Extended Abstract (372K)3.1
The 1883 Holden tornado warning system and its applications today
Timothy Coleman, Univ. of Alabama, Huntsville, AL
In the four years before the United States Army Signal Corps weather program banned the use of the word “tornado” in its forecasts starting in 1886, Sgt. John P. Finley headed up a program to document and study local storms, including tornadoes. There was also some discussion to develop a system to forecast the conditions favorable for tornadoes over large areas, and to issue more localized warnings for imminent tornadoes.
Upon examination of Finley's findings that most tornadoes approached a town from the southwest at speeds near “1 mile in 2 minutes”, or 30 mph, and in view of the casualties occurring due to tornadoes, Edward S. Holden proposed a local tornado warning system in Science in 1883. He felt that a system that could provide the residents of a town even five minutes warning could save lives. The system he proposed was not only fascinating, but three different aspects of it are still, either directly or indirectly, in use today.
Holden proposed that a telegraph wire be erected around the southwest side of a town, then through the town. Each home would contain a bell apparatus connected to the wire, and the telegraph wire could also be connected to a cannon. An apparatus would be connected to the telegraph wire to the southwest side of town that would break at some given wind speed, breaking the circuit. This would then cause the bells in homes to ring, or the cannon to fire, warning of the approach of high winds and possibly a tornado. This system will be described in depth.
The idea of electrical equipment being broken indicating high winds is still used by some National Weather Service offices today. A “major line lockout”, or interruption of service along large power lines, if reported by the utility company to the National Weather Service, often results in the issuance of a tornado warning. Also, the bell ringing in each home to warn of a tornado in 1883 was almost a century ahead of NOAA Weather Radio, a similar device which is very successful today. Finally, the firing of a cannon to warn large areas is similar to the tornado warning sirens of today.
Session 3, Severe weather and historical impacts: tornadoes and hurricanes
Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 3:30 PM-5:00 PM, 211
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