PROGRESS IN TORNADO-PREDICTION. 311 



The accumulations of great quantities of evidence concerning tor- 

 nadoes have revealed some interesting facts. It is supposed that cer- 

 tain localities in the Eastern States are entirely free from tornadoes, 

 but an examination of Lieutenant Finley's record from 1794 to 1881 

 shows that they at times approach dangerously near the most unex- 

 pected localities. One occurred in New York city, July 13, 1859, and 

 this fact has been further emphasized by the appearance of another at 

 Westwood, Xew Jersey, October 4, 1885, only twenty-one miles above 

 the city, and not far from the Hudson River. Of the six hundred 

 tornadoes recorded from 1794 to 1881, sixty-two occurred in Kansas, 

 fifty-three in Illinois, forty-three in Missouri, thirty-five in New York, 

 thirty-three in Georgia, thirty-two in Iowa, twenty-eight in Ohio, 

 twenty-five in Indiana, twenty-two in Minnesota, eighteen in North 

 Carolina, eighteen in Pennsylvania, eighteen in Texas, eighteen in 

 Tennessee, fourteen in South Carolina, fifteen in Michigan, fourteen 

 in Alabama, fourteen in Nebraska, fourteen in Mississippi, ten in 

 Louisiana, ten in Wisconsin, nine in IMassachusetts, nine in Dakota, 

 nine in Virginia, eight in Arkansas, eight in Maryland, five in Connect- 

 icut, six in Kentucky, five in Florida, five in New Hampshire, six in 

 New Jersey, three in Maine, two in Arizona, two in Vermont, and one 

 each in Colorado, California, Indian Territory, Nevada, New Mexico, 

 Montana, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wyoming Territory. 

 .The above figures are defective, owing to the absence of records in 

 the past, but it may be accepted as an undoubted fact, soon to be 

 demonstrated by the more careful system of investigation to be carried 

 on by an army of tornado-reporters, that the proportion of tornadoes 

 in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin is much greater than shown. 

 The real prevalence in these States, as compared with others, is better 

 represented by the record of unusually destructive tornadoes. Of this 

 class Kansas leads with twenty-five, Illinois follows with fifteen, then 

 come Iowa and Missouri with twelve each. The Eastern States dis- 

 appear from the list with the exception of Pennsylvania three and 

 Connecticut one — the well-known destruction of life and property at 

 Wallingford. Of the six hundred tornadoes, three hundred and four 

 moved from southwest to northeast, and the remainder, with marvel- 

 ously few exceptions, kept very close to that direction. So compara- 

 tively certain is this movement that the tornado-track can be escaped 

 by running southeast, depending, of course, upon the direction from 

 which the storm is seen. Northwest is not so safe a direction to 

 take, because so many move northward, veering very slightly east- 

 ward. The length of the track varies from one to one hundred and 

 fifty miles, and the average is thirty miles. The average width of 

 the storm-path is one thousand and eighty-five feet, and the velocity 

 of progression is about thirty miles an hour. The form of the cloud 

 is almost invariably funnel-shaped, varied at times with that of the 

 hour-glass, cone, and inverted funnel, modifications caused by di£Fer- 



