Reviewed by Bob Walch M eteorologist Mike Smith explains how weather science has improved in recent decades to the point where thousands of lives have been saved and billions of dollars in damages have been avoided by savvy meteorologists. ' Meteorology took its first tentative steps at tornado and hurricane warnings a little more than fifty years ago, ' writes Smith. ' From that inauspicious beginning involving spare World War II leftovers we have developed an effective and highly cost-effective system that saves lives, and dollars, nearly every week. ' T his informative and very entertaining narrative investigates some of the country's most devastating storms over the past fifty years. In looking to the past, the author shows the effort that went into eventually creating the national severe weather warning system. Thank you, Bob. The entire review is here . More reviews at Amazon, here .

From the National Weather Association Annual Meeting currently in progress: 75% on television 67% heard siren 44% phone call or text message 33% word of mouth 28% commercial radio 27% weather app 22% weather was changing in ways suggestive of a tornado 13% NOAA weather radio 10% internet source (other than app)   2% email   2% did not know tornado was coming This pertained to the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado in 2013. More than one answer could be given if they learned of the tornado from different sources.

Since not a single  major hurricane* has hit the US since 2005 (the year of Katrina), the Big Climate PR machine must be bored. So, they are now reclassifying the damage from Katrina and the other major hurricanes in 2005 as being caused by global warming . The article even uses the phrase "stronger, more frequent" (present tense) to refer to 2005 -- clearly deceptive language given the subsequent drought of major hurricanes that continues up to today. *A "major" hurricane is one with Category 3 or higher winds. Sandy was a Cat. 1.

Very, very busy day. I will not update the blog until this evening. BTW, the rain forecast for the Plains and Rockies (below) still looks reasonably good.

Rain is forecast where it is needed this week: Over Texas and over the Southwest. However, there is some flash flood risk. As we have seen in the last two weeks, it is important to always keep Turn Around, Don't Drown  in mind.

The above tweet came from the National Weather Assn meeting. It is my experience that women meteorologists get into the field (whether television or off-camera) because they have passion for the weather. Whether it is weather or sports (scroll down with regard to sportscaster Allie LaForce), women should not have to face attacks based on their appearance.

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend in person. However, a number of friends of mine are tweeting from the meeting. I will but together some of the highlights and post them daily.