tween east and west in the southern Marshalls, The easterly winds extend to great heights, reaching in some instances from the surface to 60,000 feet. Fluctuations in the easterlies are due to the passage of atmospheric waves traveling from east to west at a speed of approximately twelve knots, Thus the eastern Marshalls are af- fected by the wind shifts before the western Marshalls, Some of these waves become transformed into cyclonic circulations which show up on wind maps as vortices or eddies, similar, though on a larger scale, to the eddies seen on the surface of rivers, In contrast with the just described upper cyclonic situation in which cyclones have their origin in the high atmosphere, the transforma- tion from wave to vortex for this situation occurs first in the lower atmosphere and gradually extends upward. In general, bad weather is associated with the west-southwest and southeast winds accompanying the rear portions of the vortex, of the waves from which the vortices originate, is associated with the southeast winds, This is also true The worst weather There is a tendency for this weather to appear in the form of long lines of cumulo-nimbus cloud bearing striking resemblance to the cold fronts of high latitudes; but they are more numerous than the latter within an ‘equivalent area, Many vortices are quite weak; that is to say, maximum wind speeds—-usually found in the southeasterlies--do not exceed thirty knots, But there is always the likelihood of a4 vor- tex intensifying suddenly to become a typhoon, The best known ex- amples were Typhoons GEORGIA and JOAN which intensified over the 169 _