Don Ahrens is Professor Emeritus at Modesto Junior College in Modesto, California. The bestselling author of two Cengage Learning texts, Professor Ahrens received the Textbook and Academic Authors Association's McGuffey Longevity Award for the 9th Edition of his market-leading METEOROLOGY TODAY. He has influenced countless professionals in the field of atmospheric science as well as hundreds of thousands of students who use his books to better understand weather and climate. In 2007, the National Weather Association awarded Professor Ahrens a lifetime achievement award for these accomplishments. Perry Samson is currently a professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan. Samson holds an Arthur F. Thurmond Professorship in recognition of outstanding contributions to undergraduate education" and is recipient of the university's Teaching Innovation Prize. Professor Samson annually leads a team of undergraduate students to study the formation of supercell thunderstorms in the Great Plains. He is also a co-founder of the popular weather website, The Weather Underground (http://www.wunderground.com)."