![]() In this case, neither air masses are strong enough to replace the other. The two fronts curve around, resulting in a variety of weather patterns, thunderstorms possible, but usually just associated with drying of air.Ī stationary front is a boundary between two air masses that is non-moving. The air is warming and more humid in the wake of a warm front.Īn occluded front occurs when a cold front overtakes a warm front. Fog often precedes a warm front, followed by clearing and warming afterwards. Once a cold front has passed, the air is cooler and drier than before.Ī warm front is at the leading edge of a warm air mass, and moves slower than a cold front. ![]() Cold fronts are associated with low-pressure areas. They tend to produce much swifter changes in weather because they move up to twice as quickly as warm fronts. These cold fronts often bring rain, hail and heavy thunderstorms. Stationary front.Ī cold front is at the leading edge of a temperature drop off, that is, a change from warmer weather to cooler weather. Warm front (semi-circles point in the direction of travel) 3. Cold front (triangles point in the direction of travel) 2. These air masses are dynamic, moving, and are depicted on weather maps with the following symbols. When we talk about ‘ fronts’ in the context of weather, we mean a boundary separating two masses of air of different densities. They are based on pressure readings but transform the data into more useful images that show actual wind patterns. Streamline maps indicate wind patterns and are particularly helpful in tropical areas where pressure gradients are weak and are bad predictors of wind condition. These maps are helpful to view past trends and predict future weather patterns at large scale.įor instance, the image below is the maximum temperature across Australia on 7th January 2013 (pretty hot!). Colour is also often used to show temperature – orange/red being hotter, purple/blue being cooler. These are lines that connect points of the same temperature, a bit like a topographic map where connected lines indicate points of the same elevation. Often combined with rainfall and cloud cover data, these temperature maps are great at conveying a basic forecast information to the general public. These are the sort of weather maps you are probably most familiar with as they are most commonly used in media to give readers a quick overview of weather conditions. That’s why air pressure and weather patterns can vary dramatically from day to day and between different areas. Low or high air pressure systems are caused by the cooling and heating of air, and are dynamic, with continual 3-dimensional flow of air between the systems. Conversely, low-pressure systems mean less stable air: clouds can form with subsequent rainy and stormy conditions. In general, high-pressure systems mean stable air and good weather conditions. They are generated from local weather station data reporting pressure readings. ![]() Pressure maps depict areas of high and low air pressure, which in turn, indicate likely weather conditions. These lines are known as isobars, and create a map with labelled contours so readers can view trends (see next map). On generalised maps, barometric pressures recorded at individual weather stations are summarized into a contour map, where points of equal pressure are joined up with a line. Plotting multiple weather stations over a larger scale can be a helpful way to observe current weather patterns and predict future ones: To present the large amount of data in a meaningful way, meteorologists have developed a key to denote the weather at a particular location in shorthand. When combined, local data from across the country can provide powerful insights into likely weather patterns in the future. While there are many ways to convey weather information on a weather map, we’ll run through a few of the most common below.Īcross Australia, we have thousands of weather stations that collect detailed local data including everything from cloud type and cover right through to rainfall, pressure and wind also. For Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology is a reliable starting point for finding weather maps. Similar to map reading, weather maps convey detailed information through symbols and lines, as well as real-life satellite imagery. Some weather maps show a combination of various meteorological features to present a complete story. They can be used to show past and present data as well as predictions for future weather patterns. A weather map depicts meteorological features such as wind, pressure and temperature in a particular place at a particular time.
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