Keith234
(Storm Chaser)
Wed Aug 25 2004 10:38 PM
Books about Tropical Cyclones

I have been looking for books on tropical cyclones, but I can't really find anything, besides things that are pretty basic. I've really wanted to find a book on the dyanmics of forecasting hurricanes, but I as I said before there's not much. Can anyone help?

Ed DunhamAdministrator
(Former Meteorologist & CFHC Forum Moderator (Ed Passed Away on May 14, 2017))
Wed Aug 25 2004 11:08 PM
Re: Books about Tropical Cyclones

Best bet would probably be the bookstore of a nearby college or university, but I'll yield to Clark on this one.
ED


Clark
(Meteorologist)
Thu Aug 26 2004 01:35 AM
Re: Books about Tropical Cyclones

Unfortunately...there is no de facto tropical meteorology textbook. A few dynamics books do contain material on tropical cyclones, however, and there are some other publications which may be of some help.

One in particular I can think of would be "An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology" (4th edition; 2004) by James Holton. Unfortunately, he passed away earlier this year, but his text is the standard used by nearly every major university in covering dynamical meteorology and includes a chapter on tropical cyclones. Be warned though, it's not simple material by any means and without a background in the field, it may seem foreign. You can pick up a copy online or at most college bookstores that have a meteorology/atmospheric sciences department at the school.

On a slightly lower (and more specific) level is a publication of the World Meteorological Organization. The exact name escapes me, as I don't have a copy off-hand, but it is about 10 years old and is the closest thing to a tropical meteorology textbook there is today. Actually, the name of it is "Global Perspectives on Tropical Cyclones" -- despite being ten years old, it is still very, very useful and should cover most of what you are looking for. The problem is finding a copy -- as it is a WMO publication, you can't pick up a copy at a bookstore or online or anything. You can dig around the WMO page at http://www.wmo.ch/ for more details; I'm trying to get further information about ordering a copy, as I'm interested in having a copy myself (I know someone who has one, but it's on oblong sized paper (8.5"x14") and copying over 300 pages isn't the easiest thing to do) and will let you know if/when I find out anything more.

Hope this helps, at least some.


Keith234
(Storm Chaser)
Thu Aug 26 2004 08:48 AM
Re: Books about Tropical Cyclones

I have found 3 books on tropical meteorology, the first being the best, has anyone heard of them.
1.Forecasters Guide to Tropical Meteorology, Published 2004 and written by Gray Atkinson.
2.17th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology
3.Tropical Meteorology, Oceanography, and Climate.

I'm still looking and should add to this list.


Clark
(Meteorologist)
Thu Aug 26 2004 11:58 AM
Re: Books about Tropical Cyclones

Haven't heard of those, except for the second one. That is a 12-14 year old conference proceedings guide from the AMS; they just held the 26th (I believe) such conference this year down in Miami in May. Generally, the only way to get those programs is to find an old copy from someone or actually attend the meeting...so recent ones may not be so readily available.

Regarding the second text I mentioned last time -- you can order it from the AMS by e-mailing wmopubs@ametsoc.org and asking about WMO Technical Document No. 693, "Global Perspectives on Tropical Cyclones." No word on a price, however.


Keith234
(Storm Chaser)
Fri Aug 27 2004 01:42 PM
Re: Books about Tropical Cyclones

Thanks, I'll check this out, I might need this for college.


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