Solar Variation and the Weather

Abstract

MR. CLAYTON'S representation in NATURE of December 9 that, apart from seasonal and diurnal changes, the “chief, if not the only,” cause of weather change lies in solar variations overlooks an important source of variation in the atmosphere which could not be allowed for on the lines of his investigation. No one will dispute that if Mr. Clayton finally substantiates his correlation results, which have been severely criticised in America by Dr. C. F. Marvin (Monthly Weather Review, March, 1920) they will be of great value in forecasting deviations from the normal of particular elements, such as temperature and rainfall, in coming seasons. But they will not help us to foresee the actual sequence of atmospheric phases embodying the combination of all elements which we call weather; and it is the precise sequence of changes, not the departure of one or more elements from normal during a given period, which, after all, is the primary aim in weather forecasting.