Severe and Hazardous Weather: An Introduction to High Impact Meteorology

The fifth edition can be found HERE 

 

Extreme weather and climate events have impacted every region of the United States and many regions throughout the world during the five years since the publication of the previous edition of Severe and Hazardous Weather. The recent fires in California and Oregon were heartbreaking to watch. The number of billion-dollar disasters attributable to weather and climate has been unprecedented. Hurricane Harvey caused record flooding in Houston, and Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Two Caribbean Islands, Barbuda and Grand Bahama were struck directly by Category 5 winds. Heat waves, once a rare summer event, are now happening every year. A bitter cold wave in 2021 had disastrous consequences in the southern United States. Meanwhile, the last 5 years were the hottest years on record globally, as the decades-long warnings of climate scientists have begun to come to fruition.

Science has continued its relentless charge to understand these events and improve their prediction. Scientists work tirelessly to study how hazardous weather systems develop, although the pace was slowed in recent years by the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerical modeling continues to advance at a rapid pace, leading to more accurate weather forecasts and more reliable climate projections. Researchers have made progress in understanding relationships between climate change and hazardous weather.

The 6th edition of Severe and Hazardous Weather is a response to all these changes. A new chapter on Fire Weather is the highlight. Well over a hundred figures in other chapters have been updated to reflect the latest scientific information and the most recent events. Throughout the text, high quality updated figures give the book a clear, bright new look. More importantly, the science presented in the book has been updated with the latest findings. Significant changes have been made in many chapters, reflecting new understanding of hazardous weather. The material on the linkages between climate change and severe weather has been expanded and updated.

The goal in Severe and Hazardous Weather continues to be to provide a current, relevant, and scientifically accurate discussion of all types of hazardous weather. It opens the doors to an understanding of severe and hazardous weather and allows each student to develop an appreciation for the complexities and power of weather. In a more practical vein, it helps readers to better prepare for hazardous weather, be more aware of what is happening when hazardous weather threatens, and to safely react when hazardous weather strikes.