Weather Forecasting Red Book/Purple Book

[Nick Nolte]

Can anyone tell me the differences between these two books. Just comparing the descriptions on the weathergraphics site makes them sound similar. I own the purple one, and am wondering if the red one is just a newer edition, or what?

http://www.weathergraphics.com/fcstbook/
http://www.weathergraphics.com/redbook/

 

[Justin Pullin]

The purple book is more of an introduction to forecasting. It is an easy read and an excellent book. It help to give me a solid foundation in forecasting (i'm currently a Jr in Meteorology). The red book elaborates on topics covered in the purple book in great detail and it is an excellent book to reference from. I would personally recommend getting it. The green book covers map types & analysis, radar products, satellite meteorology, weather service products (discussions, outlooks, etc), forecasting models (each model and it's biases), Synop, metar, and taf products, as well as an excellent reference section. I'd strongly recommend this book as well if you don't already have it. Hope this helps. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

 

[Tim Vasquez]

Justin sums it up pretty well... the purple book (Weather Forecasting Handbook) is an introduction to forecasting, while the red book (Weather Forecasting Red Book) is a reference book devoted to techniques.

The purple book is about due for a thorough revision, so expect a new edition sometime in 2010.

Tim