Customer Reviews

Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991/a Chronology and Analysis of Events

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Significant Tornadoes contains the most comprehensive set of US tornado statistics I have ever seen.(1880 to 1991) This book is a MUST BUY for anyone who studies tornadoes or anything related to tornadoes including frequency, casualty or damage. It is written for the professional, but in a language that everyone can understand. With its myriad of charts, pictures, tables, graphs, and statistics, it is without question the ultimate tornado encyclopedia. My only complaint is that it has not yet been updated to include statistics beyond 1991

This book was the main source for my masters thesis on the effectiveness of the National Weather Services Severe Weather Watch and Warning System. Very critical to my research was the paths of individual storms as well as intensity and this covered both magnificently.

Probably is a little too pricey for the person with casual interest, but for a power user a MUST HAVE!

... it is the best book on tornadoes that I've ever read (Arjen and Jerrine Verkaik's "Under the Whirlwind" is a close second - well, not that close, as it's well eclipsed in size by this). It not only covers every F2 and over-/killed one or more-tornadoes in the U.S. over three centuries, and tornado listings and path-maps for every state, but goes into detail on tornado formation, the dynamics of a supercell storm, other wind-related hazards they produce, a detailed, illustrated analysis of the Fujita scale and what damage counts for what ranking - in short, just about everything that counts regarding tornadoes. A must-have for cyclonophiles!

UPDATE - ...

I picked this up in the library to kill time before a study group meeting. Kill time it did, 1.5 hours flew by in what seemed like 5 min and I was almost late for the meeting. It was surprising to read about the number of documented tornadoes prior to 1900. Current weather readers and meteorologists would do well to at least thumb through it once.

It is a bit on the pricey side, but it will be on my bookshelf as well as the update when I can find the extra money. Until then, I will make sure I go visit this book often at the library.

I wish this book was still in print. It covers the April 1964 tornado that hit my Jr. High School
in Lakeland, FL. It is difficult to find info on tornadoes from that time period. I do have my own
photos, but nothing in print. This is an excellent book, but I can't afford the used price on it.
I hope the author or publisher will consider publishing it again.

Significant Tornadoes is the biggest and the best reference book available on tornadoes. It represents what could be a lifetime of work and is worth every penny. The casual reader may not be as impressed, but for anyone who loves reference books, this one is a score.

This extensive study of the "significant" tornadoes of the past 300 hundred years is a a fascinating read from a weatherbug perspective but also from the historian perspective. From the the book's beginning with tornado terms defined, write ups on historic tronadoes, debris path studies, how tornadoes have been recorded thru time, so many nuggets of knowledge for even the most amatuer of weather lovers or professional in meteorology.

The main body of the book is a statistical amazament, in that Mr. Grazulis and his staff delved so deeply in this one subject in American history is astounding. Truly a great book for weather bugs and meteorology professors to have on the book shelf.

OK, Amazon, I'm sorry & I apologize for my obnoxiousness on my previous review for this book. I guess I did go a little over the top! This time I'll just stick with the subject of the book.

My review title says it all, folks. This IS the ultimate tornado encyclopedia; whatever you're looking for on the subject, you'll definitely find it here--and then some.

I'm thrilled to hear that Mr. Grazulis is planning to update & re-publish this book in 2008 (I hope & pray it's not just a rumor!) When he does, I'll be sure to snatch up my copy quicker than a tornado can develop!

Hi! This is the same person who wrote the review "The Best Condensed History of Tornadoes Available." I just got it today( the full 1300+ pages of tornado stats)and have had a hard time putting it down! I had the book Significant Tornadoes 1880-1989 but this is even better. It has almost every single twister, cyclone and whirlwind that has touched down in the US. Thank you Amazon.com and midnightcowboy for the excellent shipping quality and value of service. This is the greatest tornado book available. Fortunately, maybe this book will not be rare and out of print for too many more years (it could reprint by 2008).If you love tornadoes this is your book!

This is a great book of 1400 pages worth of information. But it is not worth 850.00 for that is just a rip off. This book is good for about 150.00 though. There is a ton of information it has by state and shows all Tornadoes that had estimated winds of 113mph and above and all tornadoes that killed anyone. It also has the events written down and a discription like for Instance it would say some thing like this

Lincoln, Missouri 4/17/1880 6K 15INJ F-5 1500yds 75m
Started 10 miles of North of Troy at 1700 and desipated 10 miles south of Troy. Homes were ripped apart and one women was killed as she could not escape the winds the Tornado went directly through the town of Troy and farm after farm and even a inn almost completely vanished from earth. That tornado was just a hypothetical Tornado but that what it gives you