Show Plan to a Extend x en 1 1 Weather Weather Dope Week-in-Advance Week Service Is Sought by Bureau in New Technique f WASHINGTON Weathermen Weathermen are working out a new technique which m may y give accurate forecasts of sun wind and rain a week in advance Then farmers industrialists va va- va- va and others who must figure figure figure fig fig- ure on the weather could plan to escape or minimize the hazards of the elements Present forecasts cover cover cover cov cov- er a a. hour 36 period The successful development of range long-range forecasts was a goal set by President Roosevelt when in 1938 he appointed F. F W. W derfer one of the navys navy's outstanding outstanding outstanding ing meteorologists as chief of t the e eweather weather bureau The uThe value of such range long forecasts to agriculture and industry would be inestimably large larg probably probably probably proba proba- bly running into millions of dollars annually said He said many industries air lines waterpower waterpower waterpower wa wa- ter-power ter plants and commodity traders seek to fill fiU the gap now by employing their own meteorologists or by subscribing to private weather forecasting services Aid to Industry With advance knowledge supplied by range long-range forecasts power companies companies companies com com- for example could better utilize run-off run water to operate their generators electric light companies would be able to spot emergency crews in areas of anticipated storms grain traders tipped on whether to expect short or bumper crops could decide whether to buy or sell with a greater feeling of safety and farmers few of whom I Iare are financially able to buy private forecasts could better gauge their plowing planting and cultivating operations City folks could plan week-end week trips to the country or to the seashore seashore seashore sea sea- shore without having those plans upset upset up up- set at the last minute by an unhappy unhappy unhappy un un- un- un happy and unforeseen change in the weather range Longer-range forecasts would give millions living in river valleys more time to prepare for floods They also would increase the effectiveness of the bureaus bureau's special warn frost ing service in the citrus fruit and truck farming areas of the South and the Pacific coast by giving growers more time to place smudge and other heating apparatus in orchards orchards or or- and to gather fruit which might otherwise be frozen Accuracy Is Expected If private meteorologists are able to make forecasts for several days in advance why doesn't the weather bureau provide such service for the general public It is possible he said for private private private vate agencies to make forecasts farther farther farther far far- ther into the future than the bureau even at the risk of errors without being subjected to the criticism that would befall the weather bureau when it went wrong People naturally expect reports put out by their government to be accurate he said Thus the responsibility responsibility responsibility re re- re- re of the weather bureau is much greater than that of others who might engage in forecasting A system now being developed for expressing the atmospheric pressure of the North American continent in terms of an index may make present present present pres pres- ent methods sufficiently accurate to permit longer forecasts by the bu bu- bu- bu reau Research workers have found a definite correlation between the trend of this pressure index and the resultant weather patterns over the entire North American hemisphere |