NO. 5 SOLAR CONSTANT AND TEMPERATURE — ARCTOWSKI 47

The maps

of differences of altitude

from

day to

day

are

more

interesting.

A

north-southaxis of negatives appears

on

the 26th-27th

from Bismarck

to ElPaso, onthe27th-28th

from

Billings toPhoenix,

on

the 29th-30th

from

Billings to El Paso, on the 30th-3ist

from

Sault Ste.

Marie

to

San

Antonio.

Axis

of positive differences: on the iSth-ipth

from

Lakehurst to Phoenix,

on

the 2ist-22d

from

Sault Ste.

Marie

to

San

Antonio, on the 22d-23d

from

Lakehurst or Buffalo to El Paso, on the 23d-24th

from

Charleston to

San

Antonio, on the 25th-27th

from

Sault Ste.

Marie

to

Miami, on

the 29th-30th

from

Minneapolis or Sault Ste.

Marie

to

San

Antonio.

The map

of differences between the i8th

and

the 20th

(maximum

to

minimum

of solar radiation intensity) is of particular interest as

showing

a possible relationshipwith the solar-constant changes.

It

shows

an axis of positive values extending

from

Lakehurst (-I-0.76) to

San Antonio

(

+

1.04).

Then,

north of it, an axis of negative differences: Buffalo —0.78,

Omaha

—0.68,

Denver

—0.75,

Oakland —0.77;

^{north of that again positivevalues for}

Spokane and Medford.

There

is a similar distribution of differences of altitudes between the figures of the 20th

and 22d

(min.-max. of radiation) ^: positives south-east, Atlanta +1.19,

Miami +0.76;

negatives, Lakehurst

and

St. Louis.

Then

occurs anaxisofpositive differencesextending

from

Sault Ste.

Marie (+4.50)

^across Minneapolis _(-I-2.89)

and Den-

ver _(-I-1.20) to

Phoenix

(-I-0.38),

and

again a negative difference at

Medford.

For

the 226.-2^6. differences, there is a similar distribution of figures^: negatives south-east, positive values of increase of altitude

from

Buffalo

and

Lakehurstto El

Paso and

Phoenix, negatives again extending

from

Sault Ste.

Marie (—4.85)

to Boise

(—0.56)

^and,

finally, to the north of this belt,

+0.21

at

Bismarck and

-I-O.19 at Spokane.

These

facts

seem

to

show

thatthe effectof the solar-constant vari- ations

upon

the altitudes at

which

temperatures of

—50°

are reached (beneath the lower tropopause) is registered in

forms

of

waves

of higher

and

lower altitudes.

The

day-to-day data of temperatures show, therefore, a similar effect of action

and

reaction to that observed for the differences of pressure,

from month

tomonth,

due

totheannualvariation oftemper- ature,

on

the earth's surface over Asia (fig. 23).

Intercrossing of

waves

of temperature increase

and

decrease are also

shown

on the

maps

of differences for the dates 23d-24th, 24th- 25th

and

28th-29th.

4

It seems that the

problem

to be solved

now

is to find out whether these changes in the altitude-extent of the troposphere, of tempera- tures above

—50°,

are dictated

from below

or

from

above.

15.

THE THERMOTERONS OF OCTOBER

17-27, 1939

The

temperature changes

from

day to day are never similar all

over the United States.

As

already remarked, the

maps

of isallo-

therms

show

elongated areas of increase

and

decrease of temperature.

These

thermoterons,oranoteronsof positivetemperature changesand katoterons of temperaturedecrease, display intercrossings of progress- ing

waves on

themaps.

The

attempt to trace similar

maps

of thermoterons for different altitudes

showed

that the available

American

upper-air data are just sufficient to search for the relationships that

may

exist

between

upper stratospheric or troposphericaltoterons,

and

thethermoterons observed attheearth's surface.

Taking

allthetemperature changesin

24

^hours, tabulated on the

U.

S.

Weather Maps, maps

of isallotherms

were drawn and

at least those of October 17 to 27, 1939, should be described.'"

But

let us

now

restrict the discussion to those of October 20

and

21 reproduced

below

(figs. 24, 25).

The map

of the 20th, correspondingtoa

minimum

of the intensity of solar radiation,doesnot

show

a

marked predominance

ofthe extent of katoteron areas, but at the centers of the terons the negative dif- ferences exceed the positive.

For

instance:

Grand

Rapids, Mich.,

-31°

F., Concord,

N.

H.,

+21,

Fargo,

N.

Dak., -^24. Inthe

West:

Havre,

Mont, —19°,

Helena, Mont., _-f8. Flagstaff, Ariz.,

-13.

Redding, Calif.,

and

Abilene, Tex., -t-io.

Therefore, taking the entire area of the United States as well as the values of differences, a decrease of the

mean

temperature is

most

probable.

The map

of October 21, corresponding to an increase of the solar constant, on the contrary,

shows

an unmistakable increase of temper- ature; atthe centers^:

+23°

F. inBuffalo, against

—

18 for

Concord

;

in thewestern States:

+22

at Havre,

—10

at Portland

and Modena.

A

comparison with the weather

maps

of the 20th

and

21st leads to

many

questions that cannot be satisfactorily answered.

On

^the 20than axis of ahigh extends

from Lake

Erie tothe Gulf of Mexico, anaxisof

low

pressuresextends

from Winnepeg

to Sioux City

and

Amarillo, Tex., and, in the western States, isobars

show

a

^They ^{will be} studied in detail in another publication.

NO. ₅

SOLAR CONSTANT AND TEMPERATURE — ARCTOWSKI

₄₉ north-west south-east elongation of a high.

Wind

directions give

no

satisfactory explanation to the

map

of isallotherms.

On

the 21St an axis of high pressures extends

from Nova

Scotia toTexas,

and

anotherinthe

West from Oregon

toTexas.

A

northern lov^ extends

from

Sault Ste.

Marie and Duluth

to Tennessee

and

Kansas.

Such

pressure distributions give

no

satisfactory explanation of the

maps

of thermoterons for October 19th to 20th

and

20thto 21st, nor

do

the "weather conditions" as given

on

the daily weather

maps

of these days.

OCT.20. 1939 TEnP.CMANGEIN24h.

Fig.24.

—

Temperaturedifferences,October 19-20, 1939.

The maps

ofterons

show

a striking differencebetween thewestern

and

the eastern States.

On

the second

map

(fig. 25)

we

notice a narrow, very elongated area of decrease of temperature, extending

from New

Orleans, or

from

Mexico, to Portland, Oreg.,

and

farther north. This is the katoteron of the Great

Lakes

of the preceding

map

(fig. 24). It is not possible to explain such a

narrow

strip of negatives by

modern

theories,

by

admitting that there is a polar air

mass

in connection with the high, extending

from Nova

Scotia

down

to

Corpus

Christi

on

the weather

map

of October 21, nor the very elongated area of increase of temperature, observed

from

north of the Great

Lakes down

to Mexico, because farther in a northwestern direction

we

have again a

wave

of negatives

and

positives.

But

the last northwestern anoteron has its axis turned

toward

the west, an axis similar to those of the southwestern States.

There we

have differences in plus at

Los

Angeles, Phoenix, El Paso,

and

nega- tives at

Modena,

Santa Fe,

and

Abilene; then again an area of in- crease of temperature extending

from

Salt

Lake

City to

Oklahoma

City; finallyanother axis of negative values

from

Portland, Oreg.,to Pocatello,

and

farther east,

from Denver

to

Kansas

City. It is as though, in October,

and

because of the seasonal decrease of temper- ature, the increasing pressures over the

North American

continent

would

be the cause of the formation of temperature waves, in plus

and

in minus, advancing

from

the northwest

toward

the southeast

Fig.25.

—

Temperaturedififerences, October20-21, 1939.

and from

the southwest or the south

toward

the northeast or the north. If such is really the case, as comparisons with other

maps

suggest, the steps in fall of pressure

would

be theresult ofacounter- action against an exaggerated continental seasonal increase of pres- sure, just as it is in central

Asia

(fig. 23).

But

all this appertains to the lowest part of the troposphere, possibly the practosphere only.

What

of the changes of temperature, as they are recorded on figure 25?

Should

they be exclusively the result of the interchange of tropical

and

polar air masses or is there another

way

to explain suchcontradictory terons as those of October 21, terons extending practically northeast-southwest

and

northwest- southeast?