ESCI C.S3.O2.A6 Weather Investigation

There are lots of different information types that might be included on a weather map, but we are going to concentrate on the following: High pressure centers, low pressure centers, storm fronts, precipitation, cloud cover, and temperature.

Areas of high pressure are marked with a large capital H and low pressure areas are marked with a large capital L:

You should be able to recognize the following four types of storm fronts:

Rain and cloud cover may be indicated by icons that look like what they represent or they may be shown as a colored overlay created using radar and satellite data. 

Temperature is typically shown as large numbers located over cities, but can also be shown as a colored overlay that shows the temperature gradient across the whole map.

You also need to be familiar with reading a weather station model. It's a symbol used on weather maps to indicate all of the variables measured by the instruments discussed in a previous lesson. Use this link Links to an external site.for a more detailed description.

Your Assignment:  You are going to use the interactive weather map called the Wundermap Links to an external site.. This map shows current up to date weather data for anywhere in the US. Your assignment is to pick an area and give a detailed forecast about the weather. You should pick a larger region, not just a single city. Something like the size of a few counties. Your forecast should at least include:

• What are temperatures like?
• Humidity and precipitation
• Fronts
• Related high and low pressure systems
• Wind speed and direction
• Predict how the weather will change over the next few days and why.