Mark Herz: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. I’m Mark Herz. The holiday season has begun. Many of us have gotten our first dusting of snow. Christmas music is playing in stores. Decorations are up and gift shopping is in full swing. And if you’ve still got shopping to do for an outdoorsy person in your life, you’re in luck because GBH meteorologist Dave Epstein is joining us now to discuss gifts for weather and gardening enthusiasts. Dave, thanks for being here.

Dave Epstein: Hey, good to be here, Mark.

Herz: Great. So let’s start with gifts related to weather. I imagine they can be pretty useful for anyone spending lots of time outdoors. What’s on your weather-themed wish list for this year or what’s your advice for those people?

Epstein: Yeah, so there’s all sorts of things out there and of course, a lot of it depends on how much money you want to spend. But just a couple of things that you might be thinking about. One cool gift is a handheld anemometer. Kestrel Instruments has those, and so it’s literally like a thing that you hold up. You’ve probably seen them on the news sometimes in a hurricane or a big storm, and you’ll have the reporters holding these things up and it gives you the wind right there. So that’s a kind of a cool, unique instrument. It’s going to run you a couple of hundred bucks, but they’re pretty neat. Another thing, if you’re looking for a weather station, again, Kestrel Instruments, as well as Davis Weather Stations, Davis Weather Stations I really like. They have a whole variety of weather stations. If you are going down that route, I would just be sure that you have something that works with Wi-Fi. Some of these work with a cord. So the instrument is, say, outside and it’s giving you the reading inside. I’d want to make sure that it was Wi-Fi or Bluetooth or cellular-capable so that you weren’t running a wire between the station and where you were viewing it inside.

Herz: And I imagine all these things are integrated with apps and, you know, you can get these up on social media and stuff, right?

Epstein: Yeah, absolutely. And the National Weather Service actually, depending on what type of weather station you have and how official it is, you can go to, you know, our National Weather Service here in Greater Boston and you can actually upload those and they’ll go into the network. And it’s really useful to have those thermometers all across the area. So it also contributes to just giving us a nice idea and a good picture of what’s going on, especially in situations where temperature or precipitation type is really important, like a rain-snow line or something like that.

Herz: Wow, that sounds very fun. And let’s turn to gardening. This is the time of year to dream of things to come in the spring. It’s also a nice time for some traditional winter-blooming indoor plants. What’s your advice in this realm?

Epstein: Yeah, so indoor plants, amaryllis or paperwhites are great to get this time of the year. They’ll flower over the next month or so, depending on how you get them. I like to get the amaryllis bulbs that are actually not in bloom, but they’re, you know, you have the kit and you put it in a container and then you let it bloom and I keep them going. I’m on year — I think year number seven with my amaryllis right now. They go into the basement during the fall. They’ll come out later in the winter. I actually take them out after the holidays. They’re outside as a houseplant all summer and then the cycle continues all over again. In terms of books, one of my favorite books that I really like for gardeners that you may not be familiar with — this came out several years ago, but still really relevant — is the Winter Harvest Handbook. It’s by Eliot Coleman. He’s up there in Maine, and it’s a great guide to sort of how to grow things throughout the winter, so without heat. So he’s got some really cool tips and some of the different vegetables and things like that that you can grow. There’s also a book called The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener. And again, I push these things because I like to think that we’re not just gardening during the warmer months, but you can actually be doing things in the winter or at least get you a jump so that you can garden a little bit earlier in the spring.

Herz: What about for young people developing an interest in meteorology or earth sciences? Any starter gifts that could inspire young minds?

Epstein: Yeah, I would maybe look for — like, depending how young they are, you know, you have your field guides to weather. That was the thing that I started with. My parents got me one of those small paperback field guides and I loved looking through it and sort of reading about it when I was 10, 11 years old. If you have somebody that’s sort of middle school or high school, I would actually suggest getting them a college entry textbook. So just Google, you know, “intro to meteorology text” and buy one of those textbooks. They are fantastic. And if you have someone that’s really into weather like I was and knew that’s what you want to do, that’s a great way to get people excited and they’ll continue to learn and they’ll grow into the book. That’s what’s cool about that.

Herz: I love it. We could have some Dave Epsteins in the making here in our region if you’re listening in. Great list, Dave. Thanks so much.

Epstein: You’re welcome.

Herz: That’s GBH meteorologist Dave Epstein. You’re listening to GBH.

The holiday season has begun: Many of us have gotten our first dusting of snow, Christmas music is playing in stores, decorations are up and gift shopping is in full swing.

If you’ve still got shopping to do for an outdoorsy person in your life, GBH meteorologist Dave Epstein joined us to discuss gifts for people who love weather and gardening. Here are some of his top picks.

For meteorology and weather hobbyists: weather instruments

Weather instruments allow the meteorology fan in your life to measure temperatures, wind speeds and precipitation amounts — and gives them a way to get involved with the meteorology community.

“Depending on what type of weather station you have and how official it is, you can go to our National Weather Service here in Greater Boston and you can actually upload those [readings], and they’ll go into the network,” Epstein said. “It’s really useful to have those thermometers all across the area. It also contributes to just giving us a nice idea and a good picture of what’s going on, especially in situations where temperature or precipitation type is really important, like a rain-snow line.”

Some of Epstein’s suggestions: A handheld anemometer — a machine that measures wind speeds — from Kestrel Instruments, or a weather station from Kestrel Instruments or Davis Weather Stations.

“I would just be sure that you have something that works with Wi-Fi,” he said. “Some of these work with a cord. … I’d want to make sure that it was Wi-Fi or Bluetooth or cellular-capable so that you weren’t running a wire between the station and where you were viewing it inside.”

For gardeners: winter-blooming indoor plants

Plants like amaryllis or paperwhite narcissus will bloom in the winter, Epstein said. He will put them out during the holiday season, move the pots outside when the weather gets warmer in the spring and summer, and store the bulbs in his basement during the fall.

“I like to get the amaryllis bulbs that are actually not in bloom,” he said. “You have the kit and you put it in a container and then you let it bloom and I keep them going. I’m on year — I think year number seven with my amaryllis right now.”

For winter gardeners: books

Gardening doesn’t have to be a warm-weather activity, Epstein said, even in New England.

For people who want to get into year-round gardening, Epstein recommended the book “Winter Harvest Handbook” by Eliot Coleman.

“It’s a great guide to sort of how to grow things throughout the winter, so without heat,” Epstein said. “He’s got some really cool tips and some of the different vegetables and things like that that you can grow.”

Another pick: “The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener” by Niki Jabbour.

“I like to think that we’re not just gardening during the warmer months, but you can actually be doing things in the winter or at least get you a jump so that you can garden a little bit earlier in the spring,” Epstein said.

For kids and teens interested in meteorology: field guides and textbooks

Younger weather enthusiasts might like a meteorology field guide.

“My parents got me one of those small paperback field guides and I loved looking through it and sort of reading about it when I was 10, 11 years old,” he said.

For teenagers looking to deepen their meteorology knowledge, he suggested looking up college-level textbooks.

“So just Google, you know, 'intro to meteorology text’ and buy one of those textbooks,” he said. “They are fantastic. And if you have someone that’s really into weather like I was and knew that’s what you want to do, that’s a great way to get people excited and they’ll continue to learn and they’ll grow into the book. That’s what’s cool about that.”

He suggested two more books for people who love learning about big snowstorms: “Northeast Snowstorms” by Paul J. Kocin and Louis W. Uccellini and “Mighty Storms of New England” by Eric P. Fisher.

For spring and summer gardeners: gifts cards for seeds, bulbs, and tools

For a gardening gift to enjoy through the seasons, Epstein suggested looking for a gift card your loved one can use to buy some cool seeds for the upcoming growing season. A local nursery can also be a good choice for people interested in bulbs, trees or other plants.

“Johnny’s Selected Seeds is a great place if you’re looking for vegetable seeds. Baker Creek also has some great seeds,” he said. “Think about who the person is that you’re getting the gift for and then tailor the gift certificate towards that. So it could be vegetables, it could be perennials, it could be trees and shrubs.”

Produced with assistance from the  Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the  Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.