Weather Map Handbook (2nd Edition)

Weather Map Handbook
a guide to the Internet, modern forecasting, and weather technology

SECOND EDITION

by Tim Vasquez
2008 / 169 pp. / $29.95 / ISBN 0-9706840-7-X
8 x 10" / True bound / Offset print / Glossy color cover

It's the meteorology handbook that forecasters have been waiting for. It brings a focus on graphics, not on concepts and obscure equations. It's the type of book designed to get beaten up and torn with frequent use at your analysis desk. The Weather Map Handbook explains nearly every chart used in meteorology. It's designed for the Internet, showing where the "pros" go to get their charts. It has a complete listing of weather map symbols, iconographs, and decoding information. It's the perfect companion to our other major title, Weather Forecasting Handbook.

The science of forecasting has not changed, but the Internet and new marvels of technology have completely redefined the process. It is not a rare thing for weather hobbyists and National Weather Service forecasters to get a product from the very same site. With more and more charts and tools appearing on the Internet by the week, how do you make sense of the avalanche of weather imagery and data?

Using a double-page format, the Weather Map Handbook demonstrates nearly every type of weather map, image, and product in common use. An overview of each items origin, purpose, shortfalls, and tips are outlined. Standards for analysis symbology and chart markings are summarized. The surface, 850 mb, 700 mb, 500 mb, and 300-200 mb charts get two pages each, complete with philosophy, objectives, and techniques for each chart. Thickness, isentropic, and Q vector products get their own sections.

The WSR-88D Doppler Radar, in use by the United States weather services, has played a vast part in the weather information revolution. In the Weather Map Handbook, it gets thirty pages packed with the fundamentals and algorithms of the WSR-88D. Much of this information is obscure and nearly impossible to find. From the workings of the Composite Reflectivity product to the exact process used by the Mesocyclone Detection Algorithm to deconstruct a radar scan, any NEXRAD radar product on the Internet can be understood. There is even a range-height nomogram for each volume coverage pattern.

From the Eta to the MM5, from the GFS to the GEM, each numerical forecast model is revealed in incredible detail. Ensemble forecasts are highlighted. The satellite chapter explains visible, infrared, and water vapor imagery, how it is created, and how to interpret it. Even the METAR, TAF, SYNOP, and radiosonde formats get their own sections, complete with decoding instructions.

Topping off the book is an appendix with surface and upper-level station plot models, a vast technical glossary compiled from the depths of the NWS, SPC, and NCEP, and much more! Whether you are a hobbyist, private forecaster, a professional, or a student, the Weather Map Handbook is the book you cant be without.

Contents

• Basic Weather Concepts
• Observational Charts
  • SURFACE
  • 850 MB
  • 700 MB
  • 500 MB
  • 300/250/200 MB
  • THICKNESS
  • ISENTROPIC ANALYSIS
  • VORTICITY ANALYSIS
  • VERTICAL VELOCITY (OMEGA)
  • Q-VECTOR ANALYSIS
  • THERMODYNAMIC DIAGRAM
  • WIND PROFILERS
• Satellite Imagery
  • VISIBLE IMAGERY
  • INFRARED IMAGERY
  • WATER VAPOR IMAGERY
  • GOES SOUNDINGS
• Radar
  • WSR-88D SCAN STRATEGY
  • REFLECTIVITY
  • COMPOSITE REFLECTIVITY
  • VELOCITY
  • SPECTRUM WIDTH
  • PRECIPITATION TOTAL
  • VERTICALLY INTEGRATED LIQUID
  • ECHO TOPS
  • STORM TRACKING INFORMATION
  • HAIL PRODUCTS
  • MESOCYCLONE PRODUCTS
  • TORNADO PRODUCTS
  • VAD WIND PROFILE
  • FREE TEXT MESSAGE
• Human Forecasts
  • SPC CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
  • HPC SURFACE PROGNOSIS
  • AREA FORECAST DISCUSSIONS
• Numerical Weather Prediction
  • ENSEMBLE PREDICTIONS
  • MODEL FORECAST SOUNDINGS
  • ETA MODEL
  • NGM MODEL
  • RUC MODEL
  • GFS MODEL
  • MM5 MODEL
  • NOGAPS MODEL
  • WRF MODEL
  • ECMWF MODEL
  • UKMET MODEL
  • GEM MODEL
  • JMA MODEL
• Text Data
  • SYNOP SURFACE OBSERVATIONS
  • METAR SURFACE OBSERVATIONS
  • TERMINAL AERODROME FORECAST
  • RADIOSONDE OBSERVATIONS
• Appendix
  • SURFACE PLOT SCHEMATIC
  • UPPER AIR PLOT SCHEMATIC
  • ICAO REGIONS
  • WMO REGIONS
  • DESCRIPTORS
  • PRESENT WEATHER
  • CLOUD GROUPS
  • FORECASTING CONTRACTIONS
  • CHART ANALYSIS SYMBOLOGY
  • STABILITY INDICES
  • MILLERS SEVERE PARAMETERS
• Glossary
• Suggested Internet Weather Sites
• Suggested References and Further Reading
• Index