The day book. [volume], January 06, 1914, LAST EDITION, Image 5

About The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917

Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

                
WEATHER PROPHET NEVER MISTAKES
Santa Clara, Cal., Jan. ,6:-Sun-spots
are the Que for a perfect weath
er" science, says Father Jerome S.
Ricard of Santa Clara University,
bolsteriing his prediction by a record
Father Jerome Ricard.
for accurate storm prognostication
, . i o 0ivtu una iUo repute.
Claiming that he has not made a
mistake in the past seven years,
Father Ricard contends that the sun
presents a perfect weather schedule
on its face to he read by anyone with
a telescope and a guide of past obser
vations. "A storm," declares this genial,
studious priest of 65, "never comes
without its accompanying sun-spot.
The two always go together.
"These 'spots' are whorls in the
sun's atmosphere, traveling from
east to west around the orb. For the
past 15 years I have observed that
whenever one of these spots appears
in certain position, a storm enters
the Pacific coast.
"Always they produce a low baro
metrical pressure up around the
Aleutian Islands and the north coast
of. Europe, traveling southward
across the western reaches of both
continents.
"In winter these traveling low
pressure air areas' gather moisture,
and it rains or snows. In summer the
storms occur just the same, accord
ing to the position of the sun-spots,
but their manifestation may only be
wind, excessive heat or clouds, with
out rain.
"My .critics have said I miss the
rain. I don't miss. The criticism is
based on the popular conception of
storm, which differs from the mete
orological definition. 1
"If I forecast ten storms a month,
ten appear. I have not known it to
fail in complete observations since
1906.
"But whether or not there will be,
rain in the storm I am not as yet
able to predict accurately.
"Many a determined' storm comes'
to grief because it is sidetracked or
entirely broken up by an antagonistic
current in great air battles.
"The problem now is to solve why
storms take a given track,"and here,'
too, I believe the solution lies in sun-i
spots in their position, size and
form. This will take the closest ob-'
servation for years. 1
"But I believe we are on the track