Forums: Bible Mesocyclone, Storm Junkie Book

In the General Weather forums on WeatherMatrix this week, a couple of interesting posts...

First, Chris White (cwhite), who writes a weather blog, posts that he has published a book (with the help of an online book publisher) called "Confessions of a Storm Junkie." You can preview the first 15 pages in a PDF file. The introduction starts out:

So I know right away that this is someone who has the same weather enthusiasm "bug" that myself and many of my readers do. It's an interesting story and showcases some great photos. Plus, he's had worldwide experience with thunderstorms to typhoons -- and is probably the only weather enthusiast I know who has seen the African severe thunderstorms in Eritrea [WikiPedia]. You can see some of the photos from his book below.

I was especially struck by his description of his first storm encounter during his youth -- something that more than a few of us share, I suspect (you can tell yours on the " Your Weather Stories" portion of the Forums).

In other news, tomwindsorbelieves that he has found a reference to a mesocyclone from the Bible, saying "2500 years ago , the biblical prophet Ezekiel wrote an account which I think contain some details that are now only understood in light of modern meteorology . Though he was certainly describing more than a natural storm in the text , he wrote about a great cloud and 'a whirlwind coming out of the north'." He goes on to list four compelling reasons that it is so. I replied to say:

And also of interest, Sagebrusher asks why some rivers won't flood:

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