Sunday 22 May 2016

Visit from Sarah the Meteorologist

We had a visitor at school today. Her name is Sarah and she is a meteorologist. She came and taught us all sorts of stuff about the weather and what a meteorologist does.


Why do we want to know about the weather?
  • Planes and ships need to know so they know where it is safe
  • Farmers need to know so they can look after their animals and crops
  • Mums and dads need to know so they can get the washing dry
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  • Schools need to know so they can plan and change things like cross country


Meteorologists look at lots of observations and make predictions about what the weather might do.
The observations come from ships, airplanes, satellites, weather balloons, webcams and radar.
This is a weather balloon. It is made of very thick rubber and a measuring instrument is hung off the bottom. It takes photos and sends information back to the meteorologists.
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They can be photos and video and graphs.
Meteorologists need to know what is going on up there in the atmosphere.
After looking at all the observations, meteorologists tell the lady or man on the T.V. what to say about the weather.
How do we measure wind?
Anemometer - if the wind is moving slowly then the anemometer turns slowly
How do we measure sunshine?
Screen Shot 2016-05-22 at 7.59.48 pm.pngWe use sunshine hours
How do we measure temperature?
We use a thermometer. When the liquid is high up the thermometer it is hot, and when it is down low it is cold.



Clouds
There are lots of different types of clouds. Check out the poster in class to see all the different types and their names.
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Fluffy clouds are called cumulus
Screen Shot 2016-05-22 at 7.41.26 pm.png
Flat clouds are called stratus and they often sit on the hills
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Cumulonimbus - really big clouds. 
They stretch from quite low down 
to very high up

When there is a mix of fluffy and flat they are called stratocumulus.
But there are lots of other types of clouds… Alto
is in the middle.







Screen Shot 2016-05-22 at 8.37.49 pm.pngWhat is precipitation?
Stuff that falls out of clouds
Rain, snow, and hail
Visibility - this is how far you can see. When it is very rainy you cannot see very far.


Weather Maps
Warm Front When there is a warm front, it means warm air
is coming - it is going to get warmer.
Screen Shot 2016-05-22 at 8.04.13 pm.pngOn the weather map a warm front has red semi-circles.
There are lots of fluffy clouds.
Cold Front When there is a cold front, it means cold air is 
Screen Shot 2016-05-22 at 8.04.24 pm.png coming - it is going to get colder.
Very convective - lots of wind and rain cloud.
On the weather map a cold front has blue triangles.
There is a big sharp line of where the weather is coming from.
Screen Shot 2016-05-22 at 8.04.03 pm.pngStationary Front Mix of red semi-circles and blue triangles.
High This is shown by an H on the map

The weather is likely to be sunny with not much cloud
Low This is shown by an L on the map
The weather is likely to be rainy and cloudy

Screen Shot 2016-05-22 at 7.38.20 pm.png
Can you read this weather map?

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