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STORM CHASING HANDBOOK
Price:
$32.95
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Storm Chasing HandbookSecond Edition
by Tim Vasquez
322 pp. / 206 illustrations / $32.95 / ISBN 0-9706840-8-8 / Printed December 2008 / 7 x 10" / True bound / Offset print / Glossy color cover
* Sample chapter (PDF, 1.7 MB)
"If severe convective storms are in your realm of interest, then I highly
recommend the Storm Chasing Handbook, whether you intend to chase or not.
The pages on severe thunderstorms and their forecasting are well worth the
book's modest price."
"Storm Chasing Handbook occupies a special niche in my book case here in
Honolulu. It was acquired at the "Severe Weather Workshop" last March
in Midwest City. I've mentioned it to all my Ham friends who participate
in Skywarn as the 'Storm Chasers Bible'!."
-- Thomas A. Seale, Honolulu
"I really enjoyed reading the "Storm Chaser Handbook", an excellent book!
Never before have I seen a book so informative, chock full of photos and
anecdotes, yet condensed into easy-reading material!"
-- Eric van Lochem, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
The Storm Chasing Handbook is the definitive bible on storm chasing,
packed with nearly 300 pages of storm chase history, philosophy,
technique, and travel information.
Using key findings from the past four decades of
scientific literature, readers learn the inner
workings of severe weather and dabble
with the fundamentals of forecasting
techniques, blended with wisdom from the
author’s own experiences.
Many skilled chasers contribute their own wisdom in the
form of anecdotes, tales, and funny stories.
From target area and storm type prediction to
successful, safe navigation, the Storm
Chasing Handbook has it covered.
A large appendix features a Great Plains
travel guide covering local history, culture,
meteorology, and geology for nearly 100
chase routes, as well as broadcast radio
and NOAA weather maps, a summary of
past chase years, and much more!
Includes nearly a dozen illustrations and cartoons by
pioneer and storm artist David Hoadley, some of which were
commissioned especially for this book. Contains great photographs
by Roger Hill, Gene Rhoden, Karen Leszke, Roger Edwards,
and the author himself.
Perfect for new chasers looking for a good start, seasoned veterans looking
for travel information, chase tour customers, weather hobbyists, and anyone
who deals with severe weather on a regular basis.
Detailed contents
- STORM CHASING. Learn all about the inner workings
of the hobby, how it got started, and who's involved.
This chapter covers the early days, profiles of chasers,
philosophy and objectives, ethics, the yahoo, and
how to start chasing.
- EQUIPMENT. A perfect companion when you're shopping
for gear. You'll find out which features matter the most.
Covers camcorders, still cameras, digital cameras,
vehicles, GPS units, navigation aids and atlases, amateur
radio, television, satellite systems, and chase partners!
- THE THUNDERSTORM. What is it that we are chasing?
What is convection, and how does the atmosphere create
conditions ripe for thunderstorms? This chapter
highlights thunderstorm growth and ingredients,
storm types, supercell types, and thunderstorm phenomena.
- FORECASTING. Tim's vast forecasting expertise is
laid down in this 40-page section. Fill in your knowledge
of convective and mesoscale forecasting. Topics include
the ingredient-based approach, analysis,
diagnosis, instability, moisture, lift, shear, the dryline,
fronts, orientation of boundaries, terrain, numerical
models, long-range forecasting.
- STRATEGY. What do you do when you're out in
the car? Learn to sharpen your success and safety
when out in the field. Subjects
include targeting before storms develop, long-range
strategy, close-range strategy, field tactics, and navigation.
- SAFETY. Safety overshadows all aspects of storm
chasing. Dozens of important tips are outlined in this
section. It's split into topics on
traffic, navigation, weather safety, and
environmental safety.
- TRAVEL GUIDE. Chasing is not all about storms.
Over 90% of the experience takes place under sunny skies
and with a travel-oriented attitude in mind. Just what
is this empty expanse you are crossing? There's much
more to it than meets the eye. Mile-by-mile points of
interest along all major highways, including cultural,
historical, geological, and meteorological aspects of
the trip, are documented here. You won't find this in
any tour guide.
Covers Southwest Texas, North Texas,
the Panhandles, Oklahoma, Eastern Kansas, Colorado & West Kansas,
the High Plains, the Northern Prairies, and the Far North.
- GREAT PLAINS DINING. We've sought out almost 70 legendary
steakhouses, BBQ joints, and Mexican restaurants across the
Great Plains. These aren't just the local feeding troughs.
These places are guaranteed to make even the worst bust enjoyable.
GPS coordinates, addresses, and telephone numbers of nearly
all listings are included.
- NOAA WEATHER RADIO CHASE MAPS. A 3-part map series will
help you locate the right NOAA Weather Radio frequency to tune
to and where the closest transmitter is.
- AM/FM RADIO CHASE MAPS. We've combed through FCC and
industry data to find all of the FM and AM broadcast stations
in remote areas of the Great Plains which might be counted
on to give you a critical bit of information or a warning.
Syndicated stations are asterisked to indicate that the
station might be on "autopilot".
- ANNUAL CHASE DIGEST. Just what were all the big "catches"
during each chase year, going back to 1982? You'll find out in
this guide. Important climatological indexes are included,
including teleconnection and ENSO/LNSO trends, just in case
you want to see if you can draw associations.
- MUCH MORE!. The Fujita damage scale, of course, along
with a storm troubleshooter, how to pick a chase tour,
top ten mistakes made by new chasers, suggested references,
a 6-page 3-column glossary, and more!
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