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How to Read a Weather Map—Activity Student PagesIntroductionleft000Almost everyone wants to know what the weather will be for the day, or even the week. There are people who live in a region where the weather changes very little; people who live the tropics know it’s going to be hot all the time and people who live near one of Earth’s polar regions know it is going to be cold most of the time.?????????????????????????????????????????????????But, even these regions have weather differences, and everyone is affected by the weather. Being able to look at a weather map and know what it may do for the day and also for the week ahead is a very helpful skill.?This lesson will take you through the surprisingly few steps you need to do in order to be able to have a good idea of what’s happening with your weather. Of course, the forces that influence weather are tricky—they can change quickly and the forecast may be wrong.?But, you can follow these few steps and know a lot about how meteorologists (scientists who study the weather) make their forecasts.?ObjectivesYou will:Identify a variety of weather symbolsInterpret a weather map using symbols?? ?Be able to apply the symbols given to a forecast for an area?Procedure Reading a weather map is like putting together a puzzle.?To work a puzzle, you put together all the pieces, piece by piece.?Only when you have all the pieces in place do you see the whole picture.?That’s a lot like reading a weather map. When you look at a weather map all the “pieces” are there, but you just don’t know what they mean yet. By looking at each symbol, piece by piece, you can put the whole picture together to find out about the weather in any location on the map.?You can also use that information to predict what the weather may be like in the next few days.?To read a weather map and forecast the weather, follow a few easy steps, and put the weather puzzle together one step at a time.?1. Choose an area on weather map #1 in this lesson and look closely at the weather symbols.?If you don’t know what the symbol means, look it up on the Weather Symbols Reference Guide in this Lessons and Materials section.???2. Decide what the symbol is telling you.??Examples:Is there a high or a low pressure area over the area you chose to study??What kind of weather does a high pressure area usually produce??Clear, sunny weather.?What kind of weather does a low pressure area usually produce? Cloudy weather with precipitation.?If there is a high pressure over or near your chosen area, which way is the wind blowing now??How will that wind, blowing in from that direction affect the weather forecast??For example, air blowing in from a cold northern climate may take a few days to cool the air down if the wind is not moving very quickly.?3.?Put all the pieces together.?Like a puzzle, you will be able to see the entire picture.?Examples:? A front moving in from the Gulf of Mexico is carrying warm, moist air. If it hits colder air in the Midwest, much of that moisture will fall as rain (if the temperature is above freezing) or snow (if the temperature is below freezing).??? A front moving in from the north (and not across a body of water like the Great Lakes) will bring cold, dry air into a region. Air masses moving across the Great Lakes pick up moisture and cause the heavy accumulations of “lake effect snows” you hear about in New York and Pennsylvania.?Use the map on the following page, the Weather Symbols Reference Guide and the Glossary (if needed) to help you answer the questions for the weather maps below.?1.?What is the weather in the Mid-West????2.?What are the sky conditions in northern California????3.?What kind of front is over Montana????4.?What kind of pressure area is affecting the west coast????5.?What kind of weather does a low pressure usually bring????6.?What kind of weather does a high pressure usually bring????7.?Where is a high pressure area located on the map????8. What kind of weather will the southeastern United States most likely have tomorrow?????Weather Map #1?Weather Map #2 Answer the questions that follow by using Weather Map #2. ?1.?What kind of front is affecting California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho????2.?What kind of weather does the front from question #2 usually produce????3.?Where are there high pressure systems????4.?What are the lines on the weather map called????5.?Where is it snowing????6.?Where is it raining????7.?What is the weather in most of Minnesota (MN)????8.?What kind of weather is most of the mid-west having????9. Name 4 different kinds of weather that would be predicted for Canada on this day. ................
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