THE BIG STORM
by Bruce Hiscock & illustrated by Bruce Hiscock
March 1982 went out like a raging lion: from March 31 to April 6, an enormous storm swept across the US, causing blizzards and avalanches in the Rockies, tornadoes on the Great Plains, torrential downpours in the Appalachians, and the first April snowstorm ever recorded in N.Y.C. In colorful illustrations, easily understood maps and diagrams, and a brief, instructive text, Hiscock depicts the storm's path and the forces that created and nourished its short but destructive life. What happened is clear; why is less so: as the author points out, catastrophic weather is still harder to forecast than to analyze after it happens. Attractive and, in light of recent events, well timed. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 5-10)