Mesoscale Meteorology

In the present book’s predecessor, Meteorology of the Southern Hemisphere, mesoscale phenomena hardly rated a mention. Such a comment is certainly no criticism of that work, for their omission simply represented the state of the science: mesoscale meteorology was still in its infancy. Since then our understanding of the mesoscale aspects of weather in both hemispheres has progressed in leaps and bounds. The progress made over the past two decades in understanding mesoscale phenomena has been stimulated in large part by the practical benefits of such research, since mesoscale phenomena account for most of our significant “weather.” Nonetheless, it should be acknowledged that we still have a long way to go in understanding mesoscale weather systems.