Gaylene Faige, age 12, of Waterville, N. Y:; for her question:
The wind and the weather are world travelers. A hurricane hatched in the West Indies may rage along a path through New England, A gentle high pressure area born in the Rockies may waft its way to the Atlantic. A stormy low pressure may blow clear around the globe, The weather over New York today may have been over the prairies last week. The forecaster estimates the travel plans of the weather. He charts the path of a distant storm and figures where it is likely to be tomorrow.
This calls for information from a wide network of weather stations. The weather is a global affair and the forecaster needs facts from far and near. The newest weather watcher is a high flying satellite which sends back pictures of the skies all around the world. In the future, such information will be used to form a global picture of the weather.
Meantime, the Weather Bureau gathers hourly reports from some 400 airports and data from more than 9,000 weather stations. Four times a day, weather balloons soar aloft from 125 stations and countless ships at sea radio news every few hours, The Coast Guard, the Air Force, the Navy and the Civil Aeronautics Authority send in a stream of data. The Weather Bureau also exchanges news with distant countries through the World Meteorlogical Organization.
This weather information gives the temperature, the speed and the direction of the wind, the cloud formations and air pressure. It may also include exact rain or snow fall and the humidity. These details are placed on a map. A weather expert then links up certain points having perhaps the same air pressure,
Gradually, the weather map takes shape, a picture of high and low pressure areas over a vast area.
The forecaster estimates the speed and direction of each air mass and when it will reach a certain place. He may note a cold front on its way down from the north or a warm wet wind wafting up from southern seas, He can figure when and where two conflicting air masses will meet and declare stormy warfare.
Most of North America is swept b y the prevailing westerlies,These winds tend to carry our weather from the west towards the east but this orderly parade is upset by all sorts of intrusions, Hurricanes howl up from the south, icy blizzards shiver down from the north. Masses of warm and cool air meet and mingle, storms wear themselves out. All these factors must be estimated in the nationwide weather forecast, Mountains, lakes and seashores often change the weather over small areas and make local conditions.
The Weather Bureau gives us a 24 hour forecast which is 85 per cent accurate and a 1 2 hour flight forecast which is 95 per cent accurate, Longer though less detailed forecasts are also issued. One predicts the weather for the next 36 hours, another for the next five days and one is a general outlook for the next 30 days, With time and experience, our weather satellites will make these long range forecasts more detailed.