I9OI.] FAIRCIIirj:) CYCLONIC STORMS. 307 



have is a distinct advantage. Astronomy is not an important industry 

 here. The advantages are much greater than the disadvantages. 

 The latter are chiefly a matter of imagination or sentiment ; the 

 former are real. The clouds interfere but little with most occupations, 

 and not as much with the real comfort of people as they think. Con- 

 tinuous clear skies in summer are not desirable. Clouds not only 

 temper the heat but add a beauty and variety to nature which nothing 

 else can supply. We can not have the splendor of the evening clouds 

 and the grandeur of the thunder storm without having sometimes an 

 excess of cloudiness. The degree of summer cloudiness is wholly an 

 advantage and benefit. The somber skies of the colder months may 

 be an aesthetical or sentimental disadvantage, but they are practically 

 beneficial in conserving heat and preventing low temperatures, 

 specially at night. 



Mr. Parker writes : — " Half the beauty of the world is in its 

 "clouds. An unchanging brazen sky is one of the most tiresome 

 "things in nature, and prevents the following of steady occupations 

 "with satisfaction because of its oppressive monotony. In winter the 

 " canopy of clouds protects us from cold as effectually as the blankets 

 "on our beds, and is worth to Rochester thousands of dollars in the 

 "saving of coal and clothing." 



Changes : — The climate of Rochester has unquestionable superior- 

 ity in the moderate temperature, the normal and well distributed pre- 

 cipitation, and the absence of severe winds. The excess of cloudiness 

 and stormy days is not really disadvantageous. There is, however, 

 another condition which requires explanation, the frequent changes 

 in wind direction and temperature. This changeability, however, is 

 not at all peculiar to Rochester but pertains to all the northern and 

 eastern parts of the United States, and especially to the region of the 

 lower Great Lakes. These changes are due to cyclonic storms, which 

 are the most interesting atmospheric phenomena of middle latitudes. 



CYCLONES. 



The word "cyclone" is a generic term, applied by meteorolog- 

 ists to any vortical movement of the atmosphere. The destructive 

 cyclones of the West Indies are called Hurricanes, those of the Asiatic 

 seas are Typhoons, the terrible whirlwinds of the Mississippi valley are 

 minor whirls within the cyclone and are called Tornadoes. Like 

 thunderstorms, to which they are allied phenomena, tornadoes occur 

 most frequently in the southeast quadrant of the cyclone. The dust 



