I don’t know much about weather – but I know what I like.
I was woken up very early today by a tremendous crash of rolling thunder and then lay there thinking that it would be a good day to just stay in bed. Recognizing that staying in bed was not an option, I switched to thinking about thunder.
I know rolling thunder is a real thing, caused by the thunder echoing back from other storms in the area, but perhaps there are other kinds of thunder?
We’ve all heard about various types of lightning (chain lightning, ground lightning, lightning in a bottle), but are those real things and are there more?
Then there’s the rain (by this time it was raining cats, dogs AND buckets). Are there different kinds of rain, scientifically speaking? And what about the Inuit’s 50 words for snow? Certainly, there are a bunch of cold weather precipitation words in English (snow, sleet, wintry mix – also known as insta-slush!) but can we get close to 50?
All that precipitation comes from clouds, and I have never managed to remember all the types of clouds – are thunderstorms associated with cumulonimbus clouds (the only kind of cloud that comes to mind and a fun word to say) or some other cloud structure?
Interesting questions and I obviously don’t know all that much about weather!
At this point the alarm goes off and it’s time to do some concrete weather thinking. I have hit that time of day when everyone has to think about the weather and decide what to wear (how cold is it now/ how warm will it get?); what to carry (to umbrella or not to umbrella?); and what to do (will it rain on my parade?).
But once I get to the library, I think I need to brush up on my weather knowledge – after all, it’s there every single day and with our huge windows we have a front-row seat for the show! What’s your favorite weather? – let me know down in the comments.
Here’s a start to our weather education:
Weather 101 gives you the basics on weather, from blue skies to hail to dust storms, with information on the science of how weather works, how to predict the weather in your area, how to be ready for natural disasters, and how climate change is affecting weather patterns across the world.
Thunder & Lightning: Weather Past, Present, Future
Focusing on the intricate nature of the world around us, as well as the personal relationship we all have to the weather, a National Book Award finalist and visionary writer combining personal stories with history, interviews, scientific research and full-color photos explores the transformative power of weather.
Looks at the how's and why's behind the planet's most devastating natural events, including hurricanes, floods, tidal waves, tornadoes, and heat waves.
Windswept: The Story of Wind and Weather
Although sometimes enormously destructive, wind is also one of the elements that make life on Earth possible. Without it, the intense solar radiation beating down on the tropics would have no way of escaping. Wind warms the higher latitudes and moderates the equatorial regions, and carries evaporated moisture from oceans to land, where the moisture descends as rain. Wind sculpted the rivers that nurtured the earliest of human civilizations. Even hurricanes are an essential part of the planet's self-regulatory system.
Guide to Weather
A practical guide to observing, measuring and understanding weather.
Meteorology is a science that gets widespread exposure on television, radio and newspapers, as well as being one of the most frequent topics of conversation. Best of all, it is a science that anyone can dabble in on a daily basis.
An introductory guide to understanding weather and its effect on our lives.
It is human nature to try to understand, predict and control the weather that affects crops, wildlife...even one's mood. The world's favorite topic of conversation is also the subject of increasing scientific study.
El Niño in History: Storming Through the Ages
Cesar Caviedes provides a comprehensive historical account of El Nino, the fascinating and disruptive weather phenomenon that has affected weather cycles all over the globe for thousands of years. Combining scientific accuracy with readable presentation, he brings together all existing information, references and clues about past El Nino occurrences and their impact on political, military, social, economic and environmental history. This sweeping demonstration of the impact of climatic fluctuation on human history should be fascinating to the scientific community as well as to the general public. From the extraordinary discovery of Easter Island and Pizarro's conquest of the Incas to the defeat of both Napoleon and Hitler in Russia and the sinking of the Titanic, Caviedes shows how this enigmatic phenomenon has swayed the course of history and human affairs.
A guide to uncovering the mysteries of weather using close observation - decoding the ever-shifting alchemy of heat, water, and air to understand how it shapes our cities, woods, and hills.
Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and Other Scenes from a Climate-changed Planet
From one of America's foremost experts on weather and climate change and a senior research scientist with Climate Central, comes this work, a book that predicts what different parts of the world will look like in the year 2050 if current levels of carbon emissions are maintained.
The Weather Detective: Rediscovering Nature's Secret Signs
Demonstrates how to decipher nature's secret signs by studying the weather, exploring the relationship between weather and natural phenomena.
China Lake: A Journey into the Contradicted Heart of a Global Climate Catastrophe
Barret Baumgart's literary debut presents a haunting and deeply personal portrait of civilization poised at the precipice, a picture of humanity caught between its deepest past and darkest future. In the fall of 2013, during the height of California's historic drought, Baumgart toured the remote military base, NAWS China Lake, near Death Valley, California. His mother, the survivor of a recent stroke, decided to come along for the ride. She hoped the alleged healing power of the base's ancient Native American hot springs might cure her crippling headaches. Baumgart sought to debunk claims that the military was spraying the atmosphere with toxic chemicals to control the weather. What follows is a discovery that threatens to sever not only the bonds between mother and son but between planet Earth and life itself.
Air Apparent: How Meteorologists Learned to Map, Predict, and Dramatize Weather
Weather maps have made our atmosphere visible, understandable, and at least moderately predictable. In Air Apparent, Mark Monmonier traces debates among scientists eager to unravel the enigma of storms and global change, explains strategies for mapping the upper atmosphere and forecasting disaster, and discusses efforts to detect and control air pollution. Fascinating in its scope and detail, Air Apparent makes us take a second look at the weather map, an image that has been, and continues to be, central to our daily lives.
- by Meg Baker, West Windsor Branch
when i was younger, i loved major rain storms. now, as a home owner, not so much :(
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