Basics on Weather and how to predict it at home.

This article is here to teach you what all those symbols on the weather maps mean and how to predict weather at home.

There are many symbols on weather maps that you see these are some of the main ones and what they mean.

An "H" usually the color blue, is what is known as a high pressure center/system. There are no rain associated with high pressures. In winter time the high pressures usally bring cold temps with them. If there are clear skys and fairly calm winds you can be pretty sure there is a high pressure system near by.

An "L" usually the color red, is what is known as a low pressure center/system. These are usually accopanied by rain. And in many cases after a low pressure system moves out there is a high pressure system not far behind but not always the case. Hurricanes are tropical low pressure systems.

There are three types of weather fronts there are cold fronts, warm fronts, and stationary fronts. They are easy to tell apart from each other. The cold fronts are represented in blue, warm fronts are represented in red, and stationary fronts are represented in alternating red and blue. Cold fronts have colder air coming in behind them, warm fronts have warmer air coming in behind them, and stationary could have either. Fronts dont always have preciptation with them but most of the time they do. Overall Fronts usually signal a change, weither long or short term, in the weather.

Isotherms are lines on a map represent changes in temperature usually set in ten degree increments. On the weather maps you see on tv these changes in temperature usually are represented by colors. For Example on the weather channel they use yellows, oranges, dark and light reds, and whites to represent warmer and hot temperatures. For cooler and cold temperatures they use gray, purple, dark and light blues, and dark and light pinks. Most other stations use the same color pattern.

Isobars are something that a lot of people dont seem to understand. Isobars are all those lines on the map that you see twisting and winding around the map usually they are yellow or white lines. The Isobars tell you two different things, they tell you wind direction and wind speed. The wind speed is easier to figure out because basically if the lines are closer together the higher then wind speed will be and the father apart the Isobars are the calmer the wind speed will be. If you look at low and high pressure systems you can usually see what i am talking about because low pressure systems usually have Isobars closer together indicating stronger winds and high pressure systems usually have Isobars spread father apart indicating calmer winds. Wind direction is alittle harder to tell cause basically the only way you can tell that is by looking the way the Isobars bend and where they are coming from. Knowing how to read Isobars can be helpful in the since that if you can read them you can pretty much tell what the wind is going to be like that day.

The Dew point was something at surprised me when i found out that a lot of people dont know what it is. This is surprising because it is basically what it says it is when the temperature reaches the dew point and dew forms. Like in the morning when you go out side and you see due on the grass or on other objects and know that at some point the temperature reached the dew point. Though it is alittle more complicated than that. When the temperature reaches the dew point then the humidity is 100% hince the formation of dew. A lot of people ask "well doesnt it rain when the humidity is 100%?" well yes it can but not always. The dew point is also the lowest the temperature can reach so if the temperature is 56 and the dew point is 56 then the temperature can not get any lower unless the dew point drops and this is because you cant have more than 100% humidity and if the temperature did fall below the dew point then it would be over 100% which is not possible. That is basic information on dew point to help you better understand it if you didnt before.

There are four main types of Precipitation they are rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow. First is rain which everyone knows what rain looks like so i shouldnt have to explain that. Rain is usually represented on maps in green and heavier rain which is common is storms is represented in yellows and reds. Next is freezing rain it is very similiar to rain in the fact that it looks the small falling. But, freezing rain is probably the most dangerous of the four types of precip. this is because that it looks like rain falling but then freezes opon contact with something. This is dangerous cause this causes things to ice over including roads and highways which makes accidents quite common. Next is sleet and probably the most misunderstood because i notice people confusing it for hail which hail and sleet are two totally different things. Hail comes from thunderstorms and sleet is rain drops that have frozen on the way down and fall as ice pellets. Sleet on maps is usally represented on maps as a pink. Though most maps will represent sleet as a mix. Finally there is snow which most everyone knows what snow is. Snow is most common in the winter time when the weather is colder. The farther north you go the more snow on average a year that they will recieve. Snow is usually represented by white on weather maps. Snow seems to be a favorite among the kids because it is fun to play in and in some cases can get them a day out of school. Those are the four main types of precipitation that you will find and see on a weather map.

This part of the article will tell you briefly how to predict weather on your own. First you need somekind of weather program on your computer like desktop weather from weather.com or weatherbug or any other kind of program. And if possible the weather channel is a big help because they have good radars that you can view. Basicly it is simple you look at what two different weather programs or channels can look at more than two though if you want. This will kind of give you an idea how things are going. While watching listen to what they say listen for things that will tip you off for possible future problems. Next look at your radars and the ones on the weather channel. Look at the movement of the systems and what is around that could possible change the course of the systems. Putting those two together should give you an idea of what the system will do. To predict weather you look at some of the predictions that other programs or news channels are forcasting and then basically go with your gut at that point on what you think it will be. Following these steps you should find that you will be able to predict the weather on your own and if you practice at it you will find that you will get better learning other tricks of the trade and over time eventually you might get better at predicting than the people on tv.