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

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 this eye-opening trove of outdoor clues, acclaimed natural navigator Tristan Gooley shows us how, by "reading" nature as he does, you'll not only detect what the weather is doing (and predict what's coming), you'll enter a secret wonderland of sights and sounds you've never noticed before. Discover the ways that weather can reveal a hidden world with every step you take—through the woods or down a city street.

• A turbulent sky with mismatched clouds predicts bad weather.
• Snowflakes get smaller as the temperature drops.
• Dry weather and morning frost follow a clear moon.
• Gliding birds mean stable air and thus, fair weather.
• Honeybees don't leave their hives below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Crickets chirp faster as the temperature rises.
• Pine cones close their scales in high humidity.
• Perching birds face into the wind.
• Cows don't lie down before rain, but they do head home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781615191482
Publisher:	The Experiment
Publication date:	02/28/2023
Series:	Natural Navigation
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.10(d)

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
                
                PART I: THE KNOWN WORLD
                
                The Weather Beneath That Tree
                Heat, Air, and Water
                The Atmosphere
                Meeting the Clouds
                Fronts
                
                PART II: THE SECRET WORLD
                
                How to Feel the Wind
                A Bloodhound in the Woods
                Dew & Frost
                Rain
                Hail & Snow
                Fog
                Cloud Secrets
                Thirsting for Signs: An Interlude
                Local Winds
                The Trees
                Plants, Fungi, & Lichens
                The Hoodoos: An Interlude
                The City
                The Coast
                Animals
                Storms
                Celestial and Sublime
                Our Weather
 

Editorial Reviews

★ 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