Observations of wind direction (to eight compass points) are to be made as a part of the ordinary weather record, and to be entered in the proper column of the record book.

The rain gauge consists of three separate parts, the receiver A, the overflow attachment B, and the measuring tube C.

Fig. 4.

The inside diameter of the top of the receiver in the standard Weather Bureau gauge is 8 inches (at a in Fig. 4). This receiver has a funnel-shaped bottom, so that all the precipitation which falls into it is carried at once into the measuring tube C, whose inside height is 20 inches. The diameter of the measuring tube is 2.53 inches. The rain falling into the receiver A fills this tube C to a depth greater than the actual rainfall, in proportion as the area of the receiver is greater than the area of the measuring tube. In the standard Weather Bureau gauges the ratio of the area of the receiver to the area of the measuring tube is such that the depth of rainfall is magnified exactly ten times. The object of magnifying the amount in this way is to measure a very small quantity more easily. The narrow portion of the receiver [d] fits over the top of the measuring tube, holding the latter firmly in place and preventing any loss of rainfall. An opening, e, in the lower portion of the receiver [d], just on a level with the top of the measuring tube, serves as an escape for the water into the overflow attachment B, in case the rainfall is so heavy as to more than fill the tube. The inside diameter of the overflow attachment is the same as that of the receiver (8 inches), as will be seen from the figure.

The rain gauge should be firmly set in a wooden frame, so arranged that the overflow attachment can readily be removed from the frame. The box in which the gauge is sent out by the manufacturer is usually designed to serve as a permanent support when the gauge is set up. The best exposure for the gauge is an open space unobstructed by large trees, buildings, or fences. Fences, walls, or trees should be at a distance from the gauge not less than their own height. If an exposure upon the ground is out of the question, the gauge may be placed upon a roof, in which case the middle of a flat unobstructed roof is the best position.

Records of Rainfall.—Every rain gauge is provided with a measuring stick, which is graduated into inches and hundredths. It must be remembered that the amount of rain in the measuring tube is, by the construction of the ordinary gauge, ten times greater than the actual rainfall. This fact need not, however, be taken into account by the observer, for the numbers used in graduating the measuring sticks have all been divided by 10, and therefore they represent the actual rainfall. The graduations on the stick indicate hundredths of an inch, and should appear in the record as decimals (.10, .20, etc.). Ten inches of water in the measuring tube will reach the mark 1.00 on the stick; thus 1.00 denotes 1 inch and zero hundredths of rain. One inch of water in the tube will reach the .10 mark, indicating

⁄

of an inch. The shortest lines on the measuring stick denote successive hundredths of an inch. Thus, if water collected comes to a point halfway between the .10 and .20 lines, the amount is .15 inch, and so on. In measuring rainfall, the stick is lowered through the bottom of the receiver into the measuring tube, and on being withdrawn the wet portion of the stick at once shows the depth of water in the tube. Care must be exercised to put the end of the stick where the numbering begins first into the gauge, and to pass the stick through the middle of the tube. After each observation the gauge should be emptied and drained, and immediately put back into place. When the total rainfall more than fills the measuring tube, i.e., exceeds 2 inches, the receiver should first be lifted off and the tube removed with great care so as not to spill any water. After emptying the tube, the surplus water in the overflow attachment must be poured into the measuring tube and measured. The amount of rainfall thus found is to be added to the 2 inches contained in the measuring tube in order to give the total rainfall. If any water happens to be spilled during its removal from the overflow attachment, then the amount in the tube will be less than 2 inches, and it must be carefully measured before the latter is emptied.

During the winter season, in all regions where snow forms the chief part of the precipitation, the only portion of the rain gauge that need be exposed is the overflow attachment. The snow which falls into the gauge may be measured by first melting the snow and then measuring the water as rainfall. About 10 inches of snow give, on the average, 1 inch of water, but the ratio varies very greatly according to the density of the snow. Besides the measurement of the melted snow collected in the gauge, it is customary to keep a record of the depth of snowfall in inches, as measured by means of an ordinary foot rule or a yardstick, on some level place where there has been little or no drifting.

Measurements of rain and snowfall are usually made once a day, at 8 P.M., and also at the end of every storm. Enter the amounts of precipitation in the column of the table headed “Amount” and state always whether it is rain or melted snow that you have measured. When there has been no precipitation since the last observation, an entry of 0.00 should be made in the column of the record book devoted to “Amount of Precipitation.” When the amount is too small to measure, the entry T (for Trace) should be made.

Continue your non-instrumental record of the time of beginning and ending of the precipitation as before. Whenever it is possible, keep a record of the total amount of precipitation in each storm, noting this under “Remarks.” Try to answer such questions as are asked in Chapter I with the help of your instrumental record of the rain and snowfall. Note what depths of snow in different snowstorms are necessary, when melted, to make 1 inch of water.

The Mercurial Barometer.—Air has weight. At sea level this weight amounts to nearly 15 pounds on every square inch of surface. Imagine a layer of water, 34 feet deep, covering the earth. The weight of this water on every square inch of surface would be the same as the weight of the air. Under ordinary circumstances the weight of the air is not noticeable, because air presses equally in all directions, and the pressure within a body is the same as that outside of it. On account of this equal pressure in all directions, we speak of the pressure of the air instead of its weight. The effects of the air pressure may become apparent when we remove the air from a surface. By working the piston of a pump in a well we may remove the pressure on the surface of the water in the tube of the pump. When this is done, a column of water rises in the tube until the top of this column is about 34 feet above the level of the rest of the water in the well. The pressure of the atmosphere on the water outside of the tube holds up this column of water inside the tube.

Galileo (1564-1642) first taught that the air has weight. His pupil Torricelli went a step further. Torricelli saw that the column of water, held up by the pressure of the air in the tube of the pump, must exactly balance a similar column of air, reaching from the surface of the water in the well to the top of the atmosphere. The column of water, in other words, exactly replaces this column of air. While working on this subject, Torricelli, in 1643, performed the following experiment. He filled a glass tube, about 3 feet long and closed at one end, with mercury. After filling the tube, he put his finger over the open end and inverted the tube over a vessel containing mercury. When the lower end of the tube was below the surface of the mercury in the dish, he removed his finger. At once the column of mercury fell in the tube until it stood at a height of about 30 inches, leaving a vacant space of 6 inches in the upper part of the tube. This space has since been known as the Torricellian vacuum. Torricelli had proved what he had expected, viz., that the height of the column of liquid which replaces and balances an air column of the same size varies with the weight of that liquid. It takes a column of water 34 feet long to balance a similar column of air. It takes a column of mercury only 30 inches long to balance a similar column of air. This, as Torricelli correctly explained, is due to the fact that mercury is so much (13

⁄

times) heavier than water. The column of water weighs just the same as the column of mercury. Each column exactly balances an air column of similar cross-section. The height of the water or of the mercury is a measure of the weight or pressure of the air. The greater the pressure on the surface of the water in the well, the higher will be the top of the water in the pump. The greater the pressure on the surface of the mercury in the basin, in the experiment of Torricelli, the higher will the mercury column stand in the glass tube. Either water or mercury may be used as the liquid in the barometer. Otto von Guericke (1602-1686), of Magdeburg, constructed a water barometer about 36 feet long, which he attached to the outside wall of his house. This barometer he used for some months, and made predictions of coming weather changes by means of it. A water barometer is, however, a very unwieldy thing to manage, on account of the great length of its tube. Furthermore, water barometers cannot be used in any countries where the temperatures fall to freezing. Mercury is the liquid universally employed in barometers. It is so heavy that only a small column of it is necessary to balance the atmospheric pressure. Therefore a mercurial barometer is portable. Further, mercury does not freeze until the temperature falls to 40° below zero.

Another name which should be mentioned in connection with the barometer is that of Blaise Pascal, who in 1648 fully confirmed Torricelli’s results. Pascal saw that if the mercury column is really supported by the weight of the air, the height of that column must be less on the summit of a mountain than at the base, because there is less air over the top of the mountain than at the bottom, and therefore the weight of the air must be less at the summit. To prove this, he asked his brother-in-law Perrier, who lived at Clermont, in France, to carry the Torricellian tube up the Puy-de-Dôme, a mountain somewhat over 3500 feet high in Central France. This Perrier did on Sept. 19, 1648, and he found, as predicted by Pascal, that the mercury fell steadily in the tube as he went up the mountain, and that at the top of the mountain the column of mercury was over 3 inches shorter than at the base.

The pressure of the atmosphere is a weather element which, unlike the other elements already considered, cannot be observed without an instrument. We cannot, under ordinary conditions at sea level, determine by any of our senses whether the pressure is rising or falling, or is stationary. The pressure on the upper floors of one of our high buildings is shown by a barometer to be considerably lower than it is at the level of the street below, and yet we notice no difference in our feelings at the two levels.