How Do You Read A Weather Map
The pressure pattern will always show you a number of things we always have areas of high pressure h and areas of low pressure l and the white lines that circulate around show where the pressure is equal.
How do you read a weather map. If you d like to learn more about reading weather maps keep on reading. They are called isobars. This is why the uk sees such changeable weather. If you ve looked at a weather forecast on your tv computer or phone you ve probably seen a weather map that looks something like this.
A weather map and its symbols are meant to convey a lot of weather information quickly and without using a lot of words. High and low pressure. Part 1 of 4. Red warm front lines bring brief rain followed by warming in the direction of the semi circles.
They show what is happening at a set time where most of us need it at the earth s surface. Meteorologists at the national weather service use information from ground stations and weather satellites to make these maps. Weather maps as they appear on tv in a newspaper or here are called surface charts or more correctly mean sea level msl charts. Usually yellows and reds are more intense precipitation while greens are less intense.
Determine the direction that the storm is heading by viewing the radar in motion which shows slides of the past several radar frames. They do not show what is happening at higher levels where the wind flow may be doing something entirely different. Temperature pressure and winds are all in balance and the atmosphere is constantly changing to preserve this balance. Sometimes though the pressure gradient the difference between the high and the low pressure is much bigger and the air moves faster.
How to read a weather map. How do you read a weather map. For example high pressure h areas will have clear skies while low pressure l areas can be stormy. Knowing how to read a weather map can help you understand the weather and know what to expect.
After identifying each of the symbols used on a weather map students will use a map to answer questions about weather and climate in the united states. Look at the direction in which the storm was moving in previous. Read the key usually at the top of the map to determine what the radar colors mean. Blue cold front lines bring rain and wind in the direction the triangular marks point.
Here is an introduction to weather maps and their symbols. Just as equations are the language of mathematics weather symbols are the language of weather so that anyone looking at a map should be able to decipher the same exact information from it that is if you know how to read it. Words like rain and snow are pretty obvious but what exactly do the symbols on a weather map tell you about the weather. How to read weather maps.
This is an excellent supplement to a lesson or unit on weather earth science or climate change. The circular lines you see on the chart are isobars which join areas of the same barometric pressure. The pressure pattern is important because we can use it.