WEATHER ANALYSIS & FORECASTING HANDBOOK, first edition
Weather Analysis & Forecasting Handbook
Tim Vasquez
2011 / 260 pp. / 136 illustrations - $29.95 / ISBN-10: 0-978-0-9832533-0-3
apprx. 7 x 10" / True bound / Offset monochrome print / Glossy color cover
Premiering in 2011, Weather Analysis & Forecasting Handbook is the ultimate guidebook for anyone who needs to know the details of operational weather analysis and forecasting, not just theoretical aspects and basic concepts. It is written for actual forecasting without difficult math or a extensive review of physics and weather history. All of the content is state of the art as of 2011, covering all the same concepts and techniques that National Weather Service forecasters practice on a daily basis. Among those who will enjoy the title are meteorology professionals, students, pilots, flight dispatchers, amateurs, storm chasers, and spotters.
Basic physical concepts are reviewed, and then the book covers thermodynamics, surface analysis, and upper analysis. There is a thorough overview of weather systems, including their thermal structure, dynamics, and effects. Special problems such as thunderstorms, winter weather, and tropical weather are treated in detail. The margins are filled with forecasting facts, hard-hitting quotes, educational stories, and even a few fun weather jokes. With added emphasis on analysis, visualization, and awareness of model limitations, readers learn to use tools properly and are always a step ahead.
Contents
| 1 PHYSICS 1.1. Mathematics 1.2. Time 1.3. Distance, direction, and velocity 1.4. Mass, force, and pressure 1.5. Temperature 1.6. Density 1.7. Water 1.8. Coriolis force 1.9. Wind forces 1.10. Geostrophic wind 1.11. Gradient wind 1.12. Cyclostrophic wind 1.13. Vorticity 1.14. Horizontal coordinate systems 1.15. Vertical coordinate systems 1.16. Scale 1.17. Atmospheric structure 1.18. Global circulation 2 OBSERVATION 2.1. Observation networks 2.2. Observation coding formats 2.3. Temperature 2.4. Dewpoint 2.5. Wind 2.6. Pressure 2.7. Visibility 2.8. Weather 2.9. Clouds 2.10. Upper air systems 3 THERMODYNAMICS 3.1. Phases of matter 3.2. Adiabatic changes 3.3. Stability 3.4. Instability 3.5. Soundings 3.6. Sounding interpretation 3.7. Instability quantification 3.8. Potential instability 3.9. Symmetric instability 4 UPPER AIR ANALYSIS 4.1. Constant pressure charts 4.2. Long waves 4.3. Short waves 4.4. Divergence and convergence 4.5. Vertical motion 4.6. Jets 4.7. Jet streaks 4.8. Thermal advection 4.9. Thickness 4.10. Frontogenesis and frontolysis 4.11. Vorticity 4.12. Q vectors 4.13. Isentropic analysis |
5 SURFACE ANALYSIS 5.1. The surface chart 5.2. Air masses 5.3. Frontal concepts 5.4. Cold front 5.5. Warm front 5.6. Quasistationary front 5.7. Occluded front 5.8. Dryline 5.9. Outflow boundaries 5.10. Sea/land breeze fronts 6 WEATHER SYSTEMS 6.1. Baroclinic lows 6.2. Baroclinic high 6.3. Cold-core barotropic low 6.4. Warm-core barotropic low 6.5. Cold-core barotropic high 6.6. Warm-core barotropic high 6.7. Arctic air outbreaks 7 SATELLITE 7.1. Satellite orbits 7.2. Imagery types 7.3. Satellite imagery limitations 7.4. Clouds 7.5. Patterns 8 RADAR 8.1. How radar works 8.2. Reflectivity 8.3. Velocity 8.4. Spectrum width 8.5. Dual-polarization data 8.6. Problems and pitfalls 8.7. Severe weather signatures 8.8. VAD/VWP wind data 9 CONVECTIVE WEATHER 9.1. Thunderstorm structure 9.2. Multicellular storms 9.3. Supercells 9.4. Mesoscale convective systems 9.5. Wind profiles 9.6. Tropical weather circulations 9.7. Tropical cyclones 9.8. Tropical cyclone forecasting 10 PROGNOSIS 10.1. The forecast process 10.2. Numerical model concepts 10.3. Numerical forecast production 10.4. An overview of available models 10.5. Limitations of models 10.6. Climatological patterns |
About the author
Tim Vasquez began a meteorology career in 1984 writing the weather page for a Dallas newspaper. From 1989 to 1998 he was an Air Force meteorologist and worked at two television stations. He developed the Digital Atmosphere weather analysis software system in use worldwide. Residing in Austin, Texas, he is a software programmer, a consulting meteorologist, and a columnist for Weatherwise magazine.
List Price: $30.00