Extreme Weather: A Guide and Record Book

Rating:
Summary: Maps guide the way
Review:
"Extreme Weather" is extremely well done. One of the most outstanding features of the book is the cartography. The reader is presented with all sorts of information about all kinds of places and all kinds of weather. Beautiful photographs and a well written text are all linked by excellent maps. The text and photos tell the story but the maps guide the way.

Rating:
Summary: A date with nature!
Review: "Extreme Weather" is a great combination of general meteorology, defining photographs and fabulous factoids. All kinds of interesting information on the wildest weather possible is included. Everything from floods to ice, from snowstorms to sandstorms and all in between. The reader gets a pretty cold view of just how nasty mother nature can be. It's enjoyable reading just in sections or as a whole.

The book features a neatly organized an attractive comination of photographs and text. The well written text presents the reader with valuable information at an easy pace. Anyone interested in nature, the enviornment in general, or meteorology will love this book.

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Summary: Weather Maniacs Rejoice!
Review: I loved this book! The photos are great, nice thick book, and a wealth of info on the coldest, hottest, wettest, windiest, etc. You'll like it if you enjoy weather, records, trivia, reading about geography, etc.
Big color photos, tornadoes, floods, maps, some historic photos too.

Rating:
Summary: Much more than just weather folklore!
Review: The stories of the extreme weather themselves are very interesting, but what stands out to me are the maps, graphs, photographs and other imagery used throughout the book. The quality of these visual elements is outstanding and they do an amazing job of telling the story of weather and climate. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in weather or climate, no matter where they live.


Rating:
Summary: A Must for any Weather Enthusiast
Review: The ultimate extreme weather guide. Extreme Weather is filled with beautiful photos, easy to read maps and charts and concise, easy to use weather records, organized by city and state. Complimenting the well organized data is an excellent and informative historical text. A must have for any weather enthusiast, Extreme Weather is a valuable resource for the home or office.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book for the Weather Enthusiast
Review: This book is about weather extremes, and it does an excellent job of covering the topic.

The focus isn't to wholly describe weather phenomenon or the root causes of weather extremes. It concentrates more on the recorded weather extremes in many geographic locations. Think of it not as a weather encyclopedia but more as a book of world records.

If you or someone you know is a weather enthusiast, this book will be a definite treat. It's definitely a catalyst to kindle the pursuit of more climatologically knowledge.


Rating:
Summary: Spectacular! I wish I had written it
Review: This is the book a weather nut like me wished he had thought to write first. Great maps and photos, tables of data, and he asks for corrections, publishing them, with updates, at www.extremeweatherguide.com .
The photos, such as Lincoln, NE, summer 1936, are spectacular, as are his colored maps of everything (wettest and driest spots by state is one example).

He even has NYC data from the mid 19th Century, with "the day that never got above zero" Now that takes some hunting to dig up.

A great gift, as well as a wonderful resource. All libraries, as well as anyone interested in the weather should have a copy.

Rating:
Summary: Extreme Weather Reference Book
Review: This is well written with a wealth of easy-to-understand graphics and tables. It is divided into 8 parts: Heat & Drought, Cold, Snow & Ice, Rain & Floods, Thunderstorms & Hail, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Windstorms, Fog and El Niño-Southern Oscillatiion. Appendices include maps, records and conversion tables.

This is a wealth of information, often shown as very useful maps. The book will have to be updated as information is only presented in pre-1865 inch-pound measuring units and not the US system of measurement, SI or "metric" units. The author presents means and extremes in every category, world wide, complete with anecdotes of luminous snowfall and tornadoes, lightning pranks, heat and cold, storminess, maximum aridity and precipitation. This is not the "end all, be all," but pulls together information that is otherwise scattered in academic texts not normally available to the general public.

Emphasis is on the US and North America. There is no discussion of effective moisture (Index of Moisture, precipitation compared to the climatic demand for moisture, potential and actual evapotranspiration). Recent severe blizzards are chronicled, but a "blizzard" is never defined. Föen or chinook winds are discussed for Colorado and Utah, but ignored for Sierra Nevada and Cascades of WA, OR and CA.

The author points out 1) records will always be broken and 2) unprecedented events do not presage extraordinary explanations. These are two thoughts that should be on the wall of every television, radio, newspaper, magazine and internet weathercaster. This book is a fun read and very handy to have close by.