Extreme Weather: A Guide and Record Book

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Author: Christopher C. Burt

ISBN-10: 039333015X

ISBN-13: 9780393330151

Category: Climatic changes -> United States

The ultimate weather book for the weather enthusiast or anyone interested in the oddities and extremes of nature.\ Is the climate really becoming more extreme as a result of climate change? We often hear on the news that the day was the hottest, coldest, wettest, or snowiest on record. Recent evidence suggests that aspects of the climate are indeed becoming more extreme. Will the extraordinary hurricane season of 2005 and the record heat waves of 2006 become more common? The facts are in this...

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The ultimate weather book for the weather enthusiast or anyone interested in the oddities and extremes of nature. The New York Times - Tim Cahill Christopher C. Burt, the author of the excellent and addictive Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book, strives to put all this in context.

Ch. 1Heat & drought14Ch. 2Cold44Ch. 3Snow & ice70Ch. 4Rain & floods102Ch. 5Thunderstorms & hail134Ch. 6Tornadoes164Ch. 7Hurricanes200Ch. 8Windstorms & fog232

\ Tim CahillChristopher C. Burt, the author of the excellent and addictive Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book, strives to put all this in context.\ — The New York Times\ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyWeather-watchers will rejoice in this lavishly illustrated compendium of the hottest, coldest, wettest, driest, windiest, snowiest, wildest and weirdest weather on the planet. Burt, an amateur meteorologist and publisher of the Compass American Guidebook series, explores extreme weather phenomena in digestible mini-essays complemented by sidebars on such oddities as colored snow and luminous tornadoes. The whole is supplemented by maps, lists of destructive storms, and photos of towering thunderheads, raging floodwaters and the devastated remains of human settlement. The focus is on the United States, thunderstorm and tornado capital of the world thanks to the Great Plains collision between warm, moist Gulf air and cool, dry Canadian air. But Burt also looks at meteorological problem areas abroad, such as Bangladesh, where cyclonic storm surges killed 300,000-500,000 people in 1970 and a further 139,000 in 1991. In addition to regaling readers with prodigies, Burt exhaustively tabulates weather records for each state and for hundreds of U.S. cities. Although his discussion of the science behind the weather tends toward the cursory, this eminently browsable blizzard of sensational facts will delight budding meteorologists and barroom wagerers alike. (Oct.) Forecast: The dramatic photos, colorful charts and juicy graphs not to mention the large font and accessible vocabulary should make this a hit with weather-heads of all ages. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ School Library JournalAdult/High School-This book has enough information packed within its pages to keep the most ardent weather watchers busy. Chapters are arranged by such phenomena as thunderstorms and hail, snow and ice, windstorms and fog, etc., and liberally illustrated with beautiful black-and-white and color photographs, charts, and maps. True "junkies" will pore over the appendixes that include a map of weather stations and state and city precipitation records. In the course of discussing each type of occurrence, Burt offers numerous items of interest. For example, Key West has only one foggy day each year, while the "foggiest of the foggy" towns in the U.S. is Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia River. Mysteries such as why most other countries in the world, with the possible exception of India and Bangladesh, do not experience as many severe thunderstorms as the United States does are clearly explained. Discussions of scales such as the Fujita, used to measure the strength of a tornado, and the Saffir-Simpson, used to measure hurricanes, are included. Eyewitness accounts are scattered throughout. This book will captivate weather lovers and make converts of others.-Peggy Bercher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \