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lornarei's review
4.0
Oh, I love a good weather book. The information was not new to me -- having read it Nancy Mathis' Storm Warning -- but it still stuns me to know that it was forbidden to warn of tornadoes pretty much until the 1960s. Especially with the hysteria some of the local news outlets whip up today! But I certainly appreciate the development of radar technology. When I was a kid, one of the tornadoes of the 1974 Super Outbreak passed within a few miles of our house. We had no clue. Going back and studying the history, it was the Monticello, IN, tornado -- an F4 with the longest track of any of the tornadoes of that day. It had been on the ground since 3:45 PM. They had just issued a *thunderstorm* warning at 6:20 PM as our power went out (for the next three days). How could they not have known? So I guess I will take a little hype as a trade-off for letting the public know that there is a possibility of danger.
westam's review
It turned into too much of a bragging autobiography and less about weather science.
epersonae's review
3.0
Primarily the story of how the tornado warning system came to be, including the author's participation as a TV weather guy and then founder of a private weather service. And when he sticks to that, it's good stuff.
Periodically, there's these sort of anti-government zingers that just hit me the wrong way, although I can see where they come from, given his experience. Also, the last quarter of the book (except for the last chapter) goes into great detail about hurricanes (specifically Andrew & Katrina), and a lot of that is about the political aspects. So...meh. Although that last chapter is a great wrap-up of the difference between the response to a recent tornado versus response to a tornado 50+ years ago.
And one tiny quibble: the blurb gives the impression that he's talking about all the different kinds of weather events in the US, when really it's almost all tornadoes, with a detour into hurricanes. Coming from an area where tornadoes are vanishingly rare, I was a bit disappointed.
I think this makes a good read in conjunction with other weather history books: Children's Blizzard, Isaac's Storm, Cliff Mass's book, etc.
Periodically, there's these sort of anti-government zingers that just hit me the wrong way, although I can see where they come from, given his experience. Also, the last quarter of the book (except for the last chapter) goes into great detail about hurricanes (specifically Andrew & Katrina), and a lot of that is about the political aspects. So...meh. Although that last chapter is a great wrap-up of the difference between the response to a recent tornado versus response to a tornado 50+ years ago.
And one tiny quibble: the blurb gives the impression that he's talking about all the different kinds of weather events in the US, when really it's almost all tornadoes, with a detour into hurricanes. Coming from an area where tornadoes are vanishingly rare, I was a bit disappointed.
I think this makes a good read in conjunction with other weather history books: Children's Blizzard, Isaac's Storm, Cliff Mass's book, etc.
jocelynh's review
3.0
Disappointingly little science for what I was expecting, but interesting nonetheless.
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