On This Date in 1948...

Lt. Ernie Fawbush and Lt. Robert Miller made the first accurate tornado forecast in modern history at Tinker, AFB, Oklahoma.

Miller (left) and Fawbush

There is a gripping account of how that forecast was made and its contribution to how weather scientists tamed (not "conquered") tornadoes in Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather.

Want to read it today? It is available in ebook for both Kindle and Nook. Warnings has a 5-Star rating at both Barnes & Noble and Amazon. As one reviewer put it:

Smith skillfully makes this and other controversies seem not just important, but exciting. Meteorology, in his telling, has the same bare-knuckle energy we see in politics or sports. These battles, many of which Smith himself fought in, reveal how much of our modern, weather-safe lifestyle is contingent on personalities, and could have gone another way.

While weather forecasters often appear starchy and bland, Smith makes the weather into an urgent concern, and a remarkable victory. This story turns the weather into a quest, and meteorologists into the most unlikely heroes in recent literature.”

-Kevin Nenstiel
University of Nebraska

If you'd like to get a taste of the book, the first chapter is here.

Tornado season looks like it will begin this week. So, now is a great time to read Warnings.