Product Description

The British public's preoccupation with our ever-changing weather, together with El Nino and the climactic effect of global warming, means that this is a subject that constantly attracts attention. In a new book that forms part of Collins Natural History's successful "How to Identify" series, the weather is broken down into easy-to-follow sections. Once the basic forms and mechanisms are understood it is then possible to forecast the weather, particularly in your locality. The following topics will be included: how to identify cloud types and other atmospheric phenomena; how clouds are formed and how rain is produced; weather systems and how they move and develop; how weather differs in different regions; how to interpret satellite images; and how to forecast weather.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #602050 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

About the Author
Meteorologist and astronomer Storm Dunlop has written many books on the weather and the night sky.

Customer Reviews

One of the most useful books on the weather there is
This is one of the most useful books on the weather I've come across in a long time - and I have them all. The emphasis in this book is on seeing weather and atmosphere phenomena (clouds, glows, weather events) and interpreting what they mean - with a bit on forecasting the weather from what you can see. There is practical material in this book I haven't seen anywhere else (e.g. distinguishing cloud types, and estimating the relative heights of clouds). The photographs are numerous and gorgeous.

Buy this book for the pictures alone!
Following in the footsteps of the author's smaller volume "Collins Gem Weather", this beautifully illustrated book is a thorough and systematic field guide to what one might see in the sky, from commonplace clouds to a range of rarer optical phenomena. Not only is the book bursting with colour photographs, but it carries sufficient technical detail for the reader to understand the rudiments of the atmospheric processes responsible for what is seen. Sufficient terminology is introduced to allow the reader to accurately describe what they see in the sky. The book comes in a sturdy plastic jacket, which is a nice touch.

The presentation encourages getting to grips with the basics first, before layering on the finer details in a logical manner. This would make an excellent introductory or companion volume to one of the more technical but less lavishly illustrated books in the field, especially those for the pilot or sailor.

In summary, this book can be browsed simply for its beautiful photos or treated as a first course in the processes and observation of the atmosphere by the more serious reader.

Pretty layout and pictures.
This book could have been very good but style has sadly compromised content. Let down also by some typos that alter the meaning of what is being described. eg inserting altitude instead of latitude! The glossary boldly states that precipitation does not include dew or rime etc - really!
A good book for browsing but if you want a field guide to the weather the other Collins guide is a better buy.