The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: Hurricane Watch: Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth, Jack Williams

Hurricane Watch: Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth

Jack Williams

The ultimate guide to the ultimate storms, Hurricane Watch is a fascinating blend of science and history from one of the world's foremost meteorologists and an award-winning science journalist. This in-depth look at these awe-inspiring acts of nature covers everything from the earliest efforts by seafarers at predicting storms to the way satellite imaging is revolutionizing hurricane forecasting. It reveals the latest information on hurricanes: their effects on ocean waves, the causes of the variable wind speeds in different parts of the storm, and the origins of the super-cooled shafts of water that vent at high altitudes. Hurricane Watch is a compelling history of man's relationship with the deadliest storms on earth.

Includes:

- The story of the nineteenth-century Cuban Jesuit whose success at predicting the great cyclones was considered almost mystical.

- A new look at Isaac Cline, whose infamous failure to predict the Galveston Hurricane left him obsessed with the devastating effects of storm surge.

- The story of the Hurricane Hunters, including the first man ever to deliberately fly into a hurricane.

- A complete account of how computer modeling has changed hurricane tracking.

- A history of Project Stormfury: the only significant, organized effort to reduce the damaging strength of severe hurricanes.

- A unique firsthand account of Hurricane Andrew by both authors, who were at the National Hurricane Center when Andrew struck.

- A listing of the deadliest storms in history.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Vintage
  • Publish Date: Jul 31st, 2001
  • Pages: 352
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.04in - 5.20in - 0.74in - 0.72lb
  • EAN: 9780375703904
  • Categories: Earth Sciences - Meteorology & ClimatologyWeatherNatural Disasters

More books to explore

Book Cover for: The Man Who Caught the Storm: The Life of Legendary Tornado Chaser Tim Samaras, Brantley Hargrove
Book Cover for: Introduction to Modern Climate Change, Andrew E. Dessler
Book Cover for: Waters of the World: The Story of the Scientists Who Unraveled the Mysteries of Our Oceans, Atmosphere, and Ice Sheets and Made the Planet Whole, Sarah Dry
Book Cover for: The Weather Machine: A Journey Inside the Forecast, Andrew Blum
Book Cover for: The Last Winter: The Scientists, Adventurers, Journeymen, and Mavericks Trying to Save the World, Porter Fox
Book Cover for: The Primacy of Doubt: From Quantum Physics to Climate Change, How the Science of Uncertainty Can Help Us Understand Our Chaotic World, Tim Palmer
Book Cover for: No Miracles Needed, Mark Z. Jacobson
Book Cover for: Thunder & Lightning: Weather Past, Present, Future, Lauren Redniss
Book Cover for: Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth's Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis, Michael E. Mann
Book Cover for: Over the Seawall: Tsunamis, Cyclones, Drought, and the Delusion of Controlling Nature, Stephen Robert Miller
Book Cover for: Climate Chaos: Lessons on Survival from Our Ancestors, Brian Fagan
Book Cover for: The Next Tsunami: Living on a Restless Coast, Bonnie Henderson
Book Cover for: The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History, Manjula Martin
Book Cover for: The Big Thaw: Ancient Carbon, Modern Science, and a Race to Save the World, Eric Scigliano
Book Cover for: The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet, Michael E. Mann

About the Author

Dr. Bob Sheets grew up on a small farm near Fairmount, Indiana, and attended Ball State Teachers College (now University). Upon graduation in 1961, he was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force and was sent to the University of Oklahoma to study meteorology. After finishing his Air Force tour of duty, he joined the National Hurricane Research Laboratory (NHRL), co-located with the National Hurricane Center (NHC), where he studied hurricanes, directing field operations and making more than 200 flights through the eyes of hurricanes. In 1980, after more than 16 years at NHRL, he moved into the National Hurricane Center, serving as a Hurricane Specialist, Deputy Director and finally, its Director from 1987 to 1995.

Since leaving the NHC after 33 years of government service, he has been a meteorological consultant where he provides on camera services for the Florida News Network and affiliates and the ABC network. Non-television work includes lectures and workshops on hurricane threats and preparedness, and serving on advisory boards at Florida International University and the University of Oklahoma. In addition, he has and continues to provide technical guidance for films and books concerning meteorology, with specializations in hurricanes, and was featured in the IMAX film entitled STORMCHASERS.

He received his B.S. degree in Mathematics/Physics from Ball State (1961) and his M.S. (1965) and Ph.D. (1972) degrees in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Sheets has authored dozens of published articles on hurricanes. He also has frequently been an invited lecturer at numerous Universities and other forums around the world.

His major honors include being an elected Fellow of the American Meteorological Society; the recipient of the U.S. Navy Distinguished Public Service Award; the U.S. Air Force Master Meteorologist Award; Life Time Achievement Awards from the National Hurricane Conference and the South Florida Hurricane Conference; the Governor's Award from the Florida Governor's Hurricane Conference; an EMMY award from the National Academy of Television Arts Society; Executive Excellence Award and Presidential Rank Award of the U.S. Senior Executive Service; citations from the governors of Maryland and Georgia; the ABC Person of the Week; the U.S. Department of Commerce Gold and Silver medals.

Jack Williams was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from high school. After his military service, he attended Jacksonville (Fla.) University where he earned a bachelor's degree in history and government in 1962.

He began his journalism career at the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville while attending college, and subsequently worked at the Jacksonville Journal, the Rochester Times Union, and Rochester's Democrat & Chronicle. In September 1982, when USA Today began publication, Jack Williams served as the weather page editor.

In 1992, as Hurricane Andrew battered Dade County, Jack Williams was in the National Hurricane Center, which was on the fringe of the strongest winds. He has flown into three hurricanes, and has chased tornadoes with researchers on the Plains. In January 1999 Williams was one of the half dozen journalists selected that year by the National Science Foundation to report on research in Antarctica.

He is also the author of THE USA TODAY WEATHER BOOK, which won The American Meteorological Society's Louis J. Battan Author's Award, and THE USA TODAY WEATHER ALMANAC.

More books by Jack Williams

Book Cover for: THE Question: A Guide to Answering Life's Most Important Question, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: Rethinking Religious Conversion: Bodies, People and Processes, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: Lime Spring, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: Evolutionary Game Dynamics: Agent Based Methods, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: Black Pandora Box, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: National Geographic Pocket Guide to the Weather of North America, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: Reflections and Stories from the West Desert of Utah, 1880 to 1991, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: Extreme Pumpkin Carving, Second Edition Revised and Expanded: 20 Amazing Designs from Frightful to Fabulous, Vic Hood
Book Cover for: The Ams Weather Book: The Ultimate Guide to America's Weather, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: National Geographic Field Guide to the Water's Edge: Beaches, Shorelines, and Riverbanks, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: Indian Peafowl: Fun Facts about Indian Peafowl, Care, Habits and Life Style., Jack Williams
Book Cover for: Myths & Realities of Ethiopia, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: Journey Into Life, Book Three: Camel Trails and Desert Winds, Jack Williams
Book Cover for: On Becoming A Master, Jack Williams