Weather Fundamentals

As a de facto annual attendee of the Washington State Rain Festival (which runs from Jan. 1-Dec. 31), I'm familiar with precipitation in virtually all of its states, from the water vapor produced by my cup of herbal tea (cup logo: "Sunshine Is for Wimps") to the daily eight inches that we Washingtonians refer to as "light drizzle." Weather Fundamentals, a 6-tape series covering various meteorological subjects, is hosted by Spencer Christian (ABC's Good Morning America) and a young helper. I watched the episode entitled Rain & Snow (out my window and on my VCR), which offered a good explanation of the water cycle, defined key terms such as condensation, evaporation and qamanig ("a bowl-shaped hollow in the snow that forms around the bottom of an evergreen tree"--no joke), and pointed out a slew of interesting facts. Do you know, for instance, where's the wettest place on Earth? If you guessed Bill Clinton's armpits, you'd be close, but wrong. The correct answer is a mountain in Hawaii. Good graphics, enjoyable scripting, and cool facts make the Weather Fundamentals series an excellent choice. The other titles in the series are: Climate & Seasons, Clouds, Hurricanes & Tornadoes, Meteorology and Wind. Highly recommended. Aud: E, I, J, P. (R. Pitman)