Reading a weather map Weather maps appear everyday

Reading a weather map

Weather maps appear everyday in newspapers and on the television. They may look complex, but you can learn to read symbols on a weather map just the way you have learned to read letters and words.

Why are weather maps useful? Understanding weather is useful because it affects everyone’s lives. Farmers use information to plan their work, emergency services use forecasts to provide warnings, and we use the weather on the news to plan our everyday lives. People who study the weather are called meteorologists. They use satellite images, radar tracking weather balloons, ships and aircraft to accurately predict the weather.

How do we read weather maps? Weather maps use lines and symbols to show areas of low and high pressure and weather events such as warm and cold fronts. The lines on a weather map are called isobars. They join places with the same atmospheric pressure. The closer the isobars are, the stronger the wind is.

Atmospheric Pressure Atmospheric pressure varies from place to place, depending on the temperature of the air. Humans cannot accurately feel differences in air weight, so meteorologists use very sensitive instruments called barometers to measure air pressure.

The weight of air Higher than 1013 h. Pa = high atmospheric pressure, where air is sinking. Average weight of air = 1013 hectopascals (h. Pa) Lower than this 1013 h. Pa = low atmospheric pressure, where air is rising.

What are the symbols for: - Isobars - High pressure area - Low pressure area - Cold front - Warm front - Rain

Source: MAPgraphics Pty Ltd, Brisbane This map shows the weather on 12 November 2002.