Skywatch West: The Complete Weather Guide

Rating:
Summary: Understanding weather for the layman
Review: Although it focuses on the western part of the United States, this is one of the best books on weather that I have read and the information is applicable to everywhere in the U.S. The book starts with the causes of weather and covers everything from the effect of an atmosphere and the warming of it by the sun to the effect of the earth's rotation, moisture, land masses, etc. After that base for understanding weather they move into the specifics of weather phenomenon like fronts, jets, cyclones, snow, rain, thunderstorms, hurricanes, whirlwinds, and lights in the sky. They even cover the subject of sprites and jets above the clouds, an area only recently being seriously investigated after years of reports but only recent proof of its existence.

The author explains everything in easy to understand terms while still being through enough to provide a complete education in basic weather. Of particular value are the numerous pictures of actual weather events so you can see what different cloud types look like or the effects of hail, or even see a cold front slipping under a warm layer of air. Skywatch West is a fascinating book for anyone interested in understanding the weather and very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Packed from cover to cover with insights, projects, & facts
Review: Anecdotes, humor, and a lively format would not seem to suit a survey of weather and nature, but it works well in Richard Keen's Skywatch West: The Complete Weather Guide, which emerges in a revised, updated format to provide details on the West's weather and most dramatic effects. Chapters are practical as well as entertaining: from learning how to 'read' clouds to building a home weather station, Skywatch West is packed from cover to cover with insights, projects, and facts.


Rating:
Summary: An excellent and easy to understand book about weather
Review: This book does focus on weather in the American West. But it is a great book about weather in general.

Keen became fascinated by weather in October 1954, when "a wild lady named Hazel" visited his home. I became fascinated by weather less than two months before that, when Hazel's, um, sister, Carol, visited my home. Hazel and Carol were two truly impressive storms.

Keen teaches us a little about what causes weather. He discusses cyclones, and mentions some of the major cyclones that have hit the West. We learn about all the different types of snow and snow crystals. And Keen tells us about thuderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and more. There are all sorts of statistics on rainfall and on temperature extremes. And the author teaches us how to read weather maps!

One of the most interesting sections was on chinooks. The author explains that the Ute Indians knew that when one is within 10 or 20 miles to the East of a mountain range, you'll get occasional downslope winds which can exceed 100 miles per hour. That's why they refused to set their tepees at certain places just east of the Rockies. The white men ignored the Ute warnings and built a town (now a city) called Boulder, Colorado at one of these sites. And sure enough, every few years, Boulder gets hit by big chinook winds. So do Livingston, Montana, and Sheridan, Wyoming, and Bishop, California, and Carson City, Nevada. These winds are generally very warm, and can lift the temperatures by 20 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit in a few hours. The Chinook Indians of coastal Oregon called warm winds "snow-eaters," and that's how the snow-eating winds downslope of the mountains wound up being called "chinooks!"

I enjoyed this book very much. I certainly recommend it.