48 ELEMENTS OF GENERAL SCIENCE 



The difficulties in forecasting are many, and most of them 

 arise from the irregularities in the behavior of cyclones. If 

 all cyclones moved in the same path at the same rate and did 

 not change in violence, we should be able to predict the weather 

 with almost absolute certainty. But cyclones sometimes travel 

 in unexpected directions or at unusual rates. Sometimes they 

 disappear entirely, and sometimes new ones make their appear- 

 ance without any warning. In spite of all these difficulties 

 the art of forecasting the weather has been brought to a high 

 degree of reliability. 



The storm warnings at ports on the ocean and Great Lakes 

 are the means of saving annually thousands of dollars' worth 

 of property and many lives. The warnings of frosts have saved 

 as much as $3,000,000 worth of perishable property in the fonn 

 of fruits and vegetables in a single year. Flood warnings are 

 another important part of the work of the bureau. 



