Authors of the storm: meteorologists and the culture of prediction

Abstract

In Authors of the Storm, Gary Alan Fine offers an inside look at how meteorologists and forecasters predict the weather. Through field observation and interviews, Fine finds a supremely hard-working, insular clique of professionals who often refer to themselves as a 'band of brothers'. In Fine's skilled hands, we learn their lingo, how they 'read' weather conditions, how forecasts are written, and, of course, how those messages are conveyed to the public. Weather forecasts, he shows, are often shaped as much by social and cultural factors inside local offices as they are by approaching cumulus clouds.