“However you choose to watch the sky, you’ll
encounter fascinating stories
being told by the clouds overhead,” writes Peggy
LeMone (ESSL/MMM) in the newly updated version of “The
Stories Clouds Tell,” her
guide to cloud study originally
published in 1993.
The booklet features photos of cloud
types and illustrations of cloud
formation, and answers questions
such as how much clouds weigh, how they form, and what
they tell us about the airflow and different kinds of
weather.
In the new version, Peggy’s original drawings
have been updated by Mike Shibao
(formerly of the Image and Design Center and now a freelance
designer), and a section about contrails has been added.
A drawing done by Peggy’s
daughter, Sarah, when she was
10 years old is also included.
UCAR photographer Carlye Calvin’s cloud photos
grace the cover. Other UCAR/NCAR
staff who contributed photos
and expertise are Bob Henson (Communications), Roberta
Johnson (EO), and Sandra Henderson (EO).
Peggy developed
a fascination with weather as
a child growing up in Missouri. “Missouri
has such great weather,” she says. “Well,
I don’t know if everyone would call it ‘great,’ but
it’s severe and interesting.”
An observational
meteorologist, she studies the
behavior of large, organized storm systems. She
became NCAR’s first female senior scientist
in 1992.
“The Stories Clouds Tell” was originally
produced as part of Project ATMOSPHERE, an educational
initiative of the American Meteorological Society. The
32-page booklet is available in the NCAR Science Store
for $9.95.•
