Sunday, December 28, 2008

Your Comments

I really want to hear your feedback and comments about the book. Tell me what you like and what changes or additions would be good. If you find any errors or typos, I would love to know. Just use the comment function below. Thanks, Cliff Mass

16 comments:

  1. Hi Cliff ~ My name is Mary Kiesau and I work for the Methow Conservancy in Winthrop, WA. We have an extensive education program with monthly programs, workshops, field classes and more (all very well attended). If you are at all interested in coming out here this year, I'd love to speak with you. I've been wanting to do a weather program for years - your new book is a great reason to do one! I couldn't find a way to contact you - hope using this forum is okay. I can be reached at 509-996-2870; info@methowconservancy.org. Our website is www.methowconservancy.org

    Thanks and good luck with the books and your upcoming talks!

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  2. Cliff,

    Page 37. Laurel Mountain in the Oregon Coast Range is WEST of Salem not EAST.

    Jack Wylie
    Vancouver, WA

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  3. Cliff,

    Two more where EAST should be WEST:
    Page 93, column one, lines 5 and 11.

    Jack Wylie
    Vancouver, WA

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  5. Hey Cliff-
    Side Note
    I know you had to be selective to the content of your book, which by the way is excellent. I was just wondering if you had any thought of a future version with other or expanded content. For instance a big climate and weather feature in the northwest is fire weather. Even though California gets the national spot light with its Southern California news hogs, the Pacific Northwest can have the highest intensity fires (fuel loading) that can create their own weather to the effect of tornado force winds and even hail. The great Tillamook Burn is just one example. I believe this is just as important to digress as windstorms and snowstorms, though I have to admit I am partial to this subject. Fire is directly influenced by the climate and its successor the weather. Just a thought. Thanks Cliff, keep your eyes to the sky….

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  6. Hi Cliff,
    Great book! I was the meteorologist for the Seattle District, Corps of Engineers from 1982 until 2002. I really enjoyed reliving the big storms you cover in your book.
    I also regulated Wynoochee Dam, Howard Hanson Dam and Mud Mountain Dam. It was the orientation of the river basins that intrigued me and helped us in our flood fights. Wynoochee River basin is open to the southsouthwest and the huge orographically enhanced rains stopped abruptly with the frontal passages. Suddenly the basin was in a rain shadow. The Green River basin is open to the northwest and the orographics didn't kick in until the front was well into the Cascades. As the winds remained out of the northwesterly quadrant for quite a while, the inflows to Hanson Dam stayed up while the flows had dropped off sharply elsewhere. As a result of this knowledge we had a good handle on when to catch and when to release waters.
    Again, I thoroughly enjoyed your book and am very glad you wrote it.
    Tom Murphy

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  7. Jack...thanks...I always do that!...switch east and west. Will fix in the next edition.

    Josh..I AM hoping to do an expanded book if UW Press will allow. Fire weather was one addition. Also I would include BC weather, and air quality issues in the NW.

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  8. Cliff - I enjoyed the book. It seemed to focus on Western Washington the most not that I mind since that's where I am.

    I came to the update link expecting snippets or updates or corrections to the book. Getting redirected to this single blog post was slightly disappointing.

    What would be really helpful is if you put every single link in the section at the back (Pacific Northwest Weather Resources) onto this site somewhere. That would help people from typing in every link in the pages that follow. Plus you could update the links if they stop working or new ones come along.

    Marc

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  9. Marc...I will be doing something similar to what you suggest once everything settles down...cliff

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  10. Cliff,

    Page 144, figure 7.15. Recommend including the forecast length in the description. Compare with figure 7.13.

    Page 158, column one, line four: "eastward" should be westward.

    Page 159, figure 8.7 line four: "eastward" should be westward.

    Page 166, figure 8.15: the legend is missing the color for 0-~14mph.

    Pages 184-188. Compare page 184, column two, line 22: "Cold air, which is heavier than warm air, tends to descend from the higher terrain and settle in the valley" with page 188, column one, line 15: "The lowest elevations are warmed by compressional heating, since any air that descends into such low spots is compressed and thus warmed...." In the first case descending air is a partial explanation of extreme cold but in the second case it's an explanation of extreme heat. Recommend you explain the apparent contradiction.

    Excellent book. I will highly recommend to anyone with a serious interest in Pacific Northwest weather.

    Jack Wylie
    Vancouver, WA

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  12. Cliff,

    I'm really enjoying your excellent book.

    However, here are two things I noticed:

    P85, left column - "...when their boat, the Agnes, floundered in heavy seas..."
    I'm pretty sure you meant "foundered".

    Also, on P78 you describe mid-latitude cyclones as being powered by the large horizontal temperature variations between the tropics and the Arctic. I would be interested in a description of the details of the mechanism involved. Can you point me to such a description?

    Brad Clem
    Kirkland, WA

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  13. Mr. Mass I am a Pacific Northwest Private Pilot, your book should be a required text for Pilots of the PNW..

    Very good book sir.

    Todd C.

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  14. I enjoyed your book Cliff. I try to keep up on the weather & pass on as much as I can ( http://www.bigwavedave.ca/forecasts.php?page=8 ) to my fellow kite surfer, wind surfer & other mariners on southern Vancouver Island. Thanks.

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  15. Cliff,
    Your book was a Fathers Day gift. I love picking it up and re- reading sections. I would really enjoy a section that details the weather, topography, and what we know and don't know regarding climate change effects on our drinking and industrial water systems as well as weather impact on our irrigation systems. I especially am interested in the Chester Morse Watershed, The Tolt Watershed, and a discussion on our hydropower and how weather changes may affect this renewable resource in the future.

    I would also be fascinated to learn what we know now , on a layman level, about how the mighty Pacific Ocean interacts with the atmosphere.

    All that said I still think that you ought to become a resource for a major news or cable network and do a series on what we truly know about climate change and weather prediction. Perhaps your own Discovery Channel Show.

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  16. Fantastic book--thank you so much for writing it!

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