Tornado Alley: Monster Storms of the Great Plains

  • Howard B. Bluestein
Oxford University Press: 1998. 170pp $35, £17.99
Threatening clouds: a tornado in its mature phase looms over the town of Canadian, Texas, in 1986.

Howie Bluestein is the man who made ‘storm-chasing’ scientifically acceptable. A pioneer in the field observation and measurement of tornadoes and tornadic thunderstorms, he blends history and science with his personal experiences in a book that will be enjoyed by anyone who is interested in these intense atmospheric whirlwinds. It should also help clear up any misunderstandings that resulted from seeing the recent film Twister!

Though the text is very detailed in places, non-specialists can safely skim the technical sections without losing the point. The use of degrees Fahrenheit and feet may be annoying to some readers, but the numbers can easily be converted to metric units.

The book analyses other people's experiences of tornadoes as well as drawing on Bluestein's personal perspective. It includes a useful discussion of the Fujita scale of intensity, which was introduced by Ted Fujita of the University of Chicago and has now become accepted by the public.

Bluestein looks at the use of computers to simulate tornadic thunderstorms: the correspondence between computer modelling and the actual behaviour of thunderstorms is remarkable. Unfortunately, he does not mention some important recent work by Louie Grasso of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Cathy Finley of the University of Northern Colorado. These two have, separately, simulated the development of actual tornadoes — Finley has even simulated the development and dissipation of their suction vortices. Bluestein also overlooks the modelling work of researchers such as Bob Walko while at the University of Oklahoma, and Conrad Ziegler at the National Severe Storms Laboratory.

Because of the major role he has played in field campaigns studying ‘Tornado Alley’ in the Great Plains of the United States, Bluestein is often seen in television shows on this now-popular subject. In fact, tornadoes have a long history on our screens. Bluestein's TOTO — the Totally Totable Observatory, a canister packed with meteorological instruments and used in some of his earlier field campaigns — was named after Dorothy's dog in The Wizard of Oz. (Twister was based on attempts to insert these instruments into the path of tornadoes.) The discussion of TOTO in this book is a pleasure to read.

Readers interested in an overview of measurement systems will appreciate Bluestein's explanations of facilities spanning the size range from helicopters and remotely piloted vehicles to the latest model TOTO II. Portable rawinsondes and Doppler radars, Doppler lidars, millimetre-wavelength radars and airborne Doppler radars — each of these offers a unique way to monitor tornadoes.

What next? Bluestein's speculation on the future of tornado research, as one of the scientific leaders in this field, makes important reading. For his part, he is likely to continue to play an active role in their investigation.

For further reading, the book lists relevant websites and other sources of tornado information. The outstanding set of videos prepared by the Tornado Project in St Johnsbury, Vermont, should be added to the list (http://www.tornadoproject. com).

In conclusion, this book by an internationally recognized expert in his subject is an enjoyable read. The scientific understanding of tornadoes is increasing all the time, and Bluestein masterfully weaves his experiences together with his insights into this constantly evolving field of research.