Instant Weather Forecasting

by Alan Watts

Overview

Instant Weather Forecasting
has been a perennial bestseller since it was first published nearly 40
years ago. A brilliant concept, its winning formula of 24 colour
photographs of cloud formations and their accompanying explanatory text
enables the reader to read the sky, pick up the clues, and predict what
the weather will do.

With a revised and updated text, along with
new colour photographs and diagrams, this bestselling gem of a book
will be invaluable to anyone participating in outdoor activities, from
farming, gardening and walking to riding, golfing, flying, sailing and
fishing - and of course holidaymakers.

'Excellent value and a good cockpit companion' Classic Boat
'A surefire bestseller' The Yachtsman
'Another gem that's a dog-eared favourite' Coastal Cruising
'A handy and information-packed little volume' Birdwatch

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781408198964
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	10/23/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Alan Watts, one-time professional meteorologist, has spent considerable
time studying wind changes and short-term alterations in the weather.
This, combined with his enthusiasm for sailing, has enabled him to
assist people to read the weather from the signs in the sky. He is also
the author of Instant Wind Forecasting and The Weather Handbook both published by Adlard Coles Nautical.
Alan Watts, one-time professional meteorologist, spent considerable time studying wind changes and short-term alterations in the weather. This, combined with his enthusiasm for sailing which began with the sea scouts, enabled him to assist people to read the weather from the signs in the sky. He died in May 2020.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Fourth Edition
How to Use This Book
Facts About Clouds
Beaufort Scale of Wind Force
1. Jet Stream Cirrus
2. Cirrus and cirrostratus
3. Warm front or occlusion approaching
4. Altostratus ahead of a warm front or occlusion
5. Imminent rain or snow
6. A front passes
7. Thundery sky
8. Thunderstorm
9. Warm sector weather
10. Sea and coastal fog
11. Showers
12. Air mass trough
13. Cumulonimbus
14. Quiet evening
15. Red sky at night
16. Cirrus foretelling improvement
17. Will it thunder?
18. Will it rain?
19. Fair weather cumulus
20. Cirrus revealing no change
21. Stratocumulus
22. Stratus
23. Altocumulus and cirrocumulus
24. Coastline clouds
Index

Editorial Reviews

One of the greatest threats to an enjoyable vacation is inclement weather. Instant Weather Forecasting has been a popular forecasting guide since its first printing in 1968. It features 24 color pictures of clouds (covering a variety of weather situations) and accompanying tables that can be analyzed to help determine potential weather events. The author is an avid sailor, and the book is intended to be particularly useful for the boating aficionado.

Bulletin Of The American Meteorological Society

'It is inevitably the hope of the humble reviewer that his happily and snappily worded praise for an unremarkable book will send the world rushing to buy it. Fortunately, however, for the intimates of book reviewers who generally find them more appealing as long as they stay humble word-of-mouth remarks will outsell the most effulgent review every time. For more than 35 years, the world has known about this little book and its cumulative sales figures over 500,000 in 12 languages now speak far louder than anything I might write.

From the title, its immediate appeal to sailors is obvious but my guess is that its appeal to many sailors and others came when the first sailors discovered it really did do what it says on the can and told all their mates. What does it do? The book has 24 full-page colour pictures of the sky and alongside each, the author explains carefully but not too technically what exactly you are seeing and what this tells you about what the weather is likely to do next. It's as simple as that, which is why reviewers long before me have said every boat should have one.

WaterCraft

One of the greatest threats to an enjoyable vacation is inclement weather. Instant Weather Forecasting has been a popular forecasting guide since its first printing in 1968. It features 24 color pictures of clouds (covering a variety of weather situations) and accompanying tables that can be analyzed to help determine potential weather events. The author is an avid sailor, and the book is intended to be particularly useful for the boating aficionado.

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

I have a favorite little book that I have to replace every four or five years because of overuse. Almost every time we go to sea, we spend time looking at its color photos of different types of clouds and comparing them to the clouds we see above us. Then we carefully read Watts's analysis of what the clouds portend.

Sail Magazine