The Secret World of Weather: How to Read Signs in Every Cloud, Breeze, Hill, Street, Plant, Animal, and Dewdrop (Natural Navigation)

by Tristan Gooley

Overview

Learn to “see” the forecast in the hidden weather signs all around you—from the New York Times–bestselling author of How to Read a Tree and The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs

In The Secret World of Weather, bestselling author Tristan Gooley turns his gaze up to the sky, bringing his signature brand of close observation and eye-opening deduction to the fascinating world of weather. Every cloud, every change in temperature, every raindrop, every sunbeam, every breeze reveals something about our weather—if you know what to look for. Before you know it, you’ll be able to forecast impending storms, sunny days, and everything in between, all without needing to consult your smartphone.

But The Secret World of Weather goes far beyond mere weather prediction, changing the very way we think about weather itself. Weather is not something that blankets an area; rather, it changes constantly as you walk through woods or turn down a street. The weather is never identical on two sides of a tree—or even beneath it. Take, for example, Gooley’s remarkable discovery that breezes accelerate beneath a tree. To Gooley, this is “weather,” a tiny microclimate that explains why people sit beneath a tree to cool down—not only for the shade but, subconsciously, for cooler breeze. And so Gooley shows us not only what the weather will be like five days from now, but also what to expect about the weather around every corner.

By carefully observing the subtle interplay of wind, cloud, fog, temperature, rain and many other phenomena, we not only form a deeper understanding of weather patterns, but also unlock secrets about our environment. Weather forms our landscape, and landscape forms our weather. Everything we see in the sky reflects where we are. When we learn to read weather’s signs, Gooley shows us, the weather becomes our map, revealing to us how it has made our towns, cities, woods, and hills what they are. You’ll never see your surroundings the same way again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781615197552
Publisher:	The Experiment
Publication date:	02/28/2023
Series:	Natural Navigation
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	439,705
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

TRISTAN GOOLEY is the New York Times–bestselling author of How to Read a Tree, How to Read Water, How to Read Nature, The Natural Navigator, The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs, and The Nature Instinct. He has led expeditions on five continents, climbed mountains in three, and is the only living person to have both flown and sailed solo across the Atlantic. His more than two decades of pioneering outdoor experience include research among tribal peoples in some of the remotest regions on Earth.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Two Worlds 3

2 The Secret Laws 13

3 The Talk of the Sides 27

4 Who Changed the Air? 43

5 How to Feel the Wind 56

6 Dew and Frost 74

7 Rain 91

8 A Bloodhound in the Woods 109

9 Hail and Snow 121

10 Fog 132

11 Cloud Secrets 143

12 Thirsting for Signs: An Interlude 168

13 The Local Winds 182

14 The Trees 207

15 Plants, Fungi, and Lichens 229

16 The Hoodoos: An Interlude 248

17 The City 259

18 The Coast 273

19 The Animals 283

20 Storms 300

21 The Celestial and the Sublime 322

22 Our Weather 329

Sources 333

Selected Bibliography 347

Acknowledgments 353

Index 356

About the Author 374

To see additional images of this book's concepts as they appear in the wild, please visit: naturalnaugator.com/news/tag/secret-world-of-weather.

Editorial Reviews

06/14/2021

“It is time to... celebrate the weather signs that few notice,” writes expedition leader Gooley (The Natural Navigator) in this ingenious collection of tips and tricks for analyzing and anticipating weather phenomena. Rather than relying on “charts on screens” to predict the weather, readers can look around their surroundings for clues. In a chapter on wind, for example, Gooley advises on how to note wind direction and changes, as “there is a strong connection between wind direction and weather changes.” Another chapter covers plants, fungi, and lichens, and encourages readers to feel leaves for their texture, which can determine whether a place has received regular sunshine. Even the human fist, he writes, can help indicate how far away a storm cloud is if “you stretch out your fist on its side” and compare it to the height of a cloud. Gooley’s knowledge is highly specialized (he goes so far as to provide the French term for a specific type of cloud, for example), but the wealth of wisdom on offer is impressive. Adventurers in the making will find this worth returning to. Agent: PJ Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (May)

Publishers Weekly

★ A National Indie Favorite
An Indie Next Pick
Telegraph Best Books of 2021

“Gooley marshals a riveting compendium of weather-reading skills. . . . He has plenty of facts at his fingertips with which to excite.”—The Times

“[An] ingenious collection of tips and tricks for analyzing and anticipating weather phenomena. . . . The wealth of wisdom on offer is impressive. Adventurers in the making will find this worth returning to.”—Publishers Weekly

“This is one of those books that makes you look at your environment in a different, more poetic way.”—Guardian

“In sharing a lifetime’s worth of exploration and insight, [Gooley] awakens readers to the wonders of the weather and our respective microclimates.”—Kirkus Reviews

“After 40 years as a professional meteorologist, I’ve looked at the weather through Tristan Gooley’s fresh eyes and seen new things.”—Peter Gibbs, weatherman and BBC Presenter

“The trouble with reading Tristan’s new book is that he makes me feel like I’ve been walking around with my eyes closed . . . His books are so packed with interesting facts.”—Al Humphreys, adventurer, motivational speaker, and author of Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes
 
“A timely book to help us as we get back into the outdoors. The Secret World of Weather is a thrill-ride through the signs and secrets of clouds, winds, dewdrops and sunlight. A fascinating read in itself, it's also as practical as ever.”—Country Walking

“Gooley’s skill is to piece it all together, make it interesting—and go deeper.”—Cross Country

“This breezy new book reveals how to read nature’s very own weather forecast. . . . Full of fascinating trivia.”—Daily Mail

“Tristan provides readers a unique & practical way to look at weather. His view is similar to how our ancestors looked at and viewed weather long before the invention of the Doppler Radar.”—Backwoodsman Magazine

“A book that chimes strongly for all sailors.”—Sailing Today
 
“I would recommend this book to all who seek explanations of the incredible variety of natural sights and sounds detectable in the open air.”—Weather, journal of the Royal Meteorological Society

“The Secret World of Weather frames itself early on as an aid to forecasting. . . . But it’s really much more than that. It’s about the ecology of weather, how the movement of air and the heat of the sun negotiate with the forms of hill and tree and building to generate the most wondrous variety of phenomena.”—The Telegraph

From the Publisher

04/30/2021

From the start of this guide to weather, Gooley has a grudge against meteorologists, whose forecasts he believes to be practically useless. Weather forecasting is not done on a human scale, he writes, and has become divorced from the landscapes or cityscapes that shape the weather in their immediate vicinity. Gooley, author of several books on interpreting signs in nature, focuses here on microclimates. By noting such things as clouds, vegetation, or the lay of the land, he writes, one may be able to predict precipitation or temperature changes in the next hours or determine where to go to cool down or warm up. Though Gooley is based in the UK, his photograph-rich book is applicable to the entire north temperate zone (including North America, Europe, and Asia); temperatures are given in both Fahrenheit and Celsius; and he cites examples of weather events from around the world. Photographs and maps help bring weather events and patterns into focus. VERDICT Gooley takes a somewhat meandering scenic route to his goal, and readers who are less invested may lose interest before finishing the book. Hikers, campers, gardeners, and survivalists are among those who might enjoy such knowledge about the world of weather.—Teresa R. Faust, Coll. of Central Florida, Ocala

Library Journal