Analyzing/Forecasting Weather
Focus Question Dude Its wind. It blows everywhere. Meteorologist to Nicholas Cage in The Weatherman
VA SOL SOL 3 The student will investigate and understand how to read and interpret maps, globes, models, charts, and imagery. Key concepts include a. maps (..weather) and SOL 13 The student will investigate and understand that energy transfer between the sun and the Earth and its atmosphere drives weather and climate on Earth. Key concepts include b. prediction of weather patterns
Analyzing/Forecasting Weather In order to accurately analyze and forecast weather meteorologists must be able to reliably gather the necessary data about the atmosphere. The quality and amount of data available for a certain location greatly affect the outcome of the forecast
Video Clip-Forecasting Weather 4.0
The Instruments of Meteorology Thermometer measures temperature. They usually contain liquids such as mercury or alcohol that expand when heated
The Instruments of Meteorology Barometer measures air pressure. The common types are mercury and aneroid
The Instruments of Meteorology Psychrometer measures relative humidity. A wet and dry bulb thermometer is the most common type
The Instruments of Meteorology Anemometer measures wind velocity. The simplest type has cupped arms that rotate as the wind blows
Technology in Meteorology The accuracy of weather forecasting has greatly improved over the last 40 years. Many technological advances from other sciences have been found to have practical applications in Meteorology
Technology in Meteorology Weather Radar allows us to track real-time movement of precipitation inside the coverage area. Today most of the United States is covered by one or more weather radar sites
Technology in Meteorology
Technology in Meteorology Weather Satellites take photographs and other images of the Earth s surface at regular intervals.
Imagery These images are plotted and combined with radar data to determine where both clouds and precipitation are occurring
Technology in Meteorology Infrared Imagery allows us to see temperature differences in the surface and moving air masses and allows us to predict a systems potential to produce severe weather
Weather Analysis Once the weather observations are gathered meteorologists plot the data on a map using universally recognized symbols for the various pieces of information to be represented
Weather Analysis Station model is a record of the weather data for a particular site at a particular time and allows a large amount of data to be plotted in a small space
Large Scale Weather Plotting Once the information for individual sites is plotted meteorologists can construct large scale (nationwide or worldwide) weather maps that represent the current state of the whole troposphere
Large Scale Weather Plotting Isopleths are lines that connect equal or constant values and are similar to the contour lines used in geography Isobars connect areas of equal air pressure
Large Scale Weather Plotting Isotherms connect areas of equal temperature
Short Term Forecasting Weather forecasting has improved much over the past few decades and continues to do so as we advance in our ability to obtain and process weather data
Short Term Forecasting Digital Forecasts are the main method used by modern meteorologists. They rely on numerical data and are highly dependent on the density of data available. The more (accurate) data the more reliable the forecast
Short Term Forecasting Analog Forecasts compare current weather patterns to those that took place in the past The Farmers Almanac is an analog forecast
Long Term Forecasting Regardless of the method used all forecasts become less reliable when they attempt to predict long term weather. Even high tech supercomputers cannot account for every factor that influences the weather and miscalculations are compounded with time
Long Term Forecasting Most long term forecasts are based on cycles of changes in the atmosphere and ocean currents and rely more on analog
VA SOL SOL 3 The student will investigate and understand how to read and interpret maps, globes, models, charts, and imagery. Key concepts include a. maps (..weather) and SOL 13 The student will investigate and understand that energy transfer between the sun and the Earth and its atmosphere drives weather and climate on Earth. Key concepts include b. prediction of weather patterns
December 20, 2009, in the wake of a recordbreaking snow storm
The Current Weather? http://www.wunderground.com/us/region/u S/2xFronts.html