Sometimes some books get written as witnesses of a moment. They will bear witness in the future to what was and what might have been.

One would not expect a book on weather forecasting to be such a book. Yet, in our current political climate, that’s what Cloud Warriors: Deadly Storms, Climate Chaos — and the Pioneers Creating a Revolution in Weather Forecasting, by Thomas Weber, proves to be.

The work is engagingly written and very well researched; the author is quite often “in the room where it happens” when it comes to weather tracking and forecasting. The major forms of weather disturbances and forecasts and players are considered, including tornadoes, hurricanes, heat, wildfire, short-, medium-, and long-term forecasting, both here in the States and in Europe.

The author well communicates the dedication and passion all the scientists maintain, and all with a view to preserve life and property in the face of whatever weather conditions may come at us.

All the technological developments are well explained and contextualized. The author presents reasons for optimism regarding how forecasts and predictions will get better with better and more granular data.

But, of course, all of this has now been thrown into chaos and doubt. The author did well in explaining how the government, university, and corporate alliances and cooperation have worked very well to advance and develop our current technological capabilities. That’s all been torn up by the present administration, ostensibly with a view to boost the corporate side at the detriment of the government and university departments. And, ultimately, to the harm of the rest of us, as forecasts get less accurate and communication less coherent.

We can only hope, and work, to make sure the recent disruptions to NOAA, the NWS, and university research funding are made very temporary, because the weather will still be volatile, and we are all better off when we allow the people the author interviews to do their jobs and do it well.

Unfortunately, I did not finish reading this book. It may be my fault, I thought the book would be more about the people who pioneered weather forecasting, as the subtitle states. Instead I found the people discussed are modern forecasters or people who help involved in the technology.

The book seemed heavily focused on warning systems and it can be done better. Yes, this is something that is needed, but not what I was looking for in the book.

Really enjoyed the beginning chapters, but at about halfway I starting struggling to keep focused as it began to feel very long.

⭐⭐⭐.5

Pre-Read Notes:

I grabbed this because I loved the cover. I'm interested in weather and climate and I love how popular science can take on the pressing issues of our times. I expect to enjoy or at least appreciate this book.

"As we hit the afternoon hours, the storms begin to heat up. Several times we find ourselves pummeled by hail or confronted by the eerie spectacle of a wall cloud dipping down over farmland dotted by wind turbines. In one, I see a funnel shape forming and the rotating tube begins to tilt toward the ground before it peters out." p49

Final Review

CLOUD WARRIORS is an interesting read, dense with data and smart interpretations of it, and suggesting overall that it might be time for the US to upgrade its storm warning system.

A brief book at 250 pages, this book is concise, but I thought some of the data and ideas could have been more fully unpacked.

I would still recommend this one to readers of popular science and those who are interested in weather and climate.

My 3 Favorite Things:

✔️ "In 2023, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tallied a record twenty-eight separate weather disasters in which costs exceeded one billion dollars." p6 I like when popular scientists include information about how their field intersects with other interests. Tge weather science is interesting in itself, but it doesn't become relevant until we consider how it interacts with other sectors.

✔️ I like that the author discusses issues of accessibility with our current weather warning systems and how updates could address the needs of already vulnerable populations.

✔️ There is a lot of really good data in this book, from the expected, like familiar to alien weather technology, and the unexpected, like social factors that contribute to someone's chance of experiencing extreme weather events.

Notes:

1. Content warnings: descriptions of extreme weather, discussions of systemic injustice

Thank you to the author Thomas E. Weber, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of CLOUD WARRIORS. All views are mine.

CLOUD WARRIORS by Thomas E. Weber is a dive into the tools used to predict weather and communicate it to the public. Weber takes the reader behind the scenes in chapters focused on tornadoes, fire, the local forecast, hyperlocal weather, heat, hurricanes, and seasonal forecasting. He also takes it a step further and incorporates an environmental justice aspect as well as the importance of properly communicating weather to save lives.

CLOUD WARRIORS is an excellent book for any weather junkie, whether deeply entrenched or a somewhat interested amateur enthusiast. Although Weber is a journalist, this nonfiction is fairly approachable considering the amount of jargon present in any scientific field. Weber seems to take pains to make sure the content isn't too dry. The various science explanations are fairly high level. And Weber breaks them up with anecdotes from the people working in those jobs or by sensitively recounting tragic weather events.

The chapters about tornadoes, fire, and hyperlocal weather were the ones I found the most interesting. I can't say I fully understand the science behind how a tornado forms. But Weber explains the mechanisms behind it, albeit at a high level. Suffice it to say, it's complicated and is why tornadoes are so hard to predict until they actually happen. The fire chapter was incredibly interesting and taught me a lot. The risk of fire in California has increased so much over the past 10-20 years that one particular power company is ahead of the curve. They urgently want to prevent any fires from their equipment. Instead they created their own weather center that seems to do a phenomenal job.

Last, and certainly not least, the hyperlocal weather chapters gives the reader insight into the intersection of weather predictions from government and private companies. This chapter emphasizes the progress made on hyperlocal forecasts. It also discusses why it's important to have both government and private entities in on the weather. It was eerie to reference one politician's argument back in the early 2000's that all weather should be privatized. (Fast forward 20 years and that argument is circulating again.)

But CLOUD WARRIORS isn't just about various weather models and institutions. Weber also takes time to provide examples of how minorities or impoverished people often live in hotspots within the community. The author provides an excellent example from Richmond, Virginia. While there he accompanied a team mapping temperatures in the city to see where they're the hottest. Another aspect close to Weber's heart is that of communication. To save lives, timely and pertinent communication is incredibly important. That also means thinking of ways to get the word out to those who don't have technology (like the Amish) or those who live in rural communities.

The only chapter that I found a bit lackluster was the one about hurricanes. Most of the page time focused on different weather models, which is interesting in its own right. But the chapter needed the extra step of connecting the importance of those models to hurricane forecasting.

Overall, though, CLOUD WARRIORS is a great synthesis of the amazing tools available to weather scientists. Those who have a natural interest in the weather, whether beginner or veteran, will probably find something new to learn from this book. It's a much-needed nonfiction in a world increasingly hostile toward scientific facts.

I read this book during not one but two tornado warnings and crazy Austin weather. (I know deadly heat will follow soon) I found it helped set the mood…but it is not required to do so.

Cloud Warriors focuses on the people pushing boundaries of science and technology to build better weather forecasts—providing life-saving warnings and crucial intelligence about nature’s deadliest threats. I found it fascinating that the groups studying weather are not just meteorologists but also social scientists to study how the best way to get warnings out there, and the study the inequities of weather and survival. I work on the opposite side from the people in the book. I am in disaster recovery, so I see the world every day after the storms, fires and heat have left. The Cloud warriors out there are trying to find better ways to warn peoples, while I try to help communities mitigate the disasters when they hit. It is not an if, but when.

I found this book fascinating and may have sent a lot of coworker’s teams messages telling them they had to read it. Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley! #cloudwarriors #netgalley

Weather has been a subject that both terrifies me and fascinates me.
I really did enjoy how this author broke the book out into different categories of weather.
The tornado section is always going to be the section that hooks me in.
I blame my parents for letting me watch Twister and a young age.

This book is very science heavy but told in a way that people who have absolutely no background in science can understand it.
The concept of "weather literacy" will save lives.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I loved this informative book about the weather it was engaging and well researched and just an overall good read