Table of Contents

1: Launch
2: Trades
3: Spin
4: Contrasts
5: Waves
6: Storm
7: Tracks
8: Experiments
9: Nino
10: Mountains
11: Gulf
12: Split
13: Drivers
14: Exit
15: Future
16: Changes
17: Confession

About the Author

Tim Woollings obtained his PhD in Meteorology in 2005 and since then has worked on a variety of topics spanning weather prediction, atmospheric dynamics and circulation, and the effects of climate change. He has studied how the jet stream varies over weeks, years, and decades, and how we can better predict these changes. He has been a contributing author on three chapters of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. Tim has worked at the University of Reading as a postdoc,
research fellow and then lecturer before moving to the University of Oxford in 2013. He is now an Associate Professor in Physical Climate Science, leading a team of researchers in the Atmospheric
Dynamics group. He teachers various courses on the fundamentals of geophysical fluid dynamics and atmospheric circulation.

Reviews

Woollings suggests that the extreme weather events that have afflicted the northern hemisphere in recent years are connected to the behaviour of the jet stream. He outlines what we know about the jet stream and how it is affecting the planet's climate.
*Survival: Global Politics and Strategy*

[A] thoroughly original, highly imaginative book ... The book is approachable to an intelligent lay audience. It is judiciously and delightfully illustrated and told as an engaging narrative...
*Richard Lofthouse, QUAD*

[An] approachable exploration of the jet stream ... The reader is rewarded with plenty of juicy little facts ... a good and surprisingly enjoyable trip around a weather phenomenon.
*Brian Clegg, Popular Science*

As a professional meteorologist I particularly enjoyed this whirlwind tour through my chosen science in a book that brings seemingly disparate theories together to give a global understanding of the weather ... the book strikes the right balance between facts, figures and diagrams with personal stories about key players in the world of meteorology. I would highly recommend it to both professional meteorologists and those who have an interest in the weather and climate.
*Katie Brown, Weather*

This book is ideal for lay folk with basic school-level science who have an interest the weather and wish to learn a little more. It would also be a valuable summer holiday read for school leavers anticipating embarking on a meteorology or climate change related course.
*Jonathan Cowie, The Science Fact & Science Fiction Concatenation*

Tim Woollings is a great story-teller ... I was delighted to find this book a real page-turner! Each topic is treated with a judicious blend of vigor and rigor ... I think this book would be an excellent introduction to the global atmospheric circulation for anyone with a basic background in classical mechanics who is prepared to spend some time grappling with the concepts. But it would also be a good, rapid read for someone who wants a quick overview.
*Professor David Andrews*

This is an amazing book. In less than 200 slim pages it gives a very readable account of weather and climate ... The reader is given both an interesting historical background and an up-to-date account of many important issues, including climate change.
*Sir Brian Hoskins, Imperial College London and University of Reading*

This educative, scientifically sound and well-narrated story has the power to inspire further research and reading. A must read for atmospheric scientists and for anyone who enjoys studying our natural environment.
*Panos Athanasiadis, CMCC, Bologna*

Tim Woollings' book is a grand travelogue of weather, history, and geography, all connected to the winds that circle our globe and the people who have tried to understand them. Anyone who has watched a weather forecast and has wondered why the air does what it does will find this book fascinating. The science is up-to-date and accurate; Woollings doesn't settle for ordinary close-enough-but-wrong explanations but instead explains how weather and climate systems really work. You'll be amazed and awestruck at everything that happens to produce that puff of wind against your cheek.
*John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas A&M University*