Surface Map Analysis

This map surface analysis will condense all numbers describing the current weather of the location in the diagram. Our analysis will be based on wind direction, wind speed, pressure, current weather, temperature and dew point of all the marked stations.

Cyclones and fronts move at a uniform velocity over a short interval of time of few hours. This is to say that cyclones and fronts exhibit time continuity. For instance, in case a knot has been propagating at 40 knots for the last 3 hours, it will likely continue to propagate in approximately the same direction with roughly the same speed over the next three hours. We realize that fronts also have the same behavior. In this case, cold fronts move to the east or southeast; lows tend to move to the northeast and warm fronts to the north or northeast.

 

 

Fronts are placed in low-temperature zones. The low-temperature zones collide with abrupt changes in the wind direction. Warmer air masses replace colder air masses at the position labeled L. This is called a cold front.  The cold front moves southeast from the North West part of the map. We notice from the map that the air behind the cold front is colder and drier that the air ahead of it.

We will begin analyzing weather at all station and later on compare the information obtained from all stations.  This analysis will begin with all stations that lie between two adjacent isobar values that are (1020 mb to 1024 mb). There are ten stations that lie between these ranges of Isobar values. These ten stations are (KAUS, LCH, JAN, BNA, CVG, DEC, ORD, ALO, TUL, DFW).

To begin with, the KAUS-Austin TX station has a pressure of 1022.7 mb.  The Wind is blowing from the northeastern part at a speed of 1nautical mile per hour. The temperature at this station is at 59 degrees Celsius. The dew point temperature of this station is at 500 F. The dew point temperature of this station is high meaning that the station has a large amount of moisture in its surrounding. There is thunder in the station with no precipitation. The cloud cover at this station is 100% meaning the sky is completely covered.

At the LCH-Lake Charles LA station, pressure is at 1022.4 mb at the sea level. The speed of wind is slightly slow at 0.5 nautical miles per hour blowing from the southeastern part of the map. The temperature at the station is slightly high at 610C. The dew point temperature at the station is 500F meaning that the amount of moisture in this station is high. The station has 0% cloud cover meaning that the sky is completely clear.

At the JAN station, the pressure at the sea level is at 1022.8 mb. At this station, just like the previous one, the speed of wind is slightly slow at 0.5 nautical miles per hour blowing from the southeastern part of the map. At this station, the temperature is slightly high at 580C. This station has a great amount of moisture in the atmosphere since the dew point temperature at the station is at 500F. This station similarity has a clear sky with 0% cloud cover.

BNA-Nashville TN station has pressure 1023.6 mb at the sea level. At this station, the speed of wind is at 0.5 nautical miles per hour. The wind is blowing from the southwestern part of the region. A temperature of 550C is recorded at the station. On the other hand, the dew point temperature at this station is 3900 F. The station has 0% cloud cover hence the sky is clear.

CVS-Cincinnati OH station has the pressure of 1023.8 mb at the sea level. This station has calm wind. However, the temperature at the station is at 490F.  The station has a dew-point temperature of 330F meaning that there is a low amount of moisture at the station. In addition to that, the station has a clear sky due to the little percentage of cloud cover in the sky.

The next station is DEC-Decatur IL which borders CVS-Cincinnati OH. This station has pressure amounting to 1020.3 mb. The Wind blows from the southeastern part of the station at a slightly lower speed of 0.5neutical miles per hour.  The station has a slightly high temperature of 580F. The station also has a dew point temperature of 330F meaning that the amount of humidity in the sky is low. Besides that, the station has a 100% cloud cover depicting that the sky at this station is overcast.

At the DEC-Decatur IL station, pressure is at 1023.0 mb. The temperature of the station is at 500F. This implies that heat waves that last longer are likely to happen most often at the station. The Wind blows from the northeastern part of the station at a speed of 1 nautical mile per hour. The temperature of the station is at 500F with a dew point temperature of 450C. This implies that the region is moist.  In addition to that, the station has a 100% cloud cover depicting that the sky at this station is overcast.

At the ALO-Waterloo IA station, pressure is at 1021.2 mb. At this station, the wind blows at a relatively high speed of 2 nautical miles per hour implying that atmospheric pressure at this station is lower as compared to the pressure of the station from which wind is blowing. At this station, the temperature is at 390F. On the other hand, Temperature at the dew point is at 370C. This implies that the atmosphere in the region is slightly humid. There is also moderate rainfall at this station. Besides that, the station has a 100% cloud cover depicting that the sky at this station is overcast.

TUL-Tulsa OK station has a pressure of 1022.2 mb. At this station, the wind blows at a speed of 1.5 nautical miles per hour from the North West. This implies that the pressure of the wind at the other stations in the northwestern part of the map is higher than the current atmospheric pressure at the TUL-Tulsa OK station. The temperature at the station is at 450F. Dew point temperature at the station is at 470F meaning that the station has a large amount of humidity. There is an absolute cloud cover at the station meaning that the sky at the station is overcast.

At the DFW-Dallas/Ft. Worth TX atmospheric pressure is at 1022.8 MB. The Wind blows at the speed of 1.5 nautical miles per hour meaning the North Western part of the station is accosted with higher atmospheric pressure. The station currently records an average of 540F temperatures. Besides that, dew point temperature of the station is at 470F meaning that there is a high amount of humidity at the station. In addition to that, the region has an absolute cloud cover meaning that the skies at the station are overcast.

 

Works Cited

 

Sanders, Frederick. “A proposed method of surface map analysis.” Monthly weather review 127.6 (1999): 945-955.

 

Barnes, Stanley L. “A technique for maximizing details in numerical weather map analysis.” Journal of Applied Meteorology 3.4 (1964): 396-409.

 

 

 

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