“Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it,” as the old saying goes. Well, actually, some people do try to do something about it, but the weather is an immensely complex system, and doing something about it is dangerous, especially if you don’t understand it.

This field guide was recommended to me by a woman who works at my local gym, and when I saw the author was a Purdue alum, I was especially interested. I have long believed, as hinted in the book Fitzpatrick’s War, that a secret society of Purdue grads controls the world. I’ve met quite a few Boilermakers, and I can easily imagine them all gathering to boast, like the Stonecutters.

The book begins with an overview of the science behind weather, including a few basic physics principles. Then we have some definitions. (Freezing rain is rain that is frozen, for example.) But after that, we get to the really juicy stuff: namely, what you can determine about the weather from looking at the clouds. I had no idea there were so many different types of clouds; and this book presents detailed explanations of what they all mean, complete with pictures.

Unfortunately, I still can’t claim to be an expert on recognizing the different clouds. But then, I’ve only had a few days. With practice, and with repeated reference to the book, I may be able to become a more competent amateur weather spotter.

Because frankly, the weather is a bit of an obsession of mine. Not least because I’ve noticed the forecasts are almost always wrong. This annoys me. I like to be prepared, and how can I be prepared if I have inaccurate information?

For my money, the best weather forecast site is Tornado HQ. Because it isn’t a forecast site; it’s just a live radar of severe weather. (Sadly for my international readers, it only works for the U.S.) You can look at it and, once you have a feel for how the wind blows, probably guess when the next round of rain or snow will hit. I’ve found I get a far better estimate by doing this than by looking at Wunderground or Accuweather. And just forget about the Apple Weather app; it’s completely bonkers.

Anyway, back to the book. Besides the clouds, the most vital piece of info I got from it was that when you want to know how humid it is, don’t look at the humidity. Look instead at the dew point; that’s the real indicator. Another good metric, which I already knew, is barometric pressure. (The executive summary is: high pressure good, low pressure bad.)

All told, this is a handy guide to refer to if you want to learn how to tell if it’s going to rain for your evening commute just by eyeballing it. And you might as well, because you are not going to get reliable info from the local TV news or the internet.