What to read about wind. Five books for a better understanding of the most interesting weather phenomenon

In the first part of our new Windy.app Reading List column, we have listed books about five major winter weather phenomena. One of them is wind, which, of course, doesn't just happen in winter. So here are five more books entirely devoted to the most interesting and vital weather phenomenon.

Where the Wild Winds Are. Walking Europe's Winds from the Pennines to Provence, Nick Hunt

Where the Wild Winds Are. Walking Europe's Winds from the Pennines to Provence, Nick Hunt, John Murray Press, UK, 2017, 272 pages

Travel writer with five other books under his belt Nick Hunt follows four of Europe’s wildest winds that blow in winter and bring with them wind chill, making an already harsh winter even harder for everyone. He starts with Helm — the only named wind in Britain, continues with Bora that blows from Trieste, Italy, to Croatia, and Foehn in the Alpine valleys of Switzerland, and finishes with the Mistral — the “wind of madness”, in southern Europe.

Publisher's site, Apple Books, Amazon

Heaven’s Breath. A Natural History of the Wind, Lyall Watson

Heaven’s Breath. A Natural History of the Wind, Lyall Watson, New York Review Books, 2019, 400 pages

A South African biologist and anthropologist Lyall Watson says that “wind is everywhere and nowhere” at the same time. In his book, he compares it to the circulatory and nervous systems of the Earth, as the wind brings heat and water, enriches the soil, affects animal and human life, and so on. However, according to the author, it is not only a good weather phenomenon. Among the “evil or ill winds” from which man also suffers he singles out the föhn, mistral, sirocco, Santa Ana, and some others.

Publisher’s site, Apple Books, Amazon

And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind. A Natural History of Moving Air, Bill Streever

And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind. A Natural History of Moving Air, Bill Streever, Little, Brown and Company, 2016, 320 pages

American biologist Bill Streever talks about wind from aboard a fifty-year-old sailboat. He leads readers through the world’s first wind forecasts, chaos theory, and a future affected by climate change. The book also touches on such issues as the effects of wind on landscapes, wind energy, wind and aviation safety. The author takes knowledge and inspiration from science, history, business, travel, and his own wanderings by other means of transportation in many places.

Publisher’s site, Apple Books, Amazon

Wind: How the Flow of Air Has Shaped Life, Myth, and the Land, Jan DeBlieu

Wind: How the Flow of Air Has Shaped Life, Myth, and the Land, Jan DeBlieu, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998, 294 pages

An American writer Jan DeBlieu begins researching wind from her home state of North Carolina in the United States and discusses how it has influenced people in general — history, religion, culture, and so on — and in particular — the way we build our houses, for example, looking back at the wind. “Wind is the breath of a deity,” says the author, nevertheless focusing the book on the sensory side of wind rather than the practical: you won’t find many charts, tables, and maps in it, it is more about how we think and feels about wind.

Publisher’s site, Apple Books, Amazon

The Basic Meteorology for Wind Sports and Outdoors, Windy.app

The Basic Meteorology for Wind Sports and Outdoors. Windy.app textbook for better weather forecasting

Not just one, but an small team of authors of the professional weather app Windy.app tells about basic, complex, and simply bright weather phenomena in a weekly newsletter format. As you can see from the title of the book and the app itself, the wind takes center stage in the project. The newsletter and the book will be useful to everyone involved in wind sports: kitesurfing, sailing, paragliding, and many others, but also to almost all outdoor activities.

All lessons, Contents page, Newsletter, Russian version

Text: Ivan Kuznetsov, an outdoor journalist, editor and writer from the Dolomites, Italy, and Karelia, Finland, with 10 years of professional experience. His favorite sports are hiking, cycling and sauna. Read his other articles

Cover photo: Guzel Maksutova / Unsplash