Abstract
THE remark of Mr. G. J. Symons in NATURE, December 26, that it seems to him “more likely that the effect of cyclone is simply to alter the locality of deposition” of rain, suggests a doubt whether the relation between rain and wind is sufficiently considered. The amount of evaporation must always be the chief element in the question of rainfall, and the total evaporation of any period must be much affected by the amount of wind. Evaporation may go on rapidly in still air, but it is almost necessarily increased if the air is moving. Storms over the sea not only bring moving air over a wet surface, but they also very largely increase the area of that surface by creating waves and foam. The evaporation during a cyclone may be presumed to be enormous. Wind in fact is almost always drying, even when rain is falling.
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MOTT, A. Periodicity of Rainfall. Nature 7, 161 (1873). https://doi.org/10.1038/007161a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/007161a0
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