[.ca] Hurricane Watch: Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth (ISBN 037570390X)

Well blow me down.:
Ever since I was a child trapped inside by the pouring rain as the remnants of Camille passed over East Tennessee, I have been fascinated by hurricanes. With that in mind, this book was hard to resist. Especially since I had spent many hours watching Dr. Sheets on television. It is pretty obvious though that Jack Williams did most of the writing and for those of us who are not that familiar with the science of meteorology that is a very good thing for this is a very complicated subject and dumbing down is exactly what I needed. This book is not so much a book about major hurricanes as it is a history of the predicting of hurricanes. From Columbus to the present satellites and Doppler systems this book tells the story of man's attempts to guess what Mother Nature is up to. There is even a chapter about attempts to actually control hurricanes. Even with the simple way the authors attempted to tell their story I was lost at times but not all too often. For a trained meteorologist this book would probably seem almost childish, but for the average person like myself it is just about right. I still don't completely understand everything about wind sheer, computer models, and latent heat but I am at least familiar with the terms now. From now on, as a hurricane approaches the U.S. coast and I sit there in front of the TV I will have a vague idea of how the computer models work and will know all about the Bermuda high. The chapter I found the most interesting was the chapter about hurricane Andrew. That is the kind of thing I was actually looking for in this book but even though I only found one chapter of what I had been looking for, I still found this book to be highly informative, interesting, and well written. I imagine that Dr. Sheets could write an entire book on Andrew, and I wish he would

If you are an Emergency Manager...:
If you are an emergency manager along the Gulf Coast or Atantic States, then this is a must read. While the word is focusing on terrorism, a more likey event is the return of more active hurricane seasons. From the early days to work by Dr. Bill Gray and others, Hurricane Watch reminds us that while forecasting has improve, Hurricanes still have many secrets we have yet to understand.

Good read.:
I live on the coast and have been interested in hurricanes since I was a child. I'm no meteorologist - just a person who wanted to learn more. This book was interesting. I especially enjoyed the chapter which talked about Project Stormfury and the one on Hurricane Andrew.

Acronyms in Paradise:
If you believe that a Computer projection of Hurricane's behavior is better than human evaluation,then this is your book.Jack Williams of USA TODAY gives us a dumbed down version of science that his newspaper specializes in.Want a terrible sounding MEOW?Well, a computer can do it for you without any reference for historical record.I recommend reading Dunn's ATLANTIC HURRICANES or even Hearn's CHITA so you can start evaluating Hurricanes on your own terms.

A must read for any meteorologist - professional or amateur:
I'm not even quite finished this book and I'm total impressed and ingrossed with it, and sorry to see that I'm near the end. It not only describes things in simple terms but it also traces the history of hurricanes with various accounts that are entertaining and/or sobering. In this way it caters for all types, those who want the facts and those who don't mind it being done in a story-like fashion. This makes it refreshing when compared to 'stuffy' text books on the subject. Great work, well thought out and excellent integration of the material. I wish there could be a sequel :-)