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The Weather of the Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest experiences the most varied and fascinating weather in the United States, including world-record winter snows, the strongest non-tropical storms in the nation, and shifts from desert to rain forest in a matter of miles. Local weather features dominate the meteorological landscape, from the Puget Sound convergence zone and wind surges along the Washington Coast, to gap winds through the Columbia Gorge and the "Banana Belt" of southern Oregon. This book is the first comprehensive and authoritative guide to Northwest weather that is directed to the general reader; helpful to boaters, hikers, and skiers; and valuable to expert meteorologists. In The Weather of the Pacific Northwest , University of Washington atmospheric scientist and popular radio commentator Cliff Mass unravels the intricacies of Northwest weather, from the mundane to the mystifying. By examining our legendary floods, snowstorms, and windstorms, and a wide variety of local weather features, Mass answers such interesting questions o Why does the Northwest have localized rain shadows? o What is the origin of the hurricane force winds that often buffet the region? o Why does the Northwest have so few thunderstorms? o What is the origin of the Pineapple Express? o Why do ferryboats sometimes seem to float above the water's surface? o Why is it so hard to predict Northwest weather? Mass brings together eyewitness accounts, historical records, and meteorological science to explain Pacific Northwest weather. He also considers possible local effects of global warming. The final chapters guide readers in interpreting the Northwest sky and in securing weather information on their own. Cliff Mass , professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington and weekly guest on KUOW radio, is the preeminent authority on Northwest weather. He has published dozens of articles on Northwest weather and leads the regional development of advanced weather prediction tools. "What used to be thought of as the quietly gray weather of the Northwest may now be recognized as a titanic struggle of the weather gods; full of avalanches, non-tropical cyclones, and weather induced mirages. Turn off the TV weather, read this book, and get in touch with the magic dance of Northwestern wind, waves, and water." - Congressman Jay Inslee, co-author of Apollo's Igniting American's Clean Energy Economy "Great progress has been made in understanding the often challenging and always interesting weather of the Pacific Northwest. Cliff Mass has either participated in or directed much of that work. Readers will directly benefit from his knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm in this highly readable, fascinating, and useful book." - Jeff Renner, Chief Meteorologist, KING Television, Seattle "Cliff Mass has written an excellent, clear and comprehensive survey of weather in this region covering the origin and incidence of all major weather phenomena in the Northwest from rain to wind to snow to drought to optical illusions. Weather, as Cliff makes abundantly clear, is not just a source of griping or amusement or awe in this region, but often a life and death matter." - David Laskin, author of Rains All the Time and The Children's Blizzard " The Weather of The Pacific Northwest is a great tool for learning and understanding our constantly changing weather. Having grown up in Seattle and racing year round on Puget Sound it is always a struggle to figure out what the weather is going to do, and Cliff Mass does a great job of explaining what affects our weather and why it can be so diverse. Anyone wanting to understand the Pacific Northwest's weather will find this book extremely informative and a joy to read." - Trevor Sterry, Vice Commodore Shilshole Bay Yacht Club "The book uniquely includes solid scientific rigor in explanations that help to unravel the many mysteries and curiosities of the weather in the Pacific Northwest. It provides an unsurpassed opportunity to interested laypersons and weather enthusiasts not only to learn about the many weather events that occur in the Northwest but also to understand the meteorological principles that are at the root of their existence." - Brad Colman, NOAA/National Weather Service
281 pages, Paperback
First published November 20, 2008
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366 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
February 15, 2013
Cliff Mass is the go-to guy for weather in this region; I've been reading and enjoying his blog for a while. This book is an amazing compilation of just about everything weather in the Pacific NW. Learned lots and lots about how our geology affects the weather, as well as some good basic meteorology, the physics of clouds, etc. Has a great chapter on understanding what you see in the sky, and doing some amateur prediction of your own.
Fascinating history, too, with lots of the disaster storm stuff that's just crazy to read; the book is new enough that it even has the windstorms of '06 and the flooding of '07, but also includes amazing weather events all the way back into the 19th century.
Oh, and plenty of beautiful/weird pictures and helpful graphics.
A bit dense in places, but overall fantastic. I want a copy of my own!
edit: received as Christmas gift from Mom. (2011?)
Fascinating history, too, with lots of the disaster storm stuff that's just crazy to read; the book is new enough that it even has the windstorms of '06 and the flooding of '07, but also includes amazing weather events all the way back into the 19th century.
Oh, and plenty of beautiful/weird pictures and helpful graphics.
A bit dense in places, but overall fantastic. I want a copy of my own!
edit: received as Christmas gift from Mom. (2011?)
December 23, 2021
Interesting stuff, lots of pictures and charts - but at times repetitive. This is the updated edition; I didn't read the original but the back of the book says a chapter on wildfires and updates to the technology are the biggest additions.
Got a little dense at times, but overall a good balance of information, historical stories and photos. Major focus on western Washington, but eastern, Oregon and BC all show up enough to make it worthwhile.
Got a little dense at times, but overall a good balance of information, historical stories and photos. Major focus on western Washington, but eastern, Oregon and BC all show up enough to make it worthwhile.
November 4, 2022
This was a really interesting subject matter and the book to me could have been amazing, but sadly it suffered from a severe case of statistics overload!
Literally every page had dozens of dates, stats, lengths, times, inches, miles which eventually became a little offputting. I just wanted to read a solid paragraph without numbers!
That said, the book is amazingly thorough and there are some great colour and black and white photographs.
Overall good but could have been so much better.
Literally every page had dozens of dates, stats, lengths, times, inches, miles which eventually became a little offputting. I just wanted to read a solid paragraph without numbers!
That said, the book is amazingly thorough and there are some great colour and black and white photographs.
Overall good but could have been so much better.
July 2, 2019
Before moving to Seattle, I was warned of the 'drizzly' climate where the sunless skies directly influenced grunge music. But after living here for one year, I wanted to educate myself on the what makes a coastal city surrounded by beautiful waterways and stunning mountain ranges also be considered bleak.
Cliff Mass does an excellent job of describing the micro climates and macro trends across Washington and Oregon. Of course, a book solely about weather has to be a little dry, so the book is not a quick read. I have learned more about air pressure, cloud formations, and wind directions than I would have expected on my workday commute. Recommend for others in the PNW area!
Cliff Mass does an excellent job of describing the micro climates and macro trends across Washington and Oregon. Of course, a book solely about weather has to be a little dry, so the book is not a quick read. I have learned more about air pressure, cloud formations, and wind directions than I would have expected on my workday commute. Recommend for others in the PNW area!
July 19, 2012
AWESOME. Occasional overload (disclosure: I am an atmospheric, thermodynamics, and physics layperson), but always came away understanding. Nice combining of specific examples of general weather phenomena.
And my favorite part: After introducing general atmospheric and oceanic stuff, and how our local water and mountains etc influence them, there are special interest chapters. How does this all mesh with global climate change? Weather reporting? And suppose, as a layperson, you do not want to look at 80 radar and satellite images before you decide whether to take a jacket? Chapter 13: "Reading the Pacific Northwest Skies."
Thanks, Cliff Mass!
And my favorite part: After introducing general atmospheric and oceanic stuff, and how our local water and mountains etc influence them, there are special interest chapters. How does this all mesh with global climate change? Weather reporting? And suppose, as a layperson, you do not want to look at 80 radar and satellite images before you decide whether to take a jacket? Chapter 13: "Reading the Pacific Northwest Skies."
Thanks, Cliff Mass!
June 7, 2011
Great insights into the normal and abnormal weather of Washington and Oregon. Plenty of stories to keep it from sounding too much like at atmospheric science textbook. Could definitely use a bit of a editor's diet to trim its girth though.
December 16, 2017
(4.0) informative and practical, fair bit of science and not too dumbed down
Definitely love reading people nerd out on something they deeply enjoy. That comes through and makes the book even more enjoyable. (Note: officially I took over a year to finish this, but in reality I went cover to cover in less than a week recently when I picked it back up).
Only complaints are that it’s got a fair bit of re-telling a list of past storms, and the inconsistency of data representation. Storm lore is probably engrossing talk for a meteorologist, but felt like too much of the book was his way. And the graphics and data are useful but often the same type of data are represented in very different ways/colors over varying scales of geography that you need to recalibrate for each figure. They may have been pulled from individual papers where they were internally consistent, and Cliff didn’t want/couldn’t massage the data into similar formats throughout the book.
Aside from those, definitely learned a lot about weather in general, and appreciated the primer at the end on ‘reading the skies’ to translate cloud formations into near-term local weather predictions (helpful for bike rides and hikes and such).
Definitely love reading people nerd out on something they deeply enjoy. That comes through and makes the book even more enjoyable. (Note: officially I took over a year to finish this, but in reality I went cover to cover in less than a week recently when I picked it back up).
Only complaints are that it’s got a fair bit of re-telling a list of past storms, and the inconsistency of data representation. Storm lore is probably engrossing talk for a meteorologist, but felt like too much of the book was his way. And the graphics and data are useful but often the same type of data are represented in very different ways/colors over varying scales of geography that you need to recalibrate for each figure. They may have been pulled from individual papers where they were internally consistent, and Cliff didn’t want/couldn’t massage the data into similar formats throughout the book.
Aside from those, definitely learned a lot about weather in general, and appreciated the primer at the end on ‘reading the skies’ to translate cloud formations into near-term local weather predictions (helpful for bike rides and hikes and such).
January 21, 2020
This is a pretty comprehensive overview of Northwest weather, which can be surprisingly complex. I’m looking forward to updates from professor Mass to this 2008 book. There have been several historic weather events since this book was published and the Langley Hill NEXRAD site is up and running now (thanks to his urging).
November 25, 2021
Exhausting and apparently exhaustive. I learned a lot in this. But a lot also went over my head. It was dense and deep. And perhaps I don't have the pre-requisites to fully appreciate this. But it was totally cool. And had fantastic example photos. I definitely want this as a reference and maybe I'd understand it more on a re-read.
April 11, 2020
I read this as part of the King County Library System 10 to Try 2020 Challenge: Read a Book About Nature.
April 17, 2015
Very good overview of common weather features of the Pacific Northwest, although my chief complaint is that it doesn't cover Southeast Alaska at all, despite it being part of the Pacific Northwest (albeit in the broader sense). Even more irritating given that Southeast Alaskan weather has nowhere else received similar treatment as the one presented in this book.
Although this book does not go into finer detail about certain mechanisms of weather, it does clearly explain many of the concepts needed to understand the current discussion, so it gets points for that. An understanding of weather fundamentals is, certainly, very beneficial for reading this book (I therefore recommend reading a basic weather text first, then reading this one, to see how those fundamental mechanisms work in real locales). The images are many and of excellent quality (at least where possible). The book itself is well put together, and overall, I enjoyed reading it.
Although this book does not go into finer detail about certain mechanisms of weather, it does clearly explain many of the concepts needed to understand the current discussion, so it gets points for that. An understanding of weather fundamentals is, certainly, very beneficial for reading this book (I therefore recommend reading a basic weather text first, then reading this one, to see how those fundamental mechanisms work in real locales). The images are many and of excellent quality (at least where possible). The book itself is well put together, and overall, I enjoyed reading it.
January 9, 2017
Living in Seattle for almost 10 years and traveling around Pacific Northwest extensively, I have been amazed by the challenge to figure out what unique and complex weather in the region. The book helped me understand PNW weather; it gave great details on the secret forces behind weather and their intriguing and interesting interaction. It covered all major weather phenomenon, from common weather of mild summer and grey dizzily winter to historic life and death events like flooding, non topical cyclones, and snow storm. each weather is presented clearly and concisely, with information graphs, distinct photos and records of historical weather events. All those information were well organized, easy to understand and pleasant to read. Enjoyed it very much.
December 4, 2009
This book is pretty much a must-read for anybody who lives in the Seattle area (or, to a slightly lesser degree, Portland) and who is at all interested in the weather.
Mass writes for the interested layperson, appearing to assume a non-specialized high school education. It looks and reads something like an introductory college text, which is understandable given that Mass is a professor of atmospheric science at UW. Also understandable is the book's focus on Washington and particularly the Seattle area, giving Oregon somewhat short shrift given the title of the book.
Mass writes for the interested layperson, appearing to assume a non-specialized high school education. It looks and reads something like an introductory college text, which is understandable given that Mass is a professor of atmospheric science at UW. Also understandable is the book's focus on Washington and particularly the Seattle area, giving Oregon somewhat short shrift given the title of the book.
December 1, 2010
Cliff Mass explains in elegant layman's language the facts of Pacific Northwest weather patterns. Now I can see the challenges and realities of trying to predict the unpredictable. In many instances, PNW weather prediction is akin to a 'blind man'(lack of adequate radar coverage) trying to predict and describe the exact color of an vain woman's business attire for next Monday to a 'deaf' person (a TV viewer who flunked statistics) in short paragraphed sound bites....
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March 28, 2015I mostly enjoyed this book as it gave a good description of the effects of terrain and the land-sea interactions in northwest Washington.
The book is mainly focused on the Puget Sound and Cascade Mountains (and I gather that is where the author is based), which is interesting, but other sections of the Pacific Northwest such as the Rogue Valley, only get brief mentions.
The book is mainly focused on the Puget Sound and Cascade Mountains (and I gather that is where the author is based), which is interesting, but other sections of the Pacific Northwest such as the Rogue Valley, only get brief mentions.
February 20, 2009
As a Seattle resident I especially enjoyed reading the sections of this 2008 book about severe and serious weather events that have occurred historically, including some of which have impacted me directly. I scanned the more scientific sections and focused more on looking at the photos.
January 4, 2014
Hands down this is one of the most interesting and informative book I've read. And, being an avid observer of our NW weather anomalies, I now have a basic understand of the why. Thank you Dr. Cliff Mass.
June 11, 2011
Does what it says on the label. An excellent overview for nerds and general interest alike. Decent coverage of both large-scale and small-scale phenomena.
February 12, 2009
A good overview of local weather phenomena.
August 18, 2009
A great overview of Northwest weather features. A good read for people who think it just rains all the time up here.
July 26, 2009
If I could pick a graduate Professor, it would be this guy. He studied under Carl Sagan! If you live in the northwest and like weird weather anomalies, read this book and check out his blog!
February 13, 2012
Now that I am not reading to get grades, I am truly enjoying learning about geography and weather.
November 11, 2013
Wonder why the weather man can never get it right in the northwest, this book explains the complexities of the weather in the northwest.
February 24, 2014
Cliff Mass is the coolest
September 7, 2015
The material is somewhat repetitive of what he writes on his blog, and then I went to a lecture series of his which was basically straight from the book, so felt no more impetus to keep reading.
November 17, 2015
This is a beautifully designed book and well written.
January 10, 2010
Great illustrations. A bit repetitive.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews