Understanding Severe and Unusual Weather

by Joe R. Eagleman

An understanding of severe and unusual weather should be a fundamental part of everyone's storehouse of knowledge. We live in a world that is at least occasionally dominated by severe and unusual weather. Many types of severe weather are sufficiently rare that a common defense mechanism of many people is to assume that they will never be directly affected. However, there is hardly a place in the whole world that does not have some peculiar aspect of weather that requires some degree of understanding and preparedness in order to avoid loss of property and, perhaps, even life itself. Fortunately, no particular location has all the different kinds of unusual and severe weather; thus, coastal areas are exposed to the tremendous power of the hurricane that bring high winds and frequently produce flood conditions, while within the interior United States, where hurricanes are not a threat, such severe types of weather as tornadoes, hailstorms, and blizzards are sufficiently frequent that an understanding of these storms is essential when traveling or living in this part of the United States. Although lightning is a greater hazard in some parts of the world than others, there are very few locations, including Alaska and the Desert Southwest, where occasional severe thunderstorms do not develop numerous lightning strokes. A proper understanding is important for flash flooding, derechos, mountainadoes, haboobs and other unusual weather. People have different responses to everyday weather from resistant to feeling dominated by it. You can find your level of response from a self test that is provided.

285 pages, Hardcover

Published January 14, 2022

About the author

Joe R. Eagleman (1936- ) was born on a farm near West Plains Missouri. He received the PhD from the University of Missouri in 1963 and was a professor at the University of Kansas for 39 years. He taught thousands of students through his courses there and many thousands more through four different textbooks used by over a hundred universities over a span of several decades. He directed a successful experiment, funded by NASA, on Skylab and invented a tornado in his laboratory that was used by Universal Studios for the 50 ft. tornado attraction in the Twister Building in Orlando Florida for several decades. Another display of the tornado he created is a featured attraction at the Exploratorium in San Francisco from the 1980's to present. His technical book, THUNDERSTORMS, TORNADOES AND BUILDING DAMAGE, includes his tornado safety research which resulted in changes that have been adopted nationally.
He has recorded three albums of original music. The latest, BREATH OF FRESH AIR, was released in 2018 and contains 11 songs composed by him and sung by him and his grandson, Trevor.
His autobiography, NAME YOUR PRICE, tells of his early life on a farm where he was the 11th of 12 children. He describes discipline and learning experiences in the one room rural grade school and dealing with a bully on the playground. It includes his experiences as a scientist as well as a number of unusual hobbies including activities as an artist, musician, luthier, marksman, taxidermist, world traveler and other endeavors. His book of poetry, POETRY OF LOVE AND LIFE, was published in 2019. His book, MONUMENTAL MOMENTS, tells of all the significant moments that changed the course of his life and was also published in 2019.