Field Guide to the Weather: Learn to Identify Clouds and Storms, Forecast the Weather, and Stay Safe - Softcover

Henning, Ryan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1591938244 ISBN 13: 9781591938248

Publisher: Adventure Publications, 2019

Synopsis

Your guide to watching clouds and analyzing weather forecasts

From the soothing sound of rain to the shrill whistle of a blizzard, from the house-shaking rumble of thunder to the violent fury of a hurricane, weather fascinates us all. We watch it. We listen to it. We feel it. We try to predict it. Weather is a part of everyday conversation and a part of our everyday lives. But how well do we truly understand it?

Professional meteorologist Ryan Henning presents Field Guide to the Weather, a handy reference to meteorology and to the types of weather phenomena that one might encounter at home or in nature. It includes an introduction to the basics of meteorology―explaining the aspects of the atmosphere that dictate how weather works. From there, the field guide moves in to look at a variety of individual weather topics: cloud formation (and cloud-type identification), various forms of precipitation, and much more. The author goes on to discuss government-issued watches and warnings, and weather safety. Plus, readers are sure to appreciate the book’s helpful guide to interpreting weather forecasts and available model information when planning an afternoon picnic or next week’s vacation.

Field Guide to the Weather is a perfect introduction to the science of weather. The information is captivating for kids and adults alike. The simple explanations are useful in easing the mind of a frightened child, and the in-depth details help adults learn to understand and prepare for the weather ahead.

About this title

About the Author

Ryan Henning was born and raised in Minnesota, where he spent most of his formative years in the Minneapolis suburb of Victoria. There, he developed a fascination with the weather―thanks largely to his dad's career in the airline industry. (Ryan loved the radar!) After earning a degree in synoptic meteorology from Purdue University, Ryan worked as an aviation meteorologist for eight years. He runs his own website and blog at Victoria-Weather.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Atmosphere

The most liberal definition of the atmosphere includes the first 6,200 or so miles above the Earth’s surface. Nearly all of us, myself included, would label the top 6,120 miles as “outer space.” Most satellites, and even the international space station, are well within this definition of the atmosphere of the Earth.

Those top miles of the atmosphere are made up of the Exosphere and the Thermosphere, which house the Northern Lights but not much else of interest meteorologically. In fact, the next two layers down are generally of interest only because of their temperature profile. Almost all of our weather occurs in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the Troposphere, which covers the bottom 7 miles of the atmosphere.

The Troposphere is marked by steadily cooling temperatures, as one rises upwards. This changes at the top of the 7 miles―at a level called the Tropopause, where atmospheric temperatures, unencumbered by the forcing at the surface but still exposed to the sunlight, begin to rise. This region of rising temperature is called the Stratosphere. The Stratosphere continues upward until the air is so thin that the observed temperature starts dropping again. This level is called the Mesosphere. 

The Troposphere, those lowest 7 miles of the atmosphere, are where almost all of the weather we can see occurs and where nearly the entire human race will spend their lives (planes fly at the top of the troposphere). The exception is during the strongest thunderstorms, when quickly rising thunderstorm clouds rise to the Tropopause. You can see exactly where the tropopause is because the cloud will flatten out at that level. If there is a particularly strong updraft, the cloud will build above that flattened area, actually going into the Stratosphere. This is called an “overshooting top.”

Atmospheric Current The air flow around the planet in the middle latitudes is generally west to east, with the strongest flow following the strongest temperature gradients. These areas of strong flow are better known as “jet streaks,” and the mean course these streaks take through the atmosphere is known as the “jet stream.”

The jet stream lies at boundaries of air masses. Air travels in pools of like consistency, such as cool and moist, hot and dry, or other combinations therein. Flow is the strongest aloft when the difference in temperature from air mass to air mass is the greatest, according to an integral equation called the “thermal wind equation.” Flow runs perpendicular to the change in temperature. If you would be standing with flow coming from behind you, the cold air would be to your left. 

The thermal wind equation also tells us that the magnitude of the jet is dictated by how much the air mass changes. In the winter, temperatures can change from the 50s to well below 0 over the course of a few dozen miles. In the summer, the change generally can be from about the 90s to the 70s when a cold front passes through. Jet streaks over the United States, as a result, tend to be significantly weaker in the summer than in the winter. 

Another relationship the jet has with the weather is called “divergence” and the closely related “convergence.” As one might imagine, the term divergence means air moving further apart from other parcels of air (diverging) while convergence means air parcels coming together (converging). What may not be as intuitive is that divergence and convergence are closely tied to rising and falling air masses as well. 

In the Northern Hemisphere if you were to stand facing in the direction the jet streak is flowing, then at the “exit” of the jet streak (where the flow slows down), there will be convergence to the right and divergence on the left. The convergence and divergence is related, as I said, to rising and falling air masses. Air rises to create clouds, rain, snow, and thunderstorms, so the “left exit” region of a jet streak is the most likely area to find shower or thunderstorm development.

Edition details

• Publisher: Adventure Publications
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1591938244
• ISBN 13: 9781591938248
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 144