Perspective: Blowing in the wind

Blowing in the wind

By MARGO HAMMOND

TYING DOWN THE WIND: Adventures in the Worst Weather on Earth, by Eric Pinder (Putnam, $34.99)

Eric Pinder knows his weather. He is, after all, a certified observer at the Mount Washington Meteorological Observatory in New Hampshire, a place that is said to be the home of the worst weather on Earth, where winds have reached speeds of 231 miles per hour and snow in July is common. He also knows how to make talking about weather exciting. In Tying Down the Wind, not only does he explain how weather works and what triggers its sometimes violent changes, but he does it with poetic charm, walking us through blizzards, climbing up through hurricane-force winds on the slopes of Mount Everest and traveling to the coldest recorded spot on Earth. (Antarctica's temperatures have dropped as low as -128.6 degrees Fahrenheit.) "The sky changes. So does the climate," he concludes, "We cannot stop it, but we can strive to understand the hidden mechanisms that force the wind to dance and swirl." Or as Ben Franklin is reputed to have joked, "Some people are weatherwise, but most are otherwise." With Pinder's book we can be the former -- all in the comfort of our armchairs.

HURRICANE & TORNADO,by Jack Challoner (DK, $15.95)

Here's the book for kids who really want to know what thunder is (and who are no longer satisfied with the answer, "The angels are bowling"). Despite its title, the volume not only explains twisting tornadoes and hurricane horrors, but also provides information on all sorts extreme weather phenomena, including hailstorms, fog and smog, snowstorms, avalanches, floods and landslides, deadly droughts and even El Nino. Packed with facts ("Nearly two thousand thunderstorms occur at any one time across the world"), the book also is chock-a-block with color photographs, including one of a hailstone the size of a grapefruit and another of a snowball formed spontaneously by a strong warm wind.