4¢ operations in the Marshall Islands. To be less general, however, there has accrued enough meteorological experience and data from the Marshalls to permit certain ten~ tative statements with regard to the climatology of the Marshall Islands for the months of January through May. During this period-- the so-called "dry” or "trade season—northeasterly winds blow with great persistence in the lower levels, Overlying the northeaster- lies or trade winds, the aloft winds tend to become westerly. Both the trade winds and the higher, predominantly westerly winds are subject to cyclonic circulations or disturbances in the form of ed- dies, vortices, or minor perturbations; and many of the variations in weather over the Marshalls are attributable to these disturbances, In the lower levels, the eddies ar2 most intense along the equatorward edge of the trade circulation (equator to 10° north in the Northern Hemisphere). These low-level eddies are rapidly damped te the north and rarely pass directly over the northern Marshalls. Nevertheless, their formation, movement, and decay contribute tosignificant day-to-day changes in the weather of the Mniwetok-Bikini area, For the purpose of being yet more specific, aspects of me= teorological experience in the Marshalls for the months of January through May may be noted here, A. Weather, The term "dry" for this season is relative only. Small, widely scattered showers falling from the prevalent "trade" cumulus clouds are nearly always within sight of Mniwetok and Bikini, The