Read Weather Map Symbols

One terrain effect does show up on the weather map.

Read weather map symbols. How to read surface weather maps. Knowing how to read a weather map can help you understand the weather and know what to expect. Stationary fronts bring long rainy periods that stay in one spot. On a weather map a stationary front is usually drawn using alternating cold front and warm front symbols.

Fronts are usually detectable at the surface in a number of ways. How to read a weather map. Richard phd 26 497 views. Blue cold front lines bring rain and wind in the direction the triangular marks point.

For example high pressure h areas will have clear skies while low pressure l areas can be stormy. A weather map displays various meteorological features across a particular area at a particular point in time and has various symbols which all have specific meanings. When this happens it s called an occluded front. Determining direction of wind on weather map.

One of the first coded pieces of data you might notice on a weather map is a 4 digit number followed by the letters z or utc usually found at the map s top or bottom corner this string of numbers and letters is a timestamp. Because of this distortion avoid trying to use isobars over mountains to work out wind direction. We draw lines called fronts. Air pressure and understanding weather maps duration.

Winds often converge or come together at. Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts and sometimes a cold front catches up to a warm front. They are based very closely on the versions originally designed by mark allen in 1974 and subsequent revisions by bbc graphic designers. It tells you when the weather map was created and also the time when the weather data in the map is valid.

Weather maps come in myriads of styles with each providing different levels of information. But how are the boundaries between air masses depicted. How to read a weather map to better understand the weather march 11 2019 in a previous article we covered all the symbols and accompanying information to help you fully understand what the prominent forecasting symbols mean. In the section about the origin of wind we have already seen the source of the highs and lows.

The weather centre use a set of codes to represent various meteorological scenarios. Also in general avoid using isobars to work out windflow over high. However there are some common features typically found of these images. Such maps have been in use since the mid 19th century and are used for research and weather forecasting purposes.

For many years these have been shown graphically using the familiar fluffy cloud icons on weather. In the example to the upper right the southern alps buckle the isobars coming in from the tasman sea with a build up of pressure on the windward side and a counter balancing drop of pressure down wind from the mountains. Chains of mountains distort isobars crossing them. For the 2005 redesign i revisited the traditional bbc symbols and produced a completely new redrawn set.