A series for blizzards, hurricanes and long trips by planes.
923243
Time does fly while reading the Ghost collection. I have yet to be disappointed by any of J.M.'s works, I just can't figure out how he's doing it so quickly.
3748309
It wasn't the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, which leveled a great city, or Hurricane Katrina, which nearly destroyed New Orleans. In its own way, though, the Armistice Day Storm delivered an equal measure of terror to the upper Midwest in 1940.

  Almost forgotten today, the storm that brought death and destruction from Minnesota to Michigan is given its due by Tom Powers in "In the Grip of the Whirlwind" (Thunder Bay Press, $14.95), a masterful recounting of the calamity that took 154 lives.

  Powers, whose previous books explored Michigan history and natural attractions, gives the first complete report of the surprise storm of Nov. 11, 1940, that doomed freighters, other ships on Lake Michigan and dozens of hunters ill-prepared for an unseasonal blast of wintry hell that plunged temperatures by 40 degrees or more on the 22nd anniversary of the end of World War I.

  As "Whirlwind" opens, the region was enjoying a prolonged Indian Summer in the autumn of 1940, as temperatures soared well above normal. Powers reports that the pre-dawn readings were in the low 50s Fahrenheit even in the upper Midwest. By the dawn of Nov. 12, the temperatures were well below freezing, and scores of people were dead.

  The deadly storm, which initially swept in from the West Coast and zoomed north, brought gale- and hurricane-force winds to an unsupecting Midwest, which received no warnings of the danger ahead. Caught unprepared on the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Michigan, were the ungainly freighters carrying ore and other cargo.

  Mayhem ensued on the waters, as the craft were helplessly buffeted by high winds (a weather station in northern Michigan reported a gust of 126 mph), then rain, sleet, snow and ice.

  On land, meanwhile, duck hunters in shirt sleeves perished by the dozens, and travelers found themselves in grave situations as roads soon were blocked by ice and snow. Powers tells of one isolated farmhouse that played host to 200 stranded travelers; he speculates how the house looked after the weather cleared and the emergency shelter emptied.

  In colorful, lively prose, Powers gives a day-by-day narrative of efforts to save the lives of those trapped by nature's fury. He tells of miracles and tragedies, plus acts of heroism that rescued people who otherwise would have died.

  "In the Grip of the Whirlwind" definitely belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the history of the Midwest or buffs of disasters on the Great Lakes. It's a shame it took 69 years  to tell this tale of death and redemption, but I'm glad such a book was published.

Gene Mierzejewski was the Books Editor of The Flint (Mich.) Journal from 1987 to 2007.
2064032
A nice gift for someone who likes to watch all the different aspects of current weather.  Not a toy, but students 10-12 would find it interesting and educational.  I bought it for my husband, who enjoys having this mini-weather channel on his desk.
1682661
Generally its a nice book. It contains the names of individual storms, even if there are many of the same name. The are infos about satellites and the storm hunters. You can read about evacuations and military operations as well as all topics connected to hurricane weather like extratropical cyclones, clouds and the eye. There are describtions of areas affect by cyclons and short of hurricane chronicle of each of them (Florida, Taivan, Virgin Islands, New York and so one). What is missing is more photos of hurricane's destructive power. And, as most of publications,it ommits many of the Pacific typhoons. Book, being still convinced that most cyclonic disasters happens to be around the USA, locks the infos about most of typhoons even during the chronicle of storm attacks included in the apendix at the end.
3205901
In today's winter world, it is great to bury your head and mind in some mind expanding examples of good fighting evil. A great series of books; I highly recommend it.
2719115
This video covered a lot of the same scenery that we saw last winter when we meandered in our motorhome from Florida's "Nature Coast" around the Gulf of Mexico to Padre Island.  They covered a lot of the best sights in the video, but spent a little too much time (it seems these six or seven years later) on the damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  It would have been nice to include more information about good places to camp in an RV, since it is part of an RVing series.
572618
This book  is about survival in sub freezing Iceland. An airplane is sent out to rescue the crew of a B17 bomber and crash looking for the missing plane and crew. Which leads to a second B17 that is dispatched to rescue the rescuers. The plane crashes and survive the unbelievable snow wind and freezing temperatures for months. And, ow by the way a dog sled is sent out and also gets buried the snow. What a read!!!
299463
JZO has written a novel of a potential future for the people of the US. A war is being conducted between a group that is bound and determined to destroy the US as it now stands. Once the weather war starts the rain begins, then snow and hurricane blizzards winds. The winds at at Force 7 to 10. As the whether worsens then the more dangerous people become. This is an excellent read for the genre..... ER
2803385
What a collection!  I find this book and its topic, which I think would be better called "Earth in Crisis" very interesting, but it covers far more than weather and the history of weather.  Take every known weather disaster, like floods, hurricanes and typhoons, tornadoes, lightning strikes, drought, wildfires, fog and you get the main weather theme. The stories talk about natural disasters caused by weather. But there's more here, because Lauren Redniss then writes about ancient rituals of native tribes around the world that worshipped certain weather gods, or she talks about weather traditions of lesser-known peoples, or she infuses the text with old mythological stories.  I like it all.  It's all well cited, too.

I just don't like the artwork.  The landscapes are fine but anything representing humans is not so good.  It looks more like artwork from a middle school art class.  There's a drawing of Prince Charles and Diana on page 48 that is absolutely hideous.  It does Diana no justice;  Prince Charles less so.  I find this odd as Redniss teaches at the Parsons New School of Design.  The crude drawings of naked humans then make the nudity less shocking (if indeed human nudity is even shocking).

The last four chapters take on a more socio-political theme, which is also fine with me.  There's weather manipulation, weather forecasting and a not-so-flattering mention of North Korea's Supreme Leader, who of course blamed bad weather on the death of its leader.

This is an oversized, heavy book with narrow margins and lacking many page numbers.  It's printed on "acid-free" paper in China,  which gives this tome an odd smell  There is a lot of information in this book that should be savored.  This is not a book one can read in one sitting.
3644427
JD does an excellent job of explaining a blizzard it a cute and interesting way.  My nieces (9 and 5) enjoyed it.
1235250
The hurricane motif is a good backdrop for a typical Steel story with loss and friendship and love and winning in the end. That's why I read them. Enjoy.
92432
Airplanes, torture, corpses, crashes, mysteries to be solved and tons of action.  Again, I learned things about planes and airports I never knew.  Looking forward to the next action filled story with these characters.
3629774
Fox News broadcast meteorologist, Janice Dean, has done it again. Her third title in the picture book series about Freddy the Frogcaster contains all the winning elements of her earlier entries. Aside from my having a couple of minor complaints, Freddy the Frogcaster and the Huge Hurricane is an engaging and educational story. The colorful and cartoonlike illustrations also have high appeal.

Summer vacation has just started for Freddy and his friends. A trip to the shore in the upcoming week is planned. Light wind, low humidity, and clear blue skies seem to indicate perfect weather conditions. Except whats that big swirl of clouds on the satellite images? Oh no! The first tropical storm of the season has started. Whats even worse, its headed straight towards Lilypad!

Hmm, if this plot setup seems familiar, thats because storms were also headed towards Lilypad in the first two titles. In this third title, Freddys family and friends no longer even need his help. Instead the town has gotten good at preparing for bad weather, having previously encountered thunderstorms and then a blizzard.

But wait! Theres a twist. Someone needs to report updates on the weather and it cant be regular broadcaster Polly Woggins who has braved the elements long enough. Who will take her place? Will it be Freddy? The mere thought makes his voice shake. Weather watching was one thing. But talking in front of a camera? That was a different story.

In my opening paragraph, I mentioned that I had a couple of complaints. Dean successfully overcomes a formulaic plot with her twist, but this leaves me with an issue about her style. After initially keeping her dialog tags simple, Dean falls into the error of bloating them. Characters notice, call, explain, ask, bellow, wink, yell, report, suggest, shout, cheer, and exclaim.

On the positive side, right along with relating to Freddys fears, readers will get educated about weather. As Sally reports the news, readers will discover the difference between tropical storms and hurricanes. When Freddy hurries home to his family, readers will learn the basics of how to prepare for natural disasters. As the hurricane descends upon Lilypad, readers will also figure out the signs for when the eye of a storm is near. When clean-up begins the next day, readers will also grasp what types of damage storms can create.

None of these details weigh down the story. Instead Dean wisely saves more detailed explanations for back pages, where Freddy talks at length about the origins of hurricanes, defines storm surges, and provides information about how hurricanes are names and what hurricane hunters are. Dean clearly knows weather!

Finally, there is the artwork. With the onset of summer, backgrounds start out bright blue and yellow. Then as the storm brews, backgrounds become a stark contrast of bold purples and even black. The characters are larger-than life in size, as well as dramatic in their vivid greens. Award-winning illustrator Russ Cox has also provided each frog with his or her own expressive face and personality. Everything works with the artwork.

As part of a research paper last year, some of my students studied storms. Freddy the Frogcaster and the Huge Hurricanee would have made an entertaining reference for them. As for me, Im happily collecting Deans whole series of weather picture books.
3537784
I thoroughly enjoyed this series of shows. I have watching it many times over the years.
If you're interested in the planet and how things work, this is for you.
2498513
This book is for my grandson who loves to read about storms, tornados etc. to encourage him to read more.
2447662
A nice look at animal and insect swarms.  If you are a regular viewer of Nature and similar shows, you may already be familiar with one or all of the segments.
2881776
All three movies are mystery romances with good endings. Great watch on a cold rainy or snowy day. Buying them in the set is a really good buy. If you enjoy the Harlequin books you will enjoy these too. There are 4 volumes and 12 movies. My favorite in this volume is Another Woman. All movies have been played on the Hallmark Channel and are good entertainment for the family.