An Observer’s Guide to Clouds and Weather: A Northeastern Primer on Prediction, Toby Carlson, Paul Knight, and Celia Wyckoff, American Meteorological Society, 2014. $30.00 paper (224 pp.). ISBN 978-1-935704-58-4 Buy at Amazon
With meteorological practice currently focusing on mathematical modeling and quantitative analysis, it is refreshing to read a solid academic return to the more artful, look-out-the-window aspects of the field. An Observer’s Guide to Clouds and Weather: A Northeastern Primer on Prediction is a handy book that will serve the atmospheric science community well as both an introduction for undergraduate students and a refresher of the fundamentals for long-time practitioners.
As stated in the preface, the authors “wish to make the reader’s experience much more intimate with the atmosphere than simply viewing computer-generated output.” The authors are Toby Carlson, an emeritus professor in the Pennsylvania State University’s department of meteorology; Paul Knight, a senior lecturer in the department and the climatologist for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and Celia Wyckoff, former editor for Penn State’s World Campus, who also contributed cloud photographs.
I was a Penn State meteorology undergraduate student in the 1970s, when Knight was a graduate student there; my first class in the discipline was synoptic meteorology, taught by Carlson. He was a terrific teacher, clear in his instruction and supportive of his students’ development. His and Knight’s engaging teaching and writing styles are apparent in the Observer’s Guide. For example, in chapter 1, “The Basic Processes That Create the Weather,” lucid analogies help explain key concepts such as the Coriolis force and the balance of forces. Moreover, the authors aptly supply context: “The atmosphere is in a tenuous balance between two large forces, the Coriolis force and pressure gradient force. Imbalances are nevertheless necessary for cyclones and anticyclones to move, develop, and decay, and for the transfer of heat from lower to higher latitudes.”
In chapter 2, “Cloud and Weather Patterns,” the authors continue to lay the foundation necessary to understand the material presented in later chapters about reading the sky and forecasting the weather. They elucidate the classic open wave cyclone. Clear, sequential figures accompanied by synoptic-map depictions aid the reader’s understanding of atmospheric stability, the upper atmosphere, and cyclonic development and its connection to advection. I found the up-to-date discussion of the occlusion process in the evolution of fronts to be particularly enlightening. Other fine presentations, with appropriate photos and diagrams, show up in subsequent chapters and cover such topics as smaller-scale storms and the basics of weather forecasting, explanations for familiar storm systems like the Alberta clipper and the nor’easter, diurnal events such as sea breezes, and somewhat atypical events like backdoor cold fronts. The superiority of ensemble forecasting is also addressed.
The sixth and final chapter, “The Observer’s Guide to Weather Forecasting,” synthesizes the content of the previous chapters. As the title indicates, it guides the reader through practical exercises by using weather observations coupled with map analysis. The authors note that “good observations—paying close attention to the evolving sky panorama—can help both the professional forecaster and the amateur to better understand the meteorological events taking place and thereby to improve their forecasts, especially those short-range, local forecasts referred to as nowcasting.” Creative techniques and time-tested wisdom, including appropriate caveats, are proffered. Helpful hints and rules of thumb for effective forecasting abound.
One particular concern I have with the book is the small size of the cloud photographs and related satellite maps. Those images are important to understanding descriptions given in the text, so larger exhibits and, in some cases, exhibits with better contrast would certainly help improve the reader’s comprehension.
Serious students will profit greatly by carefully reading An Observer’s Guide to Clouds and Weather before their first introductory course in meteorology, especially since many essential terms and dynamics, such as “baroclinic,” “frontogenesis,” “static stability,” and “vorticity,” are identified and succinctly explained. Interested laypeople, amateur weathercasters, and professional meteorologists will all find this concise volume to be a beneficial guide to the airy world around us. After all, as the authors conclude, “meteorologists, including many meteorology students, sometimes lose themselves in a welter of computer simulations. Sometimes what is missing is to simply read the sky!”
Anthony J. Sadar is the air pollution meteorologist and an administrator for the Allegheny County Health Department’s Air Quality Program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is also an adjunct associate professor at Geneva College in Beaver Falls and has been a part-time meteorology and climatology lecturer for the Pennsylvania State University’s Beaver campus.
