p. 298 Weather
National
Weather Service Homepage
This is the place to go for everything you want to know about
weather in the United States. You can find the latest radar images of
weather systems, current weather conditions and maps, and even extended
forecasts at this site. Click on warnings, then on severe thunderstorms
to see all the latest bulletins issued by the National Weather Service
(NWS) about these storms. This site is updated every 60 seconds.
How
Weather Works
At this site by USA Today you can find out all about weather.
You can learn about air density, air masses, air pressure, clouds, El
Niño, fog, fronts, and storms. Scroll down to air pressure and click
on baseball and air pressure. Why do baseballs travel farther at lower
air pressures?
The
Weather Channel: Weather.com
Visit this site for local weather information at any time. You
can enter your city or zip code and get an immediate local forecast.
When you click on local outlook, you will also get a 10-day forecast
and map of Doppler radar activity. This is a very cool site for weather
information.
Unisys
Weather
Go to this site for current satellite images overlaid on surface
elevation maps of the United States. You can click on current satellite
images to see the cloud cover in real time. This is another interesting
site to explore.
p. 309 Fronts
Air
Masses and Fronts
Visit this University of Illinois Weather World 2010 project
site for information on all types of weather, and for current weather.
Scroll down and click on Fronts to see the kinds of fronts. What is
an occluded front?
Weather Fronts
Go to this Oklahoma Climatological Survey site to find out about weather
fronts. You can learn the differences between warm fronts and cold fronts
here. Scroll down to find out what a stationary front is. Is a cold
front always associated with cold air?
Air Masses and Fronts
At this site, you can learn more about air masses and fronts. Read the differences among warm fronts, cold fronts and occluded fronts. Compare these fronts to the image of a current weather map, which is linked from the top of the page.
Air Masses
Go to this site by the Oklahoma Climatological Survey to learn more
about air masses. Scroll down to find out about air masses that affect
the continental United States. What five air masses affect the U.S.
during the course of a typical year?
Jet
Stream Studied for Clues to Drought
Read this interesting article from the Environmental News Network
to see how the jet stream contributes to the drought in the Sahel region
of Africa. This drought has been going on for 30 years. Look at the
graph at the beginning of this article. During what year was the drought
most severe?
Storm
Prediction Center
The Storm Prediction Center monitors and forecasts severe and
non-severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and other hazardous weather phenomena
across the continental United States 24 hours a day, every day. Click
on FAQ to find answers to questions such as what is the difference between
a tornado watch and a tornado warning.
p. 324 Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS)
Automated Surface Observing System
(ASOS)
The ASOS program is a joint effort of the National Weather Service,
the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Department of Defense
(DOD). It serves as the primary surface weather observation network,
and provides information used for weather forecasting, in aviation,
and for research on meteorology, hydrology, and climatology.
Scroll down to find out what basic weather data each ASOS station
reports. What elements of wind are reported?
ASOS
Information
This is the FAA’s Web site for ASOS information. Click on the
map of automated weather observing sites and current weather. Then click
on your state and follow the prompts to find the ASOS site closest to
where you live. Click on the identified station to see current weather
conditions at that site.
