"Weather For Dummies is probably the best book written for a general audience about the subject." --BILL GATES

Find out what's really going on when it seems like the sky is falling with Weather For Dummies

What exactly is happening when the wind blows, the clouds roll in, lightning flashes, and rain pours down? How do hurricanes whip into a frenzy, and where do tornadoes come from? Why do seasonal conditions sometimes vary so much from one year to the next? The inner workings of the weather can be a mystery, but Dummies can help. Packed with dozens of maps, charts, and stunning photographs of weather conditions, Weather For Dummies brings the science of meteorology down to earth, covering everything from weather basics to cloud types, seasonal differences, extreme weather events, climate change, and beyond.

You'll learn how to:

* Predict the weather and prepare a forecast

* Use common weather terminology like a pro

* Identify different types of clouds

* Spot weather conditions that can lead to storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and monsoons

* Observe fun weather phenomena like lightning, rainbows, sundogs, and haloes

* Talk about what impact weather has on the global ecosystem

* Get a handle on smog, the greenhouse effect, global warming, and other climate issues

Featuring clear explanations and fun and easy activities you can do at home, you'll be ready - rain or shine - for the ever-changing skies above with Weather For Dummies.

John D. Cox is a professional science writer. He studied biological and physical sciences at Harvard and MIT, and served as a fellow of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship Program at MIT.

Zusammenfassung
"Weather For Dummies is probably the best book written for a general audience about the subject." BILL GATES


Find out what's really going on when it seems like the sky is falling with Weather For Dummies

What exactly is happening when the wind blows, the clouds roll in, lightning flashes, and rain pours down? How do hurricanes whip into a frenzy, and where do tornadoes come from? Why do seasonal conditions sometimes vary so much from one year to the next? The inner workings of the weather can be a mystery, but Dummies can help. Packed with dozens of maps, charts, and stunning photographs of weather conditions, Weather For Dummies brings the science of meteorology down to earth, covering everything from weather basics to cloud types, seasonal differences, extreme weather events, climate change, and beyond.

You'll learn how to:

• Predict the weather and prepare a forecast
• Use common weather terminology like a pro
• Identify different types of clouds
• Spot weather conditions that can lead to storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and monsoons
• Observe fun weather phenomena like lightning, rainbows, sundogs, and haloes
• Talk about what impact weather has on the global ecosystem
• Get a handle on smog, the greenhouse effect, global warming, and other climate issues

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

How This Book is Organized 2

Part 1: What in the World is Weather? 3

Part 2: Braving the Elements 3

Part 3: Some Seasonable Explanations 4

Part 4: The Special Effects 4

Part 5: The Part of Tens 4

Appendix 5

Icons Used in This Book 5

Where to Go from Here 6

Part 1: What in the World is Weather? 7

Chapter 1: Forecasts and Forecasting 9

Forecasting Prophets 10

Making a Forecast 11

Take what is happening now 13

And add a little future 14

We Interrupt This Program 16

Water, Water, Everywhere 18

Flavors of Forecasts 18

Agricultural forecasts 19

Aviation forecasts 19

Marine forecasts 20

River forecasts 20

Fire forecasts 21

Keywords to the Wise 21

Precipitation 21

Temperature 23

Temperature's relative humidity 24

Heat index 25

Wind 27

Wind chill 28

Sky cover 28

Tools of the Trade 29

The instruments 29

The instrument carriers 30

Doppler radar 32

A fleet of satellites 33

Computers 35

How to Read a Weather Map 36

Chapter 2: Behind the Air Wars 37

I Don't Like Your Latitude! 37

Where the Armies Mass 39

Winter air masses 41

Summer air masses 42

News from the Fronts 42

Cold fronts 43

Warm fronts 43

Stationary fronts 44

Occluded fronts 44

Here Comes the Sun 45

Moving Sun's energy 45

Looking absolutely radiant! 46

A contagious convection 49

The Big Picture 50

Long live the revolution! 50

Spreading the beam 51

Tilting at the seasons 53

Spin of the day 55

Putting on Airs 56

Do I smell gas? 56

How high the sky? 59

Chapter 3: Land, Sea, and Precipitation: is This Any Way to Run a Planet? 61

Water's Stirring Role 62

Ocean to atmosphere 64

Atmosphere to surface 65

Surface to ocean 66

Rain to Rime: Forms of Precipitation 67

Rain 68

Snow 69

Hail 70

Graupel (snow pellets) 70

Sleet (ice pellet) 71

Rime 71

Dew to Fog: Forms of Condensation 72

Dew 72

Frozen dew 72

Frost 73

Fog: A grounded cloud 73

Weather and the Land 75

A lopsided planet 75

Radiating hot and cold 75

Air's roller-coaster ride 76

Weather and the Ocean 77

Part 2: Braving the Elements 79

Chapter 4: Blowing in the Winds 81

Taking the Pressure 82

A World of Wind and Pressure 83

That muggy Bermuda High 85

That cool Pacific High 85

The winter lows 87

Bending the Winds 87

Taking the pressure it's a gas 87

Here's the rub total friction 89

A perfectly straight curveball 91

The Winds Aloft 94

The Westerlies 94

The Jet Streams 96

Polar jet stream 96

Subtropical jet stream 97

Low-level jets 97

The Tradewinds 97

A Scattering of Winds 98

Coastal breezes 99

Valley and mountain breezes 99

Asian monsoon 99

Southwestern monsoon 101

Chinooks 101

Santa Anas 101

Haboobs 102

Chapter 5: Getting Cirrus