Customer Reviews

Weather of the San Francisco Bay Region: Second Edition (California Natural History Guides)

5 star:		(2)
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3 star:		(1)
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Ever wonder why it's SO COLD at Candlestick Park? Ever wonder why there's so much summer fog, and why it burns off in by Noon? Ever wonder why it can be 45 in San Francisco and 100 in San Jose? Harold Gilliam's concise little book will tell you!

His explanations of the cyclic weather patterns of the Bay Area, and the interactions between ocean-born events and the coastal, Bay and mountain geographies are easy to understand. Even more enticingly, they're easy to observe.

A great read for anyone who lives in (or even visits) the Bay Area.

This short book provides a very understandable explanation of how Bay Area weather is formed by topography, winds, and the ocean. He devotes sections to the four seasons, in which he tells how the fog is formed, where storms come from, and why there is so much variation within Bay Area microclimates. He also has a chapter on clouds, and a concluding chapter on climate change. I never knew much about weather (besides what I understood from forecasts on TV: sunny, partly cloudy, rain, etc.), but now I appreciate more the unique climates of the SF Bay region.

I have beenn using this book for yeaars--I began with the first edition, and now am enjoying the second. It is brief; to the point. And as a native of S.F., I can attest to its accuracy.
The weather near the sea is almost always unpredictable, but Gilliam gives all the components, all the causes, and makes it possible to understand--if not predict--our weather.

The only problem I find is that the book is too short.

With great love and with a scientist's objectivity Mr. Gilliam goes thruogh a year's cycle of the unique passage of fog, rain, warmth, and haunting beauty of the changing seasons. But he is no mere puff writer. He tells us why, and where, these events begin. Anyone who is familiar with the books by George R. Stewart on the history and climate of Northern California, should not miss this.

Good book if you are interested in the physics of weather at a micro and macro level in the bay area.