Up with the Storm Signals 



The language of the weather bureaus of 

 the world is one of flags, lights and cones 



THE invention of the electric telegraph 

 made it possible for meteorologists to 

 gather reportsof simultaneous weather 

 observations over exten- 

 sive areas, enter the data 

 on charts, prepare fore- 

 casts and storm warn- 

 ings, and issue such in- 

 formation to the public; 

 all within a period of 

 time short enough to 

 make the predictions use- 

 ful for practical purposes. 

 Telegraphic weather ser- 

 vices date from the middle 

 of the last century, and at 

 first they were designed 

 especially for warning 

 mariners of approaching 

 storms. In the days 

 before "wireless" the 

 problem of transmitting 

 such warnings to ships at 

 sea could be solved only 

 by the display of con- 

 spicuous signals at nu- 



Jjk 



NORTHERLY GALES 



SOUTHERLY GALES 



GALES FROM K. E. 



GALES FROM S. E 



HURRICANE 



A combination o f 

 cones which is seen in 

 ;most French charts 



A standard storm-signal tower of 

 the U. S. Weather Bureau. At the 

 top of the mast is a weather vane 



merous points along affected seacoasts. 

 Several forms of signal were evolved. In 



the British Isles Admiral FitzRoy intro- 

 duced the use of canvas 

 cones and "drums" (i. e., 

 cylinders), which, seen 

 from any direction, pre- 

 sented the appearance of 

 solid triangles and squares 

 against the background 

 of the sky. At night 

 they were replaced by 

 groups of lanterns. The 

 drum, indicating winds of 

 varying direction, has 

 since been abandoned, 

 and the British now use 

 the cone alone, pointing 

 up or down, for northerly 

 or southerly gales, re- 

 spectively. 



One of the earliest 

 storm-signaling devices 

 was a form of semaphore, 

 known as the "aeroclino- 

 scope," used in Holland. 

 The position of the arm 

 of the semaphore indi- 

 cated the region in which 

 the barometer was low; 

 i. e., the storm center. 

 The American storm-flag 

 — red with a square black 

 center — was adopted by 

 the United States Signal 

 Service (the predecessor 

 of the Weather Bureau) 

 in 1 87 1. This signal was 

 later amplified by the 

 addition of red and white 

 pennants, to show the 



Cone pointing down indi- 

 cates southerly gale; cone 

 pointing up, northerly gale 



582 



At night triangular groups of Ian • 

 terns of the same significant 

 arrangement replace the cones 



