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Weather!
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Temperature
You will usually see
temperature measured in °F for
maps of the United States
•
• Maps of foreign countries will
usually be measured in °C
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Relative Humidity
• The relative humidity tells us how “full”
the air is at the time of measurement.
• For example, 90% relative humidity means
that at that moment the air is holding 90% of
the maximum amount of water it could.
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High and Low Pressure Areas
• High pressure
causes air to sink
• Usually results
in several days of
clear sunny skies
• Air rises in low
pressure areas and
forms water
droplets
• Usually results in
rain and storms
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Fronts
A front is the boundary
separating air masses of different
densities
 Fronts extend both vertically and
horizontally in the atmosphere
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Types of Fronts
1. Cold Front: The zone where cold
air is replacing warmer air
• In U.S., cold fronts usually move
from northwest to southeast
• Air gets drier after a cold front
moves through
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Types of Fronts
2. Warm Front: The zone where warm air is
replacing colder air
• In U.S., warm fronts usually move from
southwest to northeast
• Air gets more humid after a warm front
moves through
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Types of Fronts
3. Stationary Front: When either a
cold or warm front stops moving
When the front starts
moving again it returns to
either being a cold or warm
front
•
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Types of Clouds
1. High-Level Clouds: Usually found at
greater than 20,000 ft.

Usually made of ice crystals
 Examples include Cirrus,
Cirrostratus
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Types of Clouds
2. Low-Level Clouds: Usually found
lower than 6,500 ft.
 Low, lumpy clouds that produce weak to
moderate precipitation, cover sky like a
blanket
 Examples Stratus
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Types of Clouds
3. Vertically developed: These clouds are thick
and puffy and extend very far upwards
 Examples include Cumulonimbus and
Fair Weather Cumulus
 Ordinary Cumulus clouds can quickly
become Cumulonimbus clouds that start
strong thunderstorms
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Weather Maps: Pressure &
Temperature
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Weather Maps: Doppler Radar
Maps
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Summary
 Temperature: Usually in °F, need to convert
to °C
High pressure areas cause sunny weather;
low pressure areas cause rain and storms
 Two Types of air masses:
1. Continental Polar
2. Maritime Tropical
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Summary (continued)
 types of fronts:
1. Cold
2. Warm
3. Stationary
 types of clouds:
1.cirrus
2. stratus
3. cumulus
NSF North Mississippi GK-8
Sources
Palmer, Chad and Evans, David. May 20, 2005. Occluded fronts can
signal weakening of storm. Accessed 28 October 2005.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wofront/wofront.htm
Palmer, Chad and Kepple, Kevin. May 20, 2005. High-pressure
systems
brings sunny days. Accessed 27 October 2005.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/whighp/whighp.htm
Palmer, Chad and Kepple, Kevin. May 20, 2005. How low pressure
systems affect weather. Accessed 27 October 2005.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wlowpres/wlowpres.htm
Weather World 2010, University of Illinois. No date of publication
given. Reading and Interpreting Weather Maps. Accessed 21
October 2005.
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/maps/home.rxml
NSF North Mississippi GK-8