Reading the Clouds: How You Can Forecast the Weather

by Oliver Perkins, Tom Cunliffe (Foreword), Duncan Wells (Foreword)

An at-a-glance guide to the clouds for anyone taking part in outdoor activities on land or at sea, anywhere in the world. This book is an accessible and practical handbook for predicting the weather by recognizing cloud types, shapes, color, and behavior.

TV forecasts, online predictions and smartphone apps are all based on the same data--a number-crunched overview of how air pressure and temperature will have an impact on the weather across a large geographical area.

But to get an idea of how the weather will develop for the precise spot where you're standing (or walking, sailing, golfing, fishing, etc) you don't need any equipment or any in-depth scientific understanding. You just need to look up.

With this book in hand, you will get a broad understanding of why the clouds are symptoms of weather patterns, not causes. People have been reading signs in the sky for thousands of years, and with clear, full-color photographs, this book shows you exactly what those signs mean.

"Well researched--practical information in an easy to assimilate form." -Professor Richard Collier, former President of the Royal Meteorological Society

"So good that my Yachtmaster candidates would do well to read it. I learned something from this book. I bet you do too." - Tom Cunliffe, author of The Complete Day Skipper and The Complete Yachtmaster

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 8, 2019

Reviews

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very pragmatic, handy book. The style is simple and concise in the extreme - but this left me feeling there was nothing in it that wasn't useful more than anything else.

Some lovely proverbs about the weather are also collected in one chapter and evaluated. More of them have something to them than I would think! And one or two very helpful.

I think I'll have to re-read at some point to get more from it - and I'm sure it would be very useful as a reference for revisiting short term forecasting and clouds more generally.

[Vojtěch Soudný · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hezká útlá příručka plná fotek a ilustrací. Naučí základy meteorlogie i toho, jak předpovědět počasí podle mraků.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the sort of book I enjoy because it knows what it is trying to do and commits to it. The strongest parts are the atmosphere and the sense of momentum; it kept giving me reasons to continue. Oliver Perkins gives it enough control and personality that it feels like more than just a premise on a page. The pacing, mood, and central ideas all came together well enough that I was happy to keep turning pages. It had the right mix of substance and entertainment, which is always the sweet spot for me. Five stars because it delivered the kind of reading experience I always hope for.