[2] Bluestein is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), served on the National Research Council (NRC) Board of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC) and on the NRC Committee on Weather Radar Technology Beyond NEXRAD.

He co-edited, with Lance Bosart, Synoptic-Dynamic Meteorology and Weather Analysis and Forecasting: A Tribute to Fred Sanders (ISBN 978-1878220844) in 2008.

He wrote the popular book Tornado Alley: Monster Storms of the Great Plains (ISBN 978-0195105520) in 1999.

Howie "Cb" Bluestein, a nickname that is the abbreviation for cumulonimbus, has been a contributor to Storm Track and Weatherwise magazines.

Bluestein is noted for his co-invention of the tornado-measuring device TOTO, with Al Bedard and Carl Ramzy of NOAA,[4]