Contents at a Glance

Introduction...... 1

Part 1: What in the World Is Weather?...... 7 CHAPTER 1: Forecasts and Forecasting...... 9

CHAPTER 2: Behind the Air Wars...... 37

CHAPTER 3: Land, Sea, and Precipitation: Is This Any Way to Run a Planet?. . . . 61

Part 2: Braving the Elements...... 79 CHAPTER 4: Blowing in the Winds...... 81

CHAPTER 5: Getting Cirrus...... 103

CHAPTER 6: Climate Is What You Expect; Weather Is What You Get...... 125

CHAPTER 7: The Greatest Storms On Earth...... 147

Part 3: Some Seasonable Explanations...... 169 CHAPTER 8: The Ways of Winter...... 171

CHAPTER 9: Twists and Turns of Spring...... 201

CHAPTER 10: Extremely Summer...... 233

CHAPTER 11: Falling for Autumn ...... 255

Part 4: The Special Effects...... 263 CHAPTER 12: Taking Care of the Air...... 265

CHAPTER 13: Up in the Sky! Look! ...... 285

CHAPTER 14: Try This at Home...... 301

Part 5: The Part of Tens...... 315 CHAPTER 15: Ten (or So) Biggest U.S. Weather Disasters of the 20th Century . . . 317

CHAPTER 16: Ten (or So) Worst World Weather Disasters of the 20th Century. . . 325

CHAPTER 17: Ten Crafty Critters...... 331

CHAPTER 18: Ten Grand Old Weather Proverbs...... 337

Appendix:COPYRIGHTED Internet Resource MATERIAL Directory...... 343

Index...... 351

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INTRODUCTION ...... 1 About This Book...... 1 Foolish Assumptions...... 2 How This Book Is Organized ...... 2 Part 1: What in the World Is Weather?...... 3 Part 2: Braving the Elements...... 3 Part 3: Some Seasonable Explanations ...... 4 Part 4: The Special Effects ...... 4 Part 5: The Part of Tens ...... 4 Appendix...... 5 Icons Used in This Book...... 5 Where to Go from Here...... 6

PART 1: WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WEATHER? ...... 7

CHAPTER 1: Forecasts and Forecasting...... 9 Forecasting Prophets ...... 10 Making a Forecast...... 11 Take what is happening now ...... 13 . . . And add a little future...... 14 “We Interrupt This Program . . .”...... 16 Water, Water, Everywhere ...... 18 Flavors of Forecasts...... 18 Agricultural forecasts ...... 19 Aviation forecasts ...... 19 Marine forecasts...... 20 River forecasts...... 20 Fire forecasts...... 21 Keywords to the Wise...... 21 Precipitation...... 21 Temperature ...... 23 Temperature’s relative humidity...... 24 Heat index ...... 25 Wind ...... 27 Wind chill ...... 28 Sky cover...... 28 Tools of the Trade...... 29 The instruments...... 29 The instrument carriers...... 30

Table of Contents v

02_9781119806776-ftoc.indd v Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in December 11, 2020 2:18 PM Doppler radar...... 32 A fleet of satellites...... 33 Computers...... 35 How to Read a Weather Map...... 36

CHAPTER 2: Behind the Air Wars...... 37 I Don’t Like Your Latitude! ...... 37 Where the Armies Mass...... 39 Winter air masses...... 41 Summer air masses...... 42 News from the Fronts...... 42 Cold fronts...... 43 Warm fronts...... 43 Stationary fronts...... 44 Occluded fronts...... 44 Here Comes the Sun...... 45 Moving Sun’s energy...... 45 Looking absolutely radiant!...... 46 A contagious convection...... 49 The Big Picture...... 50 Long live the revolution!...... 50 Spreading the beam...... 51 Tilting at the seasons ...... 53 Spin of the day...... 55 Putting on Airs...... 56 Do I smell gas?...... 56 How high the sky?...... 59

CHAPTER 3: Land, Sea, and Precipitation: Is This Any Way to Run a Planet?...... 61 Water’s Stirring Role...... 62 Ocean to atmosphere...... 64 Atmosphere to surface...... 65 Surface to ocean...... 66 Rain to Rime: Forms of Precipitation...... 67 Rain...... 68 Snow...... 69 Hail...... 70 Graupel (snow pellets) ...... 70 Sleet (ice pellet)...... 71 Rime...... 71 Dew to Fog: Forms of Condensation ...... 72 Dew...... 72 Frozen dew...... 72 Frost...... 73 Fog: A grounded cloud...... 73

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02_9781119806776-ftoc.indd vi Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in December 11, 2020 2:18 PM Weather and the Land ...... 75 A lopsided planet...... 75 Radiating hot and cold...... 75 Air’s roller-coaster ride...... 76 Weather and the Ocean...... 77

PART 2: BRAVING THE ELEMENTS...... 79

CHAPTER 4: Blowing in the Winds...... 81 Taking the Pressure...... 82 A World of Wind and Pressure ...... 83 That muggy Bermuda High ...... 85 That cool Pacific High...... 85 The winter lows...... 87 Bending the Winds ...... 87 Taking the pressure — it’s a gas...... 87 Here’s the rub — total friction...... 89 A perfectly straight curveball...... 91 The Winds Aloft...... 94 The Westerlies...... 94 The Jet Streams...... 96 Polar jet stream...... 96 Subtropical jet stream...... 97 Low-level jets...... 97 The Tradewinds...... 97 A Scattering of Winds...... 98 Coastal breezes...... 99 Valley and mountain breezes ...... 99 Asian monsoon ...... 99 Southwestern monsoon...... 101 Chinooks...... 101 Santa Anas...... 101 Haboobs...... 102

CHAPTER 5: Getting Cirrus ...... 103 Making Clouds: The Heavy Lifting...... 104 Heating up ...... 104 Crowd control ...... 105 Frontal assaults...... 105 Over the top...... 105 A Question of Stability ...... 108 Clouds by Class ...... 109 High clouds...... 110 Middle clouds...... 113 Low clouds...... 115

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02_9781119806776-ftoc.indd vii Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in December 11, 2020 2:18 PM Vertical clouds...... 118 Special clouds...... 119 Clouds of the stratosphere ...... 122

CHAPTER 6: Climate Is What You Expect; Weather Is What You Get...... 125 Climate or Weather?...... 126 Climates of the World...... 126 What Makes Climates Different?...... 128 Climate and the Seasons...... 130 A climate of mystery...... 130 “It’s the ocean, stupid”...... 132 Pacific Body Parts ...... 132 The Warm Pool ...... 133 The Cold Tongue...... 134 El Niño, His Cool Sister, and Their Kissing Cousins...... 134 Is El Niño a bad boy?...... 135 The El Niño look...... 135 La Niña, the contrary sister...... 138 The La Niña look ...... 139 Climate’s kissing cousins ...... 140 Climates of the Past ...... 141 Long warm ages...... 142 Short ice ages...... 143 Medieval warm period...... 143 Little ice age...... 145 A warming trend...... 146

CHAPTER 7: The Greatest Storms On Earth...... 147 Breeding Grounds...... 148 Mysteries ...... 150 Birth of a Hurricane...... 151 Disturbance to depression...... 152 Storm to hurricane ...... 152 Bad big weapons...... 153 Storm surge...... 153 Winds...... 154 Tornadoes...... 155 Flooding rainfall...... 155 Signals of the seasons ...... 156 Cruise’n for a Bruise’n...... 159 Satellites...... 159 Aircraft...... 160

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02_9781119806776-ftoc.indd viii Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in December 11, 2020 2:18 PM Radar...... 160 Computer models...... 160 Coming Ashore . . . But Where?...... 161 The Big Picture...... 161 Tracking the track ...... 162 In Harm’s Way ...... 163 Barrier islands...... 164 Playing it safe...... 165 The overwarning problem...... 165 Hurricane Force...... 166

PART 3: SOME SEASONABLE EXPLANATIONS...... 169

CHAPTER 8: The Ways of Winter...... 171 Winter’s “Official” First Day...... 172 It’s a Temperature Thing ...... 173 Coast to Coast...... 174 Storms of Winter...... 177 A storm is born ...... 178 Working out the wrinkles...... 179 Catching the waves...... 182 Riding the conveyor belt...... 182 Where They Come From...... 184 Where They Go ...... 185 Name That Storm ...... 187 Alberta Clipper...... 187 Hatteras bomb...... 187 Colorado Low...... 187 Gulf Low ...... 188 Chattanooga Choo-choo...... 188 Nor’easter...... 188 Pineapple Express...... 190 Siberian Express ...... 190 Panhandle Hook ...... 190 Texas Panhandler...... 191 Blue Norther...... 191 When the Flakes Fly...... 191 Blizzards...... 194 Ice Storms...... 196 Life and Limb...... 197 Cold weather exposure ...... 198 Frostbite...... 198 Caught in a car...... 199

Table of Contents ix

02_9781119806776-ftoc.indd ix Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in December 11, 2020 2:18 PM CHAPTER 9: Twists and Turns of Spring...... 201 When Has Spring Sprung?...... 202 Coast to Coast...... 203 Thunderstorms ...... 204 How . . . exactly . . . “severe”?...... 206 Shapes and sizes...... 207 Supercell...... 212 Hail the Size of Hailstones...... 214 Flash Floods...... 215 ZAP! Crack! Bam!...... 216 Rumbles and claps ...... 218 Different strokes...... 219 Lightning safety tips ...... 219 Downbursts...... 220 Really Twisted Winds...... 222 Tornado Alley...... 224 Forecasting...... 226 Lives and Limbs...... 228 A watch or a warning?...... 230 Tornado do’s — and nots! ...... 230

CHAPTER 10: Extremely Summer...... 233 Good Ol’ Summer Timing...... 234 Coast to Coast...... 235 Avoiding That Radiant Feeling...... 238 The Heat Is On...... 239 Heatwaves ...... 241 Stranded on crowded islands ...... 243 Storms of Summer ...... 244 Out of Whack...... 246 When It Rains Too Much ...... 247 When It Rains Too Little ...... 250

CHAPTER 11: Falling for Autumn...... 255 The Timing Thing...... 256 Falling Highs and Lows...... 256 Coast to Coast...... 257 In a Pigment’s Eye...... 258 Indian Summer ...... 259 In the Fogs ...... 260 Fires of the Wild West...... 261

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02_9781119806776-ftoc.indd x Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in December 11, 2020 2:18 PM PART 4: THE SPECIAL EFFECTS ...... 263

CHAPTER 12: Taking Care of the Air...... 265 Polluting the Air...... 266 The short and long of it ...... 267 The usual suspects ...... 268 Getting the drift...... 270 Acid rain ...... 270 The Hole in the Sky...... 272 The ozone-eaters...... 273 On the mend?...... 274 The Big Warm...... 275 On the natural...... 276 On the unnatural...... 278 The global warming picture...... 279 The global warming debate...... 280 The heat is on...... 281 A splash of cold water...... 282 Wild and crazy...... 282

CHAPTER 13: Up in the Sky! Look!...... 285 Seeing the Light...... 286 In Living Color ...... 287 Why the Sky Is Blue...... 287 Reflecting on Clouds...... 288 Silver Linings ...... 289 Blue Haze...... 290 Sunbeams...... 290 Sunrise, Sunset ...... 291 The Green Flash...... 293 Rainbows ...... 293 Haloes...... 295 Sun Dogs...... 296 Sun Pillars...... 296 Coronas...... 297 Glories...... 298 Mirages...... 298 Inferior mirage...... 299 Superior mirage...... 299 Twinkle, Twinkle Little Air...... 299 Auroras...... 300

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02_9781119806776-ftoc.indd xi Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in December 11, 2020 2:18 PM CHAPTER 14: Try This at Home...... 301 You’re Not Just an Amateur...... 301 Galileo and the Boys...... 302 Galileo’s thermometer ...... 303 Torricelli’s barometer...... 303 Cardinal de Cusa’s hygrometer...... 304 Early American Weathermen...... 304 George did it...... 305 Tom did it...... 305 Ben did it all...... 306 Watching Your Weather...... 307 Getting Fancy...... 307 Going instrumental...... 308 Going digital...... 309 Cool Weather Experiments ...... 310 Making rainbows...... 310 Bending light by refraction...... 310 Bending light by diffraction...... 312 Weighing in on air...... 312 Testing the pressure...... 313 The greenhouse effect...... 313 Cloud in a can...... 314 A bottle of fog...... 314

PART 5: THE PART OF TENS...... 315

CHAPTER 15: Ten (or So) Biggest U.S. Weather Disasters of the 20th Century ...... 317 The Galveston Hurricane...... 318 The Dust Bowl ...... 318 Super Tornado Outbreak, 1974...... 319 Hurricane Camille...... 319 The Great Midwest Flood...... 320 El Niño Episodes ...... 320 Hurricane Andrew, 1992...... 321 New England Hurricane, 1938...... 321 Superstorm, March 1993...... 321 Tri-State Tornado, 1925...... 322 Tornado Outbreak of May 1999...... 322 The Great Okeechobee Flood and Hurricane of 1928...... 323 Florida Keys Hurricane, 1935...... 323 New England Blizzard, 1978...... 323 Storm of the Century, 1950...... 324

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02_9781119806776-ftoc.indd xii Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in December 11, 2020 2:18 PM CHAPTER 16: Ten (or So) Worst World Weather Disasters of the 20th Century...... 325 Droughts...... 326 India...... 326 China...... 326 Soviet Union...... 326 Africa...... 327 Floods...... 327 China...... 327 Vietnam...... 327 Iran...... 327 Typhoons, Cyclones, and Hurricanes...... 327 Bangladesh...... 328 China...... 328 Honduras...... 328 Japan...... 328 Philippines ...... 329 Winter Storms ...... 329 Iran...... 329 Europe...... 329 Pollution...... 329 Donora ...... 329 London ...... 330

CHAPTER 17: Ten Crafty Critters...... 331 Cats...... 332 Dogs...... 332 Frogs...... 333 Ants...... 333 Birds ...... 333 Caterpillars...... 334 Squirrels...... 334 Groundhog...... 335 Livestock...... 335 Fish ...... 336

CHAPTER 18: Ten Grand Old Weather Proverbs...... 337 Red Sky at Night, Sailor’s Delight ...... 338 Clear Moon, Frost Soon ...... 338 Early Thunder, Early Spring...... 338 After Frost, Warm ...... 339 Mare’s Tails and Mackerel Scales ...... 339

Table of Contents xiii

02_9781119806776-ftoc.indd xiii Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in December 11, 2020 2:18 PM Rainbow in the Morning ...... 339 When Halo Rings the Moon ...... 340 Rain Long Foretold ...... 340 A Year of Snow, a Year of Plenty...... 340 In Like a Lion and Out Like a Lamb...... 341

APPENDIX: INTERNET RESOURCE DIRECTORY...... 343

INDEX...... 351

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