Exercises/Labs

Figure 1: This image shows the current surface on February 12th, 2015.  I described
certain elements of the map and what it can tell us about the weather in certain areas.
Current surface maps focus on high and low pressure systems along with wind speed.  

Figure 2: This image shows where the air masses are located in North America.  Each air masses
has a great effect on the weather for a specific area, and how the jet stream is running that
 day could bring down or bring up certain weather patters for the day. 

Figure 3: Surface Data plot map for the Pacific North West

 Pacific Northwest – The temperature in the Pacific Northwest regions ranges from around 45°F to about 60°F, the warmest regions are along the coast of Oregon and Washington and the coldest regions are in Idaho.  The image shows the skies are pretty much clear and the majority of the winds seem to be coming from the north and off the coasts.  The dew points get up to 50°F along the coast and then drops to around 30 to 25 °F near Idaho.  There is no precipitation in the area because the skies are clear.  The wind speeds appear to be very calm ranging from 5 to around 13 mph.  The barometric pressure is ranging from 200 to 300, meaning that a low pressure front or system may be present.

Figure 4: Surface Data plot map for the Great Lakes Region/ Mid West

 Great Lakes Region – The great lakes region is very different compared to the Pacific Northwest, the temperatures are very frigid ranging from single digits in the US to below zero in Canada.  The cloudy cover seems to be pretty clear in the east but then cloudy in Wisconsin.  The Wind Direction is all over the place but the majority seem to be blowing South and East.  All of the dew points are below zero with the lowest being -18°F.  The Barometric pressures are all listed above 300, a high pressure system.  Again there is no precipitation near the great lakes. 

Figure 5: This image from accuweather shows that cold weather is coming on Tuesday to Midwest and
it will expand all the way the east coast by Thursday.  Accuweatehr does a great job using color, lines, and
arrows to show what type of weather a large area of North America could experience.  

Figure 6: This image shows the jet stream patter for 2/17/2015.  The image shows the jet stream blowing down through
Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico and then heading east and rising towards the Atlantic Ocean. 

Figure 7: This map for noaa, shows the amount of water vapor in the air, in blue.
The large amount of blue you see in the east coast corresponds with the heavy snow storm
that dropped on Sunday and Monday in that area.