American writer O. Henry once penned, “We may achieve climate, but weather is thrust upon us.” After a long, hot and dry summer, the first week of September thrust the first taste of fall upon the Pacific Northwest. Higher elevations even got their first taste of winter. It looks like summer is not done with us yet, but the big change in temperatures did get me thinking about the impact weather has on our lives. We all love to talk about the weather, and weather is a favorite subject of authors of both fiction and non-fiction alike. Best Weather-Related Books Whether it’s the “super” El Niño that is predicted for this winter, hurricane season, tornadoes, blizzards or global warming theories that fill your thoughts and dominate your water cooler conversations, you can’t escape the impact of weather. This week, we’re taking a look at some of the best books that have weather as their main theme. Weather-related books - Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson (Crown, 1999) With great beaches, a thriving commercial port, restaurants and entertainment, Galveston, Texas was a city on the move in 1900. On September 8 of that year, the city was filled with vacationers and its bustling population of about 40,000, the largest in the state. Although the U.S. Weather Bureau was in its infancy then, it issued warnings about a big tropical storm on its way. However, due to a series of events and the fact that Galveston residents were used to storms, the warnings were largely ignored. The result? An estimated 6,000 to 9,000 deaths and what still remains as the nation’s worst weather-related disaster in terms of loss... More