BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY Published Monthly (except June and August) by the American Meteorological Society Address all Communications to "Secretary, Am. Meteorological Soc., Vol. 5. JANUARY, 1924. No. 1. HISTORY OF METEOROLOGY IN NORTH AMERICA SINCE 1848 * SIR FREDERIC STUPART, Director, Canadian Meteorological Service My attention has been drawn to the fact, that this meeting of the A. A. A. S. is the 75th anniversary of its birth; the first meeting having been in 1848. It happens then, that the birth of the Association was contemporaneous with the great awakening of interest in meteorology, and some of America's brightest intellects were already engaged in investigations concerning the character of storms. Now, I have never made any close investigation of the details of the various advances which heralded the adoption of the weather map as the best means of studying meteorological phenomena, nor am I familiar with all the papers contributed to scientific journals; there are, however, many outstanding names which should never be forgotten, and I trust that my remarks today will be taken, rather as an appreciation of the splendid contribution made by these men to science, than as a history of the growth of meteorological research. It is clear that the American Association, from the very first session which took place in Philadelphia in 1848 played an important role in encouraging meteorological investigation; the fact that Mr. William C. Redfield was Chairman of the first meeting, could only mean that meteorology would be given a prominent place in the discussion of the Association. Redfield contributed a great many papers. He was a brilliant man. At the first meeting, Professor John H. C. Coffin read a paper on "Winds," and, later on, Lieut. Maury presented a communication on the "Winds and Currents of the Ocean," perhaps the first published paper on the results of this all important work which he had been carrying on, under instructions from the Secretary of the Navy. Maury had a great correspondence from all parts of the world. It appears that Professor Coffin was requested by the Association to elaborate his paper for publication, and, an expansion of it was accepted for publication in 1850. In looking over this work, one is amazed at the wonderful zeal which must have characterised Professor Coffin's labours. Maury's charts have come down to us as classics, and the general * Presidential address, Cincinnati meeting, American Meteorological Society, Dec. 29, 1928. conclusions arrived at by him are in wonderful agreement with more = modern charts, such as are in use to-day. Other outstanding scientific men in the early days connected with the American Association, whose assistance in solving problems connected with winds and currents and weather was invoked by the United States Government, were Professor James P. Espy and William C. Redfield. I do not think any present day meteorologist can read Professor Espy's reports without being struck by the wonderful zeal with which he pursued his investigations. In his report to the Secretary of the Navy under date 12th November, 1849, Professor Espy states that he had made over 1100 weather charts, one for each day, for over 3 years; and I surmise, he was really the first meteorologist to thoroughly grasp the significance of the daily weather chart. Professor Espy states his general conclusions which indicate an extraordinary keenness of insight, and in summing up he says: "If even the first generalisation, given below, should be established by a long continuance of observations to be a universal law of all great storms in winter, then, all mariners, in any port on our sea-board, may know from thirty-six to forty-eight hours in advance when a storm of dangerous violence will reach their locality; and thus they need never put to sea when they are in danger of being driven back on the coast by an approaching storm.' And again: "If the theory of which I have given a brief synopsis in another part of this report shall be established by future observations, then rules may be laid down for the mariner at sea, to enable him to know in what direction to sail to suffer as little as possible when in a storm, and in many cases to use the wind in the borders of a storm for the purposes of navigation; for Heaven certainly makes the wind blow for his use, and not for his destruction, provided he only becomes acquainted with its laws. "I speak here as if the theory was not yet established-not that I have any doubt of its truth, but because it is not yet universally acknowledged; and I think it improper to lay down rules for the guidance of the seamen, until the theory is universally admitted to be true." Again he wrote: "I am aware that Redfield, Reid, Piddington, and Thom, who have all examined the phenomena of tropical hurricanes with much care and labor, have come to the conclusion that these hurricanes are round, and are exhibited in the form of great whirlwinds, in which the centrifugal force, by withdrawing air from the central parts of the storm, causes the barometer to fall there, and, by bringing down the cold air of the upper regions, and mingling it with the warm air below, produces cloud. But neither of these theoretical deductions can be correct, for it is acknowledged by them that the air blows inwards spirally, and of course upwards in the middle. Besides, even if it blew outwards from the centrifugal force, and came downwards in the middle, no cloud could be formed by this downward motion; for it is demonstrated by experiment, that the further it descends the more vapor it will be able to contain; so that even if it was saturated above when it descends so far as to occupy one-half the space by increased pressure, it will then be capable of containing more than four times the quantity of vapor which it contained above, in consequence of its increased heat by condensation." It has occurred to me, that were Professor Espy in the flesh today, he would greatly enjoy a discussion of meteorological problems with Sir Napier Shaw, regarding the Air and its Ways, and with Professor Bjerknes regarding the Polar front; I can imagine him remarking to th Professor Bjerknes, "you have confirmed my conclusions arrived at 75 years ago." I wonder, whether after the reports made to the Government in the ct late forties and early fifties there was not a partial waning of the enat thusiasm engendered by the writings of Espy, Redfield, Coffin, et al. el Perhaps, however, it was not so, certainly the full fruition of the organisation outlined by these early investigators could only be achieved when the telegraphic facilities had advanced beyond those existing prior to the late sixties. As a matter of fact I imagine that the preparation of be daily weather charts by the United States Government began about as soon as it became possible to collect the necessary reports by telegraph. It was in this period, however, that William Ferrel began his labours, and between 1856 and 1861 he published many papers concerning the mechanics of the atmosphere and the ocean, and demonstrated the principle that any object moving horizontally on the earth's surface under the influence of its own motion and weight and the centrifugal force due to the earth's rotation experiences a deflexion to the right in Northern Hemisphere; Tracy had already shewn this to be true, but did not cont tinue his studies concerning the physics of the atmosphere, while Ferrel on the other hand, continued his investigations up to 1889 and contributed many most valuable papers. 2 A publication appeared in 1857 which has always excited my admira@tion for its completeness, considering the difficulties which must have been encountered in gathering the data, I mean Blodget's Climatology of the United States; Blodget must have been an indefatigable worker. To me who has been connected with the Canadian Meteorological Service almost from its inception, it is pleasant to review the cordial relations which have existed between our Service and that of the Weather Bureau, from the earliest days, when the exchange of weather reports I was begun. I recall the many letters which my predecessors in office received from Dr. Cleveland Abbe, and I can assure you, it was "some 2 job" to decipher them; Dr. Abbe was an able meteorologist, but his caligraphy was not irreproachable; I feel sure that Cleveland Abbe must be an honoured name in the United States Weather Bureau. When in 1870 he was called by the Chief Signal Officer to be Chief Meteorologist in the Signal Service he undertook a work which he believed would ultimately be a supreme benefit to the country. He had been keenly interested in meteorological problems and now it became his privilege and pleasure to assist in organizing a Meteorological Service which was destined to become the most important in the world. His mathematical attainments enabled him to successfully outline the lines along which the new organization should develop and during a long life he saw the Weather Bureau grow from a very small beginning to an extremely strong Government Service recognized as absolutely essential to commerce and industry and the general life of the people. The whole history of the growth of the United States Weather Bureau, from 1871 to the present, tells of a steady growth in meteorological knowledge, zealously acquired by men with a scientific training. It tells of a steadily increasing usefulness in protecting the commerce and industries of the country until, at the present day, I believe there is no portion of the community which does not recognize in the Bureau a pub lic service, than which there is none other more indispensible to the country. In Canada, a first order Meteorological Observing station had been established in 1840 by the British Government in connection with the Magnetic Observatory which had been asked fotonjointly by the British Association and the Royal Society of England, and this Observatory has been continued without break, until the present time. I find that the Director at Toronto was in frequent correspondence with several American meteorologists during the quarter of a century beginning in 1840, but it was not until the late sixties that active steps were taken to esablish a reseau of observing stations in other parts of the Dominion. By 1868, however, there were a fair number of observers reporting regularly to Toronto. Prior to 1871 all meteorological work was on a voluntary basis, but in that year, the Government made a small grant and Professor G. T. Kingston, the then Director, opened up a correspondence with the Chief Signal Officer in Washington, offering to procure the transmission of weather intelligence from stations in the various Provinces in exchange for some to be sent to Canada by that Officer, and soon it was agreed that reports from six stations should be sent to Washington and in return 15 United States stations should be sent to Toronto. Now in exchange for reports from 40 stations, the United States returns 200. The preparation of a daily synchronous weather chart was begun early in 1873, but the information received in Toronto was quite inadequate to admit of daily forecasts and the issue of storm warnings. However, through the courtesy and good will of the Chief Signal Officer at Washington, warnings of expected storms in Canada were sent to Professor Kingston at Toronto, and forwarded by him to such places as he deemed advisable. By 1876 there were 15 stations reporting three times daily to Toronto, and observing stations, including all classes, numbered 115. Forecasts were first issued during the summer of this year, a chart of the weather with forecasts for the ensuing 24 hours being prepared each morning at 10 o'clock and furnished to the Marine Exchange Board in Toronto for public inspection. After September 1st warnings were first issued from the Central Office without waiting for advice from Washington, and in October the daily forecasts were first printed in the Toronto evening papers. Steady progress continued and in the eighties with the opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway, telegraph reporting stations were opened at various points in the Canadian Northwest, which immediately proved of great value, both to Canada and the United States, as the winter cold waves are usually heralded by reports from these stations. Last year I stated in my address that our meteorological horizon, would during the coming summer be greatly extended, as the Govern ment of Canada intended to establish a chain of stations in the Mac kenzie River basin. Events have not moved as quickly as was expected; two of the wireless stations have been established, Dawson and Mayo, the latter being in lat. 63° and long. 134°. The two are, I believe, in communication with each other, but not with the outside. The Govern ment recently informed me that the equipment is ready for three other stations, Fort Norman, Fort Simpson, and Fort McMurray, which will be put in operation next summer. Further stations on Chesterfield Inlet, Hudson Straits, and Smith Sound, are hoped for. The upper air research by kites carrying instruments and the balloon itsonde has certainly taught us much regarding the structure and the general physics of the atmosphere, and the results obtained at Mt. Weather and outlying stations have been amongst the most important obtained. 184 A name deserving of much honour is that of Dr. A. Lawrence Rotch of Blue Hill, he was truly a pioneer, his work was a labour of love and a worthy co-worker with Teisserenc de Bort, of Paris, whose balloons were perhaps the first to enter the stratosphere. In Canada, upper air reol search was begun in 1911 and is now part of the regular routine work of the Meteorological Service. Ber Last year I called attention to the vast influence which the intensity of the North Pacific Low has on the character of the winters in western iCanada, how that, in seasons when this Low is very deep and far north, it spreads over Yukon, and into the Mackenzie Valley, and appears to prevent the formation of anticyclones, and leads to a prevalence of southerly winds over the Canadian western provinces and northwestern states. It was suggested that an abnormal temperature, and perhaps position of the Japan Current might be the immediate cause of abnormal cyclonic development in this very important centre of action, and the same reasoning would be applicable to the effect of the Gulf Stream on the position and energy of Lows in the North Atlantic. t er ac It is my conviction that the most valuable reports received now by the Meteorological Service are those from Alaska. There is no other group of stations, which in winter at least, provide data so absolutely essential for making forecasts for any period beyond the 36-hour period. I believe these stations are of even greater value than, would be, stations within the Arctic circle on the northern coast-line. It is quite unfortunate that no reports are received from Russia in Europe, and from Siberia. One wonders what has been going on there during this past autumn. There is a gap of 150° of longitude which should be filled. It appears to me that the most important contribution that could now be made to meteorological research to-day, would be the re-establishment of a chain of Siberian reporting stations such as we had up to 1914. In support of my suggestion as to the very great value of the Alaskan stations, I would, in conclusion, like to draw the attention of the members of this Society, to some abnormal meteorological conditions, which have been in evidence during the past autumn, and which are apparently intimately connected with the pressure distribution which has probably led to the mild temperature over the Northern portion of this Continent. Those among us who have had the privilege of inspecting, day by day, the meteorological chart of about half the Northern Hemisphere, have probably all been struck with the importance of the depressions which have been in evidence to the northward of the British Isles and also in the Pacific off the Alaskan coast; while over this continent the pressure has been, for the most part, high, with an ▪ unusual amount of fair weather, and an absence of severe storms. It is seldom that an autumn passes without a few heavy gales on the Great b |