General Guidance *

Table of Useful Web Sites for Observations and Forecasts *

Online Unit Converters *

The Weather (Lab) Kit and Alternatives *

Siting Your Weather Observation Site *

Finding the Direction or North, South, East and West *

Location *

Latitude and Longitude *

Elevation *

Date and Time *

Clouds and Sky Condition *

Current Weather *

Precipitation *

Visibility *

Air temperature *

Humidity Related *

Air pressure: *

Wind *

How Can I Take Weather Observations if I'm Traveling? *

Making a Forecast *

Using On-Line and Mass Media Weather *

The main point the lab "weather observation" exercise is to give you the opportunity to think about what you are observing. So having the "right" equipment is the least critical component of the exercise. For this course the exact measurements are far less important than thinking about the causes of the weather around you. If you don't have the equipment for measuring a particular weather element, just give me (1) a short, descriptive observation of your subjective observations on the weather element and (2) why you had difficulty obtaining a measurement.

For example, even if you don't have a thermometer or a way to measure dew point temperature, you could say, "It was much colder and dryer than typical for the season for my location so I estimated the temperature to be 25 F and the dewpoint 10 F". As another example, if you don't have a barometer, for your pressure observation, you might say, "It was raining during my observation, so I think the pressure was probably relatively low."

I don't expect you to have an answer for each of these weather elements for the second week of class. Do the best you can at this point. Think about the different weather elements you see at your location and how they relate to the large-scale weather patterns.

At first, if you get stuck on any particular element, please don't spend a lot of time on it. Just note that you could not come up with a method to observe/measure this element. Then I'll give you some suggestions. I don't expect people to understand all the weather causes/connections at the beginning of the course. However, I do expect people to follow instructions and not to make the same mistakes over and over again.

You will be building a knowledge base as we go through the course. Also, try to have fun with this exercise. I encourage everyone to be creative. Add comments you might think are interesting, ask questions, etc. For example, you might want to add how the weather effected you that day. I would like you to do whatever helps you appreciate and understand what the atmosphere is doing around you.

http://www.meso.com/wind-personal/glenn/calc/tti-cal.htm

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/metcon.shtml

http://www.meso.com/wind-personal/glenn/171/Celsius-Fahrenheit.htm

 The Weather (Lab) Kit and Alternatives

The kit has a:

All of which can be purchased or made on your own. Here are some suggestions:

Other instruments that would be useful, but not essential:

Using local weather stations to fill in the gaps: Very likely there are several weather observing sites near you that you can use to help estimate any weather elements that you can't directly measure.

Guidelines for setting up your weather kit: It is not mandatory you follow these guidelines, just do the best you can. Be sure to take your observation in the same location. For instance, if you move from one side of your house to the other, it will effect the consistency of your measurements.

The temperature close to the ground depends on the surface cover. Different surfaces have different properties; readings obtained on different surfaces are not compatible. It was internationally agreed that weather stations should be positioned over short grass whenever possible.

Trees can shade a site and change other meteorological characteristics, such as wind, so locate your site well away from them.

3. Set up your station and make you observations well away from buildings: True temperatures and wind movement can only be calculated if the site is in an open area away from buildings. The ideal distance from a building is about 400 feet or 130 meters. It is very difficult to meet this criteria, so just do the best you can!

4. Set up your station and make you observations where the land is flat: Flat land helps eliminate small-scale anomalies in temperature and wind. The most common problem is when cold air gathers in small hollows (low spots).

In reality it is very difficult to stick to all of these strict guidelines. Don't be too worried if you can't find a perfect site; you can still achieve the objective of thinking about your observations.

If you can find one direction, you can then determine all directions, using the idea of the compass. See http://www.survivaliq.com/survival/field-expedient-direction-finding.htm for more information on finding direction.

The best way to find your direction is to use a compass. You simply need to line up the north- pointing compass needle with north and you have your direction. This will work well enough for most locations, but if you are close to the poles (latitudes of 80 degrees or greater) the fact that true north and magnetic north are not in the in the same location come in to play. The difference between true north and magnetic north is called the "magnetic declination". The values of the magnetic declination vary around the earth. If the declination is a negative number, it means that the magnetic north is west of true north in your area, so you would need to subtract (add the negative number) the magnetic declination to the magnetic north to get true north.

If you want to account for your magnetic declination in your area you can go to this web site for a magnetic declination calculator. http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/seg/gmag/fldsnth1.pl

You can construct an improvised compasses using a needle -shaped piece of ferrous (iron type) that is allowed to move freely so it can point north.

You first need to magnetize or polarize the metal by slowly stroking it in one direction on a piece of silk or through your hair (very carefully) using deliberate strokes. You can also polarize metal by stroking it repeatedly at one end with a magnet. Always rub in one direction only. If you have a battery and some electric wire, you can polarize the metal electrically. The wire should be insulated. If not insulated, wrap the metal object in a single, thin strip of paper to prevent contact. The battery must be a minimum of 2 volts. Form a coil with the electric wire and touch its ends to the battery's terminals. Repeatedly insert one end of the metal object in and out of the coil. The needle will become an electromagnet.

Once the needle is magnetized the final thing you need to do is to allow the needle to freely move so it can point north. To do this you can suspend the needle using a piece of nonmetallic string or even hair. You can also try putting the magnetized needle on a small piece of wood in water. If the needle can move freely it will align itself along a north-south line.

The sun rises generally in the east and sets in generally the west. But except for during the equinoxes it is not EXACTLY in the east and west. There is a seasonal variation due to the migration of the vertical rays of the sun caused by the tilt of the earth on its axis. However, in the Northern Hemisphere, whenever the Sun is at its highest point in the sky, the sun will be due south. In the Southern Hemisphere this noonday point will mark due north. The hemisphere will be indicated by the way that shadows move; clockwise in the north, counterclockwise in the south.

A standard analog wristwatch (one with numbers for the hours, not digital) can be used to help find the direction. It has to be set to true local standard time (even better yet, set to mean solar time).

Go outside at solar noon. Need a solar noon website In the Northern Hemisphere, hold the watch horizontal and point the hour hand at the sun. The hour hand points south. So 12 on the watch points south, 3 on the watch points west, 6 points north and 9 points east.

In the Southern Hemisphere hold the watch horizontal and point the hour hand at the sun. The hour hand points north. So 12 on the watch points north, 3 points east, 6 points north and 9 points west.

As you get closer to the Equator, the method becomes less accurate because the sun is almost directly overhead. Also, if you are between 23.5 degrees latitude north (or south) the direction of the sun at noon will change with the season from north to south.

Shadows can be a guide to both direction and time of day. Let's take a look at a few tricks with shadows now. On a patch of flat, clear ground place a meter-long (3ft) stick as upright as possible. Note where its shadow falls and mark the tip with a rock or by an "X" on the ground. Wait at least 15 minutes and mark the new shadow tip. Bisect between the two and you have directions of east and west. The first mark is west. North-south will be at right angles to this line. This stick method works at any time of the day when there is sunshine and at any latitude.

Shadow Stick Method #2

Another, more accurate method, if you have time, is to mark the first shadow tip in the morning. Draw a clean arc at exactly this distance from the stick, using the stick as the center point. As midday approaches, the shadow will shrink and move. In the afternoon, as the shadow lengthens again, mark the EXACT spot where it touches the arc. Join the two points to give east and west. West is of course, the morning mark.

The moon has no light on its own. We all know that. It reflects the light that comes off the sun. As it orbits the earth over 28 days, the shape of the moon changes. The shape of the moon changes based on the shape of the light reflected according to its position in respect to the sun. When the moon is the same side of the earth as the sun, no light is visible. This is the "new moon". As the days pass, the moon reflects light from its apparent right-hand side, from a gradually increasing area as it waxes. At the full moon, it is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun and it "wanes", the reflecting area gradually reducing to a narrow sliver on the apparent left-hand side. This can be used to decide direction. If the moon rises BEFORE the sun has set, the illuminated side will be on the west. If the moon rises AFTER midnight the illuminated side will be in the east. This may seem a little obvious, but it does mean you have the moon as a rough east-west reference during the night.

Every night the stars appear to move over us. They appear in basically the same place each night. However due to the orbit of the earth, the path they take over the horizon starts four minutes earlier each night, a two-hour difference in time over a month. If you study a star at a certain position at a certain time one evening and then check its place the next night at the same time, you will find it has moved one degree of arc counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere).

In the Northern Hemisphere you can use Polaris or the North Star to find north. The primary constellations to use are Ursa Major, also known as the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia. These constellations do not set so they are always visible on a clear night. Use them to locate Polaris, also known as the polestar or the North Star. The North Star forms part of the Little Dipper handle and can be confused with the Big Dipper. Prevent confusion by using both the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia together. The Big Dipper and Cassiopeia are always directly opposite each other and rotate counterclockwise around Polaris, with Polaris in the center. The Big Dipper is a seven star constellation in the shape of a dipper. The two stars forming the outer lip of this dipper are the "pointer stars" because they point to the North Star. Mentally draw a line from the outer bottom star to the outer top star of the Big Dipper's bucket. Extend this line about five times the distance between the pointer stars. You will find the North Star along this line. Cassiopeia has five stars that form a shape like a "W" on its side. The North Star is straight out from Cassiopeia's center star. After locating the North Star, locate the North Pole or true north by drawing an imaginary line directly to the earth.

There is no single star bright enough to be easily recognized near the south celestial pole. So there is no "South Star". Instead, a constellation known as the "Southern Cross" is used as the marker for finding signpost to the South. The Southern Cross or Crux has five stars. Its four brightest stars form a cross that tilts to one side. One way to find the Southern Cross is to look along the Milky Way, the band of millions of distant stars that can be seen running across the sky on a clear night. In the middle of that vastness is a dark patch where a cloud of dust blocks out the bright star background, known as the Coal Sack. On one side of Coal Sack is the Southern Cross. The two bright stars that make up the cross's long axis are the pointer stars. To determine south, imagine a distance five times the distance between these stars and the point where this imaginary line ends is in the general direction of south. Look down to the horizon from this imaginary point and select a landmark to steer by. You can fix this location if you drive stakes in the ground to point the way.

The constellation Orion rises and sets above the Equator and can be seen in both hemispheres. It rises on its side, due east, regardless of the observer's latitude, and sets due west. Orion is easy to spot by the three stars, making the "belt", and those lesser stars, forming his sword.

It is critical for me to know where you are taking the observation. You must write down the City, State, Zip Code (if available) and Country for EACH of your observation exercises.

Understanding basic concepts about latitude and longitude is a requirement for most middle and high school programs, so it is assumed that you already understand the basics of latitude and longitude how to find them on a map. But I realize that it may have been awhile since you worked with them. If you want to review latitude and longitude try the following links Maps or Maps (alt site) . Other sites that may help:

http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Slatlong.htm

http://pittsford.monroe.edu/Jefferson/CALFIERI/maps&globes/Latitude.html

http://www.cogtech.com/EXPLORER/lat-long.htm

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/leveson/core/linksa/latlong_menu.html

http://www.hammondmap.com/sites/hammond/geography/latlong1.html

http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/highlights/sunrise/sollinks.html#latlong

There are many ways you can find your latitude and longitude. Here are just a few suggestions:

1. Find it on Atlas: Find an atlas and locate you latitude and longitude. All local libraries have a world atlas.

Clickable maps:

North America: http://www.sel.noaa.gov/Aurora/globeNW.html

Eurasia: http://www.sel.noaa.gov/Aurora/globeNE.html

South America and Eastern Pacific: http://www.sel.noaa.gov/Aurora/globeSW.html

Africa-Indian Ocean-Australia-Asia: http://www.sel.noaa.gov/Aurora/globeSE.html

Go to http://www.aws.com/aws_2001/asp/getLiveWeather.asp

• This will bring you to a web page where you can enter you zip code in a box.
• Enter your zip code and click on "go"

• Pick one and click on it.

• Now look for the link "Full Observation" and click on it (This is right under the table with the current observation.)

The latitude, longitude and elevation will be in the top line. To estimate the values for your exact location, use the relationship about 60 miles equals 1 degree of latitude.

4. Measure Latitude and Longitude: Using your knowledge of the date, time of day, position of north star and the sun, you can effectively estimate you latitude and longitude.

So Latitude = Angle of Elevation of north star

Measuring Longitude: It's easy to work out your longitude using the Earth rotates one full turn (360° of longitude) in one day. It therefore turns one degree of longitude in 1/360th of a day, or every four minutes. To calculate your longitude, you therefore simply need to work out the time difference between noon at your location and noon at the Prime Meridian.

Solar time is defined by the position of the sun. The solar day is the time it takes for the sun to return to the same meridian in the sky. Because the earth both rotates on its axis and orbits about the sun, the solar time is not completely constant but varies a few minutes throughout the year. The easiest local time to measure is the local solar time as measured by a sundial. This gives us apparent solar time and is the time derived from the sun's apparent position. A sundial indicates the apparent solar time directly.

When the center of the sun is on an observer's meridian, the observer's local solar time is "zero hours" or noon. Because the earth moves with varying speed in its orbit at different times of the year and because the plane of the earth's equator is inclined to its orbital plane, the length of the solar day is different depending on the time of year. It is more convenient to define time in terms of the average of local solar time. Such time, called mean solar time, may be thought of as being measured relative to an imaginary sun (the mean sun) that lies in the earth's equatorial plane and about which the earth orbits with constant speed. Every mean solar day is of the same length. The difference between the local solar time and the mean solar time at a given location is known as the equation of time. Tables used by navigators list the equation of time for different times of the year so that an observer can calculate his mean solar time from his local solar time (found by determining the sun's hour angle). Mean solar time is the basis for civil time and standard time

 Distance Between Latitude and Longitude Points:

The following link is a useful link if you want to calculate the linear distance between any two lat/long points.

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~cvm/latlongdist.html

 Elevation

You must provide your elevation in both "feet" and "meters".

To convert from the length unit feet to the length unit meters use the relationship:

39.37 inches = 1 meter or

12 inches per foot /39.37 inches per meter x number of feet = elevation in meters. Or use:

0.3048 meter/ft x length in feet = length (elevation) in meters.

3.280833 ft/meters x length in meters = length (elevation) in feet

There are many ways you can find your elevation. Here are just a few suggestions:

1. Find it on terrain atlas: Find an atlas that gives information on elevation and locate your latitude and longitude on the map. All local libraries should have world atlas.

Clickable color-coded elevation map for the US is at

Course resolution global elevation map can be found at:

Go to

• This will bring you to a web page where you can enter you zip code in a box.
• Enter your zip code and click on "go"

• Pick one and click on it.

• Now look for the link " Full Observation " and click on it (this is right under the table with the current observation.

The elevation will be in the top line along with latitude and longitude. If you think you are higher or lower than the "official" site, adjust that as well.

To be meaningful, and also give you practice in converting UTC to your local time, you need to record your observation in both Local and UTC date and time.

The following sites gives information on UTC and the conversion of local to UTC time.

You describe the sky condition in terms of cloud coverage, height of clouds and types of clouds.

You can describe the cloud coverage either quantitatively in terms of percentage, or tenths. You can also do in terms of qualitative as clear, partly cloudy mostly cloudy or cloudy. You may also hear the terms scattered, broken and overcast to describe cloud coverage.

The types of clouds are described in terms of height and form. The categories of heights are low (no prefix) , middle (alto prefix) and high clouds (cirrus of cirro prefix) .

The forms of clouds are cumuliform (more vertical that horizontal - puffy clouds) and stratiform (more horizontal than vertical flat, and spread out clouds) and hybrid (stratocumulus). This gives us 10 basic different cloud types:

Stratus (St), Nimbostratus (Ns), Cumulus (Cu) and Stratocumulus (Sc)

Altostratus (As), Altocumulus (AC)

Cirrus (Ci), Cirrostratus (Cs), Cirrocumulus(Cc)

Cumulonimbus (Cb - Clouds that produce thunderstorm and heavy rain showers)

Note: cumulus clouds are also considered clouds of vertical extent.

The actual heights of clouds are usually given in terms of thousand of feet.

Current weather is the given term of precipitation that may be falling and its intensity. If no precipitation is falling and there is some other obstruction to visibility that is also noted.

Some common current weather and or obstruction to vision:

Rain: relatively large drops of liquid water.

Drizzle: drizzle significantly obstruction to visibility because of the small size of the drops while rain does not lower visibility nearly as much.

Freezing Rain or Drizzle: This occurs when rain or drizzle freezes upon contacting a surface.

Sleet (also called Ice pellets): - This is a cold weather precipitation, which is essentially a frozen raindrop that freezes well before reaching the ground. DO NOT CONFUSE it with hail, which is primarily a warm season precipitation and only falls from a thunderstorm.

Hail: ice "chucks" or pellets that only form in conjunction with thunderstorms

Thunderstorm or Tornado: If you see lightning or hear thunder than you have a thunderstorm occurring. If you can see a tornado, then you are considered to have a tornado occurring.

Fog: This just a cloud that has formed at the ground

Smoke and Haze: There are natural and human produced particles that reduce visibility and makes the sky appear grayish white to brown.

None: if there is not precipitation or obstruction to visibility.

In addition to reporting the currently occurring precipitation, measure the amount of rainfall since your last observation as liquid water equivalent. Your kit will measure up to 4 inches of rain. If you use a can as your rain gauge, measure the amount of rain in the can with a ruler. Make sure you empty the rain gauge after measuring rainfall.

 Snowfall, Snow Depth and Water Equivalent

During the cold time of the year if you have snow in your areas use a ruler or yardstick to measure snowfall and snow depth. Try to find a flat grassy area and place a board on the grass to give you a flat surface to measure the new snowfall. Make sure you only measure the snowfall since your last observation. Snow depth is the total amount of new and old snow on the ground. The water or liquid equivalent of the snowfall or snow depth is found by melting the water in a rain gauge and measuring it with a ruler or estimating mating using the water equivalent of 10 inches of snowfall equals 1 inch of rain (10 to 1 ratio).

New Snowfall: The National Weather Service give the following tips guidelines for measuring snow.

Where and how to measure the snowfall:

1. Ideally, you want to measure snow on a snow board. You can make your own. It is just a clean, white board (about 2 X 3 feet). Place the board on the ground away from trees, buildings, fences, etc., as much in the open as possible. Allow the snow to accumulate on top of it and measure the depth with a ruler.
2. Less accurate alternatives include measuring on a deck or patio. These surfaces are more likely to be warmer and melt some snow or be sheltered by the house, etc., but it is a second choice.
3. Measuring on the ground with no snow board works if there is no grass or the grass is extremely short and compact to the ground. If not, be sure not to jam the ruler down too far so that you are measuring the dirt and grass with your snow.
4. Measuring on a driveway might work if the temperatures before the snow are well below freezing so that all the snow that falls accumulates and does not melt. If your driveway is paved, just use the ruler. If gravel, do not jam the ruler into the gravel, just penetrate the snow until you hit stone.

Tips on measuring Snowfall

1. Sampling - if you are not using a snow board, you might want to sample several locations and take an average. If windy conditions are causing drifting of snow, do not average in the drifts. Measure drifts separately.
2. Drifts - Report drifts in feet (not inches). Only report if a drift is much greater than your snowfall. For instance, the wind blows all but a trace of snow off your snow board yet you have a 3 foot drift against your house.
3. Reading the Ruler - The depth of newly fallen snow is reported in INCHES and TENTHS (i.e. 6.3").

http://tgsv5.nws.noaa.gov/er/lwx/skywarn/snowfall.html

Read your the weather station air temperature directly from your thermometer. This is also called the "dry bulb temperature" if you were to use a sling psychrometer to calculate humidity values.

Convert your calculation either to Fahrenheit or Celsius depending on the what units your thermometer uses by using:.

To check you answer you can use the this link to temperature C to F, F to C converter:

http://www.meso.com/wind-personal/glenn/171/Celsius-Fahrenheit.htm

Humidity is the term used to describe the amount of water vapor in the air. There are two primary ways humidity is described in the observation:

• Dew point: by definition the dew point is the temperature at which condensation or dew will form. It is also a very good measure of the actual amount of humidity in the air. The higher the dew point the more water vapor the higher the humidity. Just knowing the dew point you can tell a lot about how comfortable you will you will feel.
• Relative humidity (RH), is not humidity. As the term states it is RELATIVE humidity. It DOES NOT tell us how much water vapor in the air. It tells the degree of saturation of the air in terms of how much water vapor is in the air compared to how much it could hold. By itself, it is NOT a good measure of the comfort level. It is a GOOD measure of the drying rates you can expect. Unfortunately due to "popular" use you will often see humidity referred to on TV when they really mean relative humidity.

To get a complete picture of humidity you need to know the temperature, dew point and relative humidity. From any two you can calculate the third.

There are other terms that are used to describe measurement of humidity:

• Mixing ratio: the ratio of the mass of water vapor to the mass of the "dry" air.
• Specific Humidity: the ratio of the mass of water vapor to the mass of air (water vapor + dry air)
• Absolute humidity: the ration of the mass of water vapor per volume of air.
• Vapor Pressure: the amount of partial pressure exerted by water vapor.
• Wet bulb temperature: This is the lowest temperature of a thermometer that can be achieved due to evaporation.

This web link goes to a table of links to various charts that relate temperature, wet bulb, RH and dew point

You will have to get creative to measure both there dew point and the relative humidity, depending on what instrumentation you have. You should always have some way to measure or at least estimate your local outside air temperature. By either estimating or measuring dew point RH you can calculate the third using the above relationships or use the table. Hear are some ways to measure:

Dew Point:

No direct Access to Dew point or RH:

- If you find your self in the position where you have no way to calculate or estimate the dew point or RH then do your best to estimate it. One thing you can know for sure the dew point can NEVER be higher than the temperature. If you really put some effort into think about what you are doing when trying to estimate the dew point you will actually learn a lot more than just measuring or calculating the numerical value.

There are two types of pressure measurement that we will be concerned with.

The station pressure or barometric pressure is the pressure that is read directly from a barometer without adjusting for the station elevation.

The other pressure is the station pressure mathematically changed to what it would be at mean sea level pressure by using the rule "pressure changes about 10 mb for every 100 meters change in elevation". Thus the pressure increases about 10 mb for every 100 meters of decrease in elevation (and the converse - pressure decreases about 10 mb for every 100 meters of increase in elevation. The process of mathematically changing the station pressure to the mean sea level pressure is referred to as "reducing" the station the pressure to sea level, because you reduce or remove the effects of elevation on the station pressure.

To calibrate your barometer to estimate mean sea level pressure, find a station that reports mean sea level pressure near you, then calibrate your barometer to mean sea level by setting your pressure to the pressure of the local weather station during periods when the pressure gradient is low (winds tend to be calm).

If you don't have a direct source, try to use the barometric readings of a station that is close by. You can also use media sources such as The Weather Channel.

Even though most of you have no direct way to obtain the station or mean sea level pressure for your observation, with a little scientific thinking and ingenuity there are several ways to estimate both your "station" and mean sea level pressure.

 Wind

You can use the wind speed "meter" in you weather lab kit to estimate wind speed. The "tail" of the wind meter will act like a weather vane tail and so it will point to the direction in the wind is coming from. So when making your wind measurement remember the direction of the wind is the direction the wind is coming from. For example a north wind is coming from the north moving to the south, thus typically a north wind is a cold wind in the U.S. Use the following relationships to convert from miles per hour to knots:

The following links contain tables and calculators for converting form mph to knots.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~vdpauw/spots/knotmph.htm

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/metcon.shtml

As mentioned several times now, the main point of all the lab "weather observation" exercises is to give you the opportunity to think about what you are observing. Having the "right" equipment is the least critical component of the observation exercise. If you are traveling, it will require some self-discipline and creativity on your part, but you still can take a weekly observation and complete every entry. If nothing else you can give a short, descriptive subjective observation on each of the weather elements. This would meet the course goal. Again, the emphasis is not the kit. The emphasis is to think about what is happening in the weather.

To help get a better feel for the operational side of weather, it will be helpful for you to try to make your own forecast as weather and see some of the products used in making a weather forecast. The main tool we will use the surface weather map.

There two basic types of surface maps:

(1) The analysis of observed data use just called an analysis. This is made from an analysis of weather observations. It us what has actually happened, so it is history. It is NOT a forecast of anything. The example I'm showing you today is from DataStreme)

(2) The forecasted maps also called "progs" are maps of what is predicted to happen. Today the forecasted surface weather maps are typically created by a meteorologist by making adjustment to a computer forecast made by a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. The examples I will be showing you are products made by the meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

The current U.S. surface map (usually about an hour old) is available at: http://www.ametsoc.org/dstreme/images/sfc_map.gif. The 24 and 48 hour U.S. surface map forecast can be found at:

You can get daily weather summaries for the U.S. Monday through Friday at:

http://www.ametsoc.org/dstreme/ in the "Daily Summary

It is encourage that you use real-time on-line and mass media weather information to help learn the course material and make the course more interesting..

Virtually every TV and radio station has both on-air weather broadcasts and on-line whether information. There is also the weather channel and many other online services that provided weather information. I encourage you to listen critically to what is presented and bring up any points you find interesting, confusing, etc. made by the weather media and ask questions as we go through.