cance. Dick DeAngelis gave a wealth of insights into weather and its
history, as did the unforgettable writings and presence of the magazine's
founder, Dave Ludlum, who I found, to my delight, also shared a love of
history and matters orange-and-black. Mary Reed, with unfailing resource-
fulness, proved to me the human richness of this subject. A1 Blackadar,
Craig Bohren, and Tom Schlatter, through their deeply and carefully con-
sidered ways and words, ignited my interest in the fundamental issues of
science demonstrated by weather. The old issues of the magazine became
well worn with use as I turned back again and again to their work as well
as to contributions by dozens of other talented writers. As an editor, one
could never hope to completely satisfy this dedicated, world-class group
of experts. As a writer, I hope to honor their influence as best I can.

Many writers shared generously of their time and enthusiasm for
weather— Nolan Doesken illuminated the special pleasures of snow, Dave
Hickcox the delight of temperatures and small towns, Paul Kocin the
unique variety of East Coast storms, Tim Marshall the puzzles of wind
damage, and Lee Grenci and Doug LeComte pretty much anything that
had to do with weather. Jack Williams also frequently shared generously
his unparalleled perspective on the field. Master teachers like Ira Geer,
Steve Richards, Kathy Murphy, and others, many of whom I met through
the American Meteorological Society's vital Project Atmosphere, helped
convince me over the years that the ideas in this book are worth the time
and effort to share with people of all ages.

In the last year, as I focused on this manuscript, I had helpful conver-
sations with such generous spirits as Joe Friday, Chester and Harriet
Newton, Joanne and Robert Simpson, Hugh Willoughby, and Josh Wur-
man. Further interviews with Howard Bluestein, Roger Wakimoto, Morris
Weisman, and Stephen Zebiak also spurred thoughts toward dozens of
key questions in meteorology. Steve Horstmeyer provided a thorough and
helpful review of the manuscript of the book itself, and Joe Golden also
made suggestions that yielded crucial improvements. Any lingering errors
certainly are my own doing at this point.

I also thank (and exempt) the two people who have been among the
most helpful and supportive of my weather teachers, Stan Gedzelman and
Bob Henson. Both took much of their own time to explain storms—Stan
with his fabulous textbook, detailed articles, careful explanations, and
amazing ability to ferret scientific merit out of photo contest entries; and
Bob with his creative articles, delightful conversation, and memorable
storm-chase tutoring as well. They certainly did their best to help bring me
into the fold of weather-savvy writers.

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