Reddit reviews The Cloudspotter's Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds

The Cloudspotter's Guide. It's smart; it's funny; it's everything you'll need, good buddy.

I'm biased, but I created a website called What's This Cloud which was created for this purpose. It's sort of a library of cloud types and subtypes.

WMO's cloud atlas is another site you might check out too! I've learned a lot from browsing their site.

There are some books out there as well, but to be honest, a lot of them are old and outdated. Though a good read as The Cloudspotter's Guide written by the fellow that started the Cloud Appreciation Society. Might not quite be what you're looking for, but a fun read none-the-less.

> is anyone here a member of the Cloud Appreciation Society?

Yep! I am.

If you haven't yet discovered the Cloud Appreciation Society founder's book, The Cloudspotter's Handbook, it's really the bee's knees. Well worth checking out.

There is a book out there that I bought but then immediately lent to a friend without reading called "The Cloud Spotter's Guide" ( http://www.amazon.com/Cloudspotters-Guide-Science-History-Culture/dp/0399533451/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310001751&sr=1-1 ). It looked like a really good book, has good reviews and I'm trying to get it back from her real bad. Look it up!
Alternatively, I just bought a meteorology textbook off half.com for $8 with shipping. (Title was "Atmosphere," bought the second-to-latest edition.)

I think I would recommend that even more, just because as someone with an interest in meteorology that has come to realize it is MUCH more complex and complicated than it appears at the surface, is that you buy the text book, since you really gotta start with the basics of everything and work your way up to more complex ideas to be able to have a full, genuine grasp of what's going on. But as intimidating as reading a textbook sounds, it's a lot of fun because you can bounce from chapter to chapter, depending on what fits yer mood, and at the same time, you can always refer back to earlier chapters to explain concepts you don't understand.

Things I would study in particular: high and low air pressure systems (because these are the things that determine good and bad weather, more or less), what air/ocean currents affect where you live, as well as cloud types (for which I would recommend the first book I mentioned the most, the textbook I have does talk about them, but not in a lot of detail that would best satisfy somebody who's outside looking at cloud types.), what affects temperature, and the role of water vapor/humidity/etc on weather. Meteorology is the SHIT, I hope you find it as interesting as I do!

Also I know this is 10 days late and you're probably done painting your house, but I hope you're still interested in learning about these things!

If anybody's interested in the finer details of clouds/sub-categories, I would totally recommend The Cloudspotter's Guide, written by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society. Full disclosure, I am a member.

Edit: Looks like they have an online supplement to the book here.

No clue, but if you want a great book on the subject: Cloudspotters Guide.