A Furious Sky

“In Cantore you have science and show business all wrapped up in one spiffy Gore-Tex package.”

I live in Florida, but I did not grow up in Florida. While I've seen the gamut from tropical storms to category 5 hurricanes up close, I didn't have the same born-and-bred knowledge many lifetime residents have about what came before. This book helped fill in the gaps nicely, and was an incredibly entertaining read.

The early chapters of the book cover the basics of hurricane history, from early encounters with these freakishly powerful storms to the beginning advances into meteorology and storm prediction. Sprinkled amongst the science are rather detailed accounts of individual storms, from accounts written in the 1500s all the way through Sandy (with a nod to Dorian in the epilogue). There's sad stories, absurdly funny stories (in a gallows humor sort of way), heroic stories, and more government bureaucracy than you can shake a stick at. I really appreciated the detailed look at some of these storms that have impacted us in the past.

I will say, however, that if you're looking for anything in-depth in terms of science, you'll probably want to look elsewhere. While basic terms and concepts are covered, it's in an accessible way, and anyone with prior knowledge in the field will likely already be familiar with what's presented.

Highly recommend for anyone living in a hurricane-prone region, or anyone interested in an incredibly engaging book about these monster storms.

Being from Louisiana, I've always been fascinated with hurricanes. My ex-husband had family living in the New Orleans area when Katrina hit in 2005, and they came and stayed with us for a while, until the waters receded. When I saw A Furious Sky on our local library shelf, I had to pick it up.

The “five hundred years” in the title may sound intimidating, but it doesn't feel that way when you're reading. Dolin does an excellent job reviewing historical hurricanes, going back as far as the days of Christopher Columbus. He also tracks the birth and development of hurricane meteorology and chronicles the creation and growth of the National Weather Services and its predecessor agencies.

The book is history lesson and meteorological study all wrapped up in one. Dolin's description of the human toll that hurricanes have taken through the years is heartwrenching. Ignorance of the strength of hurricanes caused many deaths, as did government and forecasting inefficiency and the sheer stubbornness of people thinking they could ride out the storm. I also learned a lot about the involvement of various historical figures in the study of hurricanes and in relief efforts – Benjamin Franklin, Clara Barton, and Ernest Hemingway, to name a few. Were I younger and choosing a career field, A Furious Sky might well have convinced me to focus my efforts on the study of hurricanes.

The book closes with a look at a handful of storms that had major impacts on the United States, Katrina among them. Many of these may be familiar to the reader. Recent events clearly show that our sky isn't getting any less furious (just look at the 2020 hurricane season), and the epilogue considers what role global warming may play in these poweful, destructive storms.

If you're interested in weather and history, I highly recommend this book. It was as gripping and intense as any work of fiction I've read this year.

I had looked forward to reading this book for a long time, but the truth is that, for me at least, it was a disappointment. I'm very interested in hurricanes as I live in an area where hurricanes love to hang out, so I've read lots and lots of articles and books about hurricanes. This book covered all the expected ground—how hurricanes form, the history of forecasting hurricanes, the most famous hurricanes—but all the information felt like information better covered in other books and the book didn't have that zing of storytelling delight that I enjoy in good nonfiction. The technical information on hurricanes and the history of hurricane forecasting were two parts of the book I was least interested in, and these seemed to be about half of the book.