Weather Forecasting

Note from the author:

This is a lesson about how to read a weather map for middle schoolers. There are images, paragraphs to read, and a video. This is based on NOAA's SciJinks page for kids.

Instructions

Read the information provided for the different images and use it to help you answer the questions.

Meteorologists (scientists who study weather) at the National Weather Service use information from ground stations and weather satellites to make these maps. Words like “rain” and “snow” are pretty obvious, but what exactly do the symbols on a weather map tell you about the weather?

What is a meteorologist?

Earth’s atmosphere is a jacket of gases that surrounds the planet. Although it seems like these gases could easily float away into space, gravity is constantly pulling the atmosphere toward Earth’s surface. The force with which our atmosphere pushes down on a specific location on Earth is called atmospheric pressure. The closer you are to the center of the Earth the more Atmospheric pressure you feel

Where would you feel the least amount of air pressure?

A high pressure system is a dense air mass that is usually cooler and drier than the surrounding air. A low pressure system is a less dense air mass that is usually wetter and warmer than the surrounding air.
In general, areas that experience high atmospheric pressure also experience fair weather. Low pressure systems can cause the formation of clouds and storms. Air usually flows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.

If our city is in a High pressure system then it would feel like...

How do meteorologists keep an "eye" on low pressure systems?

From high above Earth, satellites such as GOES-16 keep an eye on the weather brought by low pressure systems. The red “L” on the map above indicates a low pressure system in the Tennessee Valley region. In the video to the left from GOES-16, you can see what that same low pressure system looks like from a weather satellite.