Fryterprettng V/eathen - Mrs. Battistone`s Earth Science Class

Fryterprettng V/eathen
fu{aps
Sackground
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Weather maps are made by combining meteorological data
collected from stations a-ll over the nation or the world. Weather
stations are maintained at airports, at broadcasting stations, by
schools, by private citizens, and in reiitote a,r'eas by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1\OAA) Weather maps
usually have an outline of the area being surveyed, the names of
the cities where the reporting stations are located, arrd symbols
that represent the weather data. These weather symbols express
a lot of information in a concise way. If you combine information
from many stations on a map, the map will give you a picture of
the large weather systems across the nation.
Figrue 1 shows an example of the weather stations symbols,
information given by each symbol. Following Figure 1 is
the
and
an explanation of each type of information. As of this writing,
weather station symbols in the United States are still expressed in
the English system of measurement.
Ihe obiective of lhis ortivity
to,inlerprel o
is
lo leorn how
bosic weolher mop.
frloleriols
For eoch siudeni:
0 tolored pentil
Cloud cover
Pressure (mb)
/Almospheric
Temperoture
------>
10 10
J)
Weather City #Locotion
--->9
Dew Point ----> 60
Presenl Weolher
Wind Direction
*windspeed
Figure I
Atmospheric pressure:This is the atmospheric (or air)
plessure measured in millibars (mb). Air pressure at sea level
avelages about 1013 mb (14.7lblin2 or 1.04 kglcm2 or 760 mrn
I-lg or 29 .92 in. FIg). Often r.veather maps have culved lines
PROJECT EARTH SCIENCE:
METEOROLOGY
133
ffif€.?teffii(€Etri!@
6!'e*-'
called isobars (literally "equal bals"). These lines are drarvn by
connecting lines between locations on the map with the same atr
. --
J'*"
pressure
fr/ifrd
O------5kr
O-r.. O-=\
20 kl
35 kr
ip;;di The small lines that look like barbs represent
the wind speed. Each full line represents 10 knots - (kt) of wind
speed
(l kt:1.15 mph:1.8 kph).
Shorter lines represent wind
speecls of 5 knots. Add the lines to get the
total wind speed.
i.-igure 2 shows several examples.
Figure 2
North
{from the north)
Norlheost
(lrom lhe soulhwenl
Soulheosl
lfrom tfie northwestl
(
Figure 3
Il/ind direction: If you think of the wind speed lines as
feathers on an arrow, the circle represents the arrowhead. The
alrow points the direction the wind is blowing, but wind direction is designated as the direction the wind is blowing from.
Therefore, if an arrow points to the east, the wind direction is
actually called "from the west." In Figure 1 above, the wind
direction is from the south. See Figure 3 for the principal wind
directions.
'femperature: This is the temperature measured in oF every
hour.
oF
the air would have
Deu Point: This is the temperature in
to be cooled to for the air to become saturated and for water
vapor in the air to condense.
Cloud couer: The amount of cloud cover is represented by
the amount of the circle that is blackened. Figure 4 shows some
examples.
o o o o a
t,
(leor
25% (overed
50%
(overed
/5% (overed
100%
(ov*ed
Sky obscured
Figure 4
Present ueather: Figure 5 shows a list of symbols used to
designate some of the different types of weather.
Figure 5
roin
o o (ontinuous roin (light)
I t|oil
fiSleet
o
* lntermillenl snow
* * (ontinuous snow (lightl
t
r34
9
Inlermillenl
NATIONAL
lnlermillenl drizzle
99
(ontinuous drizzle
K
lhundentirrms
-Fog
f
f
Sigh roin
showers
Moderote or heovy roin showers
SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION
NAME:
Date:
Class pd:
WEATHER
A weather symbol is plotted if at the time of observation, there is either precipitation occurring or a condition
causing reduced visibility.
Below is a list of the most common weather syrmbols:
i
.
-;{-
"t"
+
Rain {light,moderate,heavyJ
*}+ "5*.
+
Snow{light,modarate,hearry}
*-+
K
K
K
r
I,i_
Y
V
,
frrJ
,
i,r''.J
Thunder(vrith rain,snow,no precipitation)
Shorver (rain,snow)
Drizzle
Freezing rain, Freezing drizzle
t
A
lce pellets/$leet
E
Fog (shall0v,deep)
w
Haee
WIND
Wind is plotted in increments of 5 knots (kts), with the outer end of the symbol pointing toward the direction
from which the wind is blowing. The wind speed is determined by adding up the total of flags, lines, and half.
lines, each of which have the following individual values:
Flag: 50 kts
Line:10 kts
Half-Line: 5 kts
lf there is only a circle depicted over the station with no wind symbol present, the wind is calm. Below are
some sample wind symbols:
(
Bonnie Keller. Oct 2006