Spent $45 on a cloud identification guide book and it's been a letdown

I bought the Peterson Field Guide to Clouds and Weather last month from a local bookstore. The photos are small and black and white, which makes it really hard to match up what I'm seeing outside. Anyone have a better recommendation for a cloud spotting reference that's actually useful for someone starting out?

2 comments

2 Comments

iris_stone2819d ago

oh man, i feel your pain on the peterson guide. those black and white photos are basically useless when you're trying to figure out if what you're seeing is a cumulus or a stratocumulus. i grabbed "the cloudspotter's guide" by gavin pretor-pinney and it's way better for beginners. it's got big color photos and talks through the different types in a way that actually makes sense when you're standing outside looking up. also check out the cloud appreciation society website, they have a free id chart you can download and print in color.

grayw3219d ago

...it's funny how that happens with guidebooks isn't it... seems like half the time you buy something expecting it to be this perfect tool and it just falls flat. makes me think about how we do that with a lot of stuff in life, not just clouds. we see something and imagine it'll work one way and then reality just kinda sits there looking different. hope you find a better one though, sounds like cloud spotting could be a nice thing to get into.