CHAPTER XIV.
CORRELATION OF CYCLONES AND ANTICYCLONES AND THEIR
TEMPERATURES.
A. Cyclones.—It follows from the two preceding exercises that some fairly definite distribution of temperature, depending upon the wind direction, should exist around areas of low and high pressure. Try to predict, on the basis of the results obtained in Chapters XII and XIII, what this relation of temperatures and cyclones and anticyclones is. Then work out the relation independently of your prediction, by studying actual cases obtained from the weather maps, as follows:—
Fig. 50.
Prepare a sheet of tracing paper as shown in Fig. 50. The diameter of the circle should be sufficiently large to include within the circle the average area covered by a cyclone on the weather maps. Place the tracing paper, properly divided in accordance with the figure, over a well-defined area of low pressure on a weather map, centering and orienting it carefully.
Take the temperature at the station which lies nearest the center of the figure as the standard. Notice the temperatures at all the other stations which fall within the limits of the circle, and mark down at the proper places on the tracing paper, the + or - departures of these local temperatures from the standard temperature. Thus, if the standard is 37°, and a station has a temperature of 46°, enter +9° at the proper place on your tracing paper. Again, if a certain station has 24°, enter -13° at the proper place on the paper. Continue this process until your paper has all of its divisions well filled. It is best to select all the maps used in this investigation from the same month, for in that case the data are more comparable than if different months are taken. When a sufficient number of examples has been obtained, find the average departure (+ or -) of the temperatures in each division of the tracing from the central standard temperature. Express these averages graphically by means of a wind rose, as in the last exercise.
Another Method.—The above correlation may be investigated by means of another method, as follows:—
Prepare a piece of tracing paper by drawing an N. and S. line upon it, and placing a dot at the center of the line. Lay the paper over an area of low pressure on any weather map, centering and orienting it properly, as in the previous exercises. Trace off the isotherms which are near the center of low pressure. Repeat this process with several maps, selecting different ones from those used in the first part of this exercise. Formulate a rule for the observed distribution of temperature, and determine the reasons for this distribution. Note carefully any effects of the cyclone upon the temperature gradient.