Abstract
I HAVE now to direct attention to “Atlantic Storms,—Whence they come and where they go?” All storms that cross the Atlantic Ocean to the coasts of Europe come from the equatorial zone of the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean, or are developed from depressions on the American continent by peculiar operations of the law of atmospheric movements. The most prolific source of storms for the field of observation just sketched is the Pacific, but all the disturbances coming thence do not necessarily originate there. As I hare stated, storms pass over the Pacific from the Asiatic as they do from the American continent over the Atlantic, but generally in more northerly latitudes. Their number cannot be accurately determined until a similar system of observation to that now in operation from the West Indies to Newfoundland is organised on the Eastern coast of Asia. As it is we are dependent on observations made along the Pacific coasts of the United States, British territory, Mexico, and the Central American States, for information regarding the arrival of storms from the westward on this continent. Fortunately the observers are now numerous enough to constitute an effective guard against the possibility of even a small storm centre passing inland unnoticed. These coast observations furnish reliable evidence of the fact that storms arrive on this continent from the Pacific much in the same manner as Atlantic storms reach Europe. It is my purpose to trace as closely as possible the movements of the various types of storms that originate in or cross the Atlantic from west to east, and I will begin with those whose first appearance is observed on the Pacific coast of the United States.
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COLLINS, J. THE AMERICAN STORM WARNINGS1. Nature 18, 31–34 (1878). https://doi.org/10.1038/018031a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/018031a0