COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to the course!

The weather forecasts we see every day are based on an army of

meteorological sensing networks and intensive computer modeling. Before
the rise of these technologies, predictions were made by methods like
discerning cloud formations and wind directions.

This course will explore the science behind weather systems by teaching
the observational skills needed to make a forecast without using
instruments or computer models. We’ll discuss the physical processes
driving weather and the global forces that shape global climate systems.
Finally, we will examine the limits of prediction in both human observations
and computer models.

Part 1 will cover background material about how weather systems work at
the global scale. Most of the course will focus on weather at your own local
scale; but, you will need to understand these high level concepts about
weather systems and where they come from to help you understand
weather phenomena better in order to improve your observations and
predictions.

Parts 2-4 will go into more detail about different kinds of weather systems
and the evolution of weather prediction technology.

PART 1: PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN WEATHER SYSTEMS

This section will introduce some background concepts and global weather
systems that influence your local weather.

WEATHER OBSERVATIONS AND THE WEATHER DIARY

In this course, you will complete two weather observations each week, and
a weather prediction assignment at the end of the course. This section will
provide you tips on how to make better observations, and will introduce the
weather diary assignment.
PART 2: WINDS, WEATHER MASSES, CLOUDS, FRONTS IN THE TEMPERATE
ZONES
This section will cover the characteristics and shapes of common cloud
types. It will also cover weather systems called fronts, and describe the
conditions these systems create.

PART 3: OTHER WEATHER SYSTEMS

Part 3 includes other weather systems and phenomena you may
encounter: lightning, isolated thunderstorms, cyclones, rainbows and
derechos.

PART 4: WEATHER PREDICTIONS: LINEAR AND NON-LINEAR SYSTEMS

A brief overview of the history of weather prediction technology, and an
introduction to linear and non-linear systems as they apply to weather.

Doing edX Homework

If you have never before answered problems on edX before, you should go
through this segment. The pre-course survey (coming up next) will have
plenty of questions for you, so take the time now to make sure you're
comfortable answering questions on this platform.

If you have already taken a science, engineering, or mathematics course

on edX before, or if you went all the way through DemoX, you can probably
skip this section. This section is ungraded.

The Basics
All problems in this course are worth a certain number of points. You can
see this at the top of each question. Once you attempt the question, it will
also show how many points you have earned.

Use the "Submit" button to submit your answer. Most problems have
a limited number of attempts.
Some problems have Hints that will try to help you understand the concept
and answer the question. You are not penalized when you ask for a hint.
Not all problems have hints.

The problems in this section are just for practice. They are worth zero
points, and allow an unlimited number of attempts. In other sections of the
course you will see point values listed on each problem, along with a
number of attempts.

Go to the next page to try out some simple problems.

Overview
This course uses the Discussion Forum in edX to facilitate sharing ideas
and questions about the course material.

 Participate: It will enhance your learning experience and help you

connect with other learners.
 Be polite: Opinions are good, but please respect others’ opinions as
well.
 Do not cheat: See collaboration guidelines below to see what’s
acceptable.
 Help each other: We encourage you to reply to your peers’
questions and comments.
Discussion Forum Best Practices
Here are a couple of helpful hints to using the discussion forum.

 Please search for an answer to your question in the discussion board

before posting. It is likely that other students asked the same
question already.
 Actively up-vote other posts, and other people will up-vote yours! The
more up-votes your post has, the more likely it is to be seen. Don’t
forget to up-vote your own posts!
 If you are having a problem with the course content or the edX
website, please visit the edX Help Center.
  Please be aware that the course is currently offered in English, and
the course team can only respond to posts written in the English
language.
Collaboration Guidelines
These will help you use the forum appropriately as an aid to learning the
material.

We encourage you to:

 Discuss the general approach to solving a problem, quiz question or

working on your final project.
 Ask for a hint or clarification in the discussion board, or several hints
for that matter, if you get stuck while solving a problem.

It is NOT ok to:

 Post the solution to a quiz in the discussion board or somewhere else

on the web.
 Take someone else’s project work or quiz answers and simply copy
from their work.

These actions are considered to be cheating. Violations of these guidelines

may result in posts being deleted or your account being deactivated.

Honor Code Statement

HarvardX requires individuals who enroll in its courses on edX to abide by the terms
of the edX honor code. HarvardX will take appropriate corrective action in response to
violations of the edX honor code, which may include dismissal from the HarvardX
course; revocation of any certificates received for the HarvardX course; or other
remedies as circumstances warrant. No refunds will be issued in the case of
corrective action for such violations. Enrollees who are taking HarvardX courses as
part of another program will also be governed by the academic policies of those
programs.

Nondiscrimination/anti-harassment Statement
Harvard University and HarvardX are committed to maintaining a safe and healthy
educational and work environment in which no member of the community is
excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination
or harassment in our program. All members of the HarvardX community are
expected to abide by Harvard policies on nondiscrimination, including sexual
harassment, and the edX Terms of Service. If you have any questions or concerns,
please contact harvardx@harvard.edu and/or report your experience through the edX
contact form.

Research Statement

HarvardX pursues the science of learning. By registering as an online learner in an

HX course, you will also participate in research about learning. Read our research
statement to learn more.

If you have chosen to purchase an ID Verified certificate in this course, the

final weather prediction assignment will use the self-evaluation tool. Use
this ungraded optional practice assignment try out the tool so you
understand how it works in the edX platform.

For this practice assignment, write a couple of sentences below about a favorite
activity you like to do in your spare time. Be sure to include what the activity is, why
you like it, and a reason that someone else might want to try it.

You may also practice completing your self-evaluation after you submit your
assignment.

When you are done, click "Submit your response and move to the next step." If
you just click "Save your progress," your answer will not be submitted.

SAMPLE PEER REVIEW (UNGRADED)

Status

This assignment has closed. One or more deadlines for this assignment have passed. You will
receive an incomplete grade for this assignment.
1. Your Response
due Jun 7, 2023 15:00 EEST (in 0 minutes)INCOMPLETE
 2. Assess Your Response
due Jun 7, 2023 15:00 EEST (in 0 minutes)INCOMPLETE
Status

The due date for this step has passed. This step is now closed. You can no longer
complete a self assessment or continue with this assignment, and you will receive a
grade of Incomplete.
3. Your Grade: Not Started

Course Overview
The weather forecasts we see every day are based an army of
meteorological sensing networks and intensive computer modeling. Before
the rise of these technologies, predictions were made by methods like
discerning cloud formations and wind directions.

This course will explore the science behind weather systems by teaching
the observational skills needed to make a forecast without using
instruments or computer models. We’ll discuss the physical processes
driving weather and the global forces that shape global climate systems.
Finally, we will examine the limits of prediction in both human observations
and computer models.

Part 1 will cover background material about how weather systems work at
the global scale. Most of the course will focus on weather at your own local
scale; but, you will need to understand these high level concepts about
weather systems and where they come from to help you understand
weather phenomena better in order to improve your observations and
predictions.

Parts 2-4 will go into more detail about different kinds of weather systems
and the evolution of weather prediction technology.

Part 1: Physical Processes in Weather Systems

This section will introduce some background concepts and global weather
systems that influence your local weather.

Weather Observations and the Weather Diary

In this course, you will complete two weather observations each week, and
a weather prediction assignment at the end of the course. This section will
provide you tips on how to make better observations, and will introduce the
weather diary assignment.

Part 2: Winds, Weather Masses, Clouds, Fronts in the Temperate

Zones

This section will cover the characeristics and shapes of common cloud
types, and fronts, which are weather systems influenced by wind, air
masses, and generate characeristic cloud formations.

Part 3: Other Weather Systems

Part 3 includes other weather systems and phenomena you may

encounter: lightning, isolated thunderstorms, cyclones, rainbows and
derechos.

Part 4: Weather Predictions: Linear and Non-Linear Systems

A brief overview of the history of weather prediction technology, and an

introduction to linear and non-linear systems as they apply to weather.

Prerequisites
This course assumes a basic understanding of chemistry and physics
concepts, such as in an introductory U.S. high school level course.

Grading & Certification

This course has 3 types of assignments: Quizzes, the Weather Diary, and
the Final Weather Prediction. Each counts for a proportion of your final
grade.
Quizzes: 40%

Weather Diary: 40% (4 Diaries, each graded as complete or incomplete)

Final Weather Prediction: 20%

Passing the course, and certification

The passing grade for this course is 65% (using the weights above).

If you register for a Verified Certificate, and your score is 65% or above, you
will receive a certificate in electronic form. They are not mailed to you.
Instead, you can generate them on your Progress page.

Guidelines For Collaboration

We encourage class participants to collaborate on assignments! But be
sure you learn how to do the assignments yourself, and please do not post
solutions to discussion forums until after the due date. Staff will proactively
remove solutions posted before due dates.

 It is OK to discuss or work jointly to develop a general approach to an

assignment.
 It is OK to get a hint from peers or course staff if you get stuck on an
assignment.
 You should work out the details of assignments yourself.
 It is not OK to copy someone else's solution.
 It is not OK to take someone else's formula and plug in your own
numbers to get the answer.
 It is not OK to post answers to a problem.
 It is not OK to look at a full step-by-step solution for the purpose of
submitting an answer.
Honor Code

HarvardX requires individuals who enroll in its courses on edX to abide by

the terms of the edX honor code. HarvardX will take appropriate corrective
action in response to violations of the edX honor code, which may include
dismissal from the HarvardX course; revocation of any certificates received
for the HarvardX course; or other remedies as circumstances warrant. No
refunds will be issued in the case of corrective action for such violations.
Enrollees who are taking HarvardX courses as part of another program will
also be governed by the academic policies of those programs.

Discussion Forums
We encourage you to use the course Discussion Forum! It has many uses,
and we'll prompt you to participate throughout the course.

Some good uses of the Discussion Forum:

 Asking questions about course content and assignments.

 Collaborating appropriately on assignments.
 Contacting course staff.
 Starting discussions related to course content.
 Commenting on course content, including giving the instructors
feedback, disagreeing with us, or suggesting improvements.
Our discussion forum guidelines

 Be polite and encouraging.

 Work together and work independently.
 Post hints rather than answers. If you're not sure where to draw the
line, follow the collaboration guidelines.
 You can and should discuss questions, consider possibilities, and
ask for hints.
 You should not request or give out answers, even answers that you
know are wrong.
 Use your vote. If you agree with what someone says, don't write a
post. Just click the plus button!
 Tag your posts. If there is an issue that absolutely needs staff
attention, put the word [STAFF] in brackets in your subject line.
Course staff will be in the forums every day, but it may take up to two
days to get a response sometimes, especially around holidays.
Nondiscrimination/Anti-harassment statement

Harvard University and HarvardX are committed to maintaining a safe and

healthy educational and work environment in which no member of the
community is excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or
subjected to discrimination or harassment in our program. All members of
the HarvardX community are expected to abide by Harvard policies on
nondiscrimination, including sexual harassment, and the edX Terms of
Service. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact
harvardx@harvard.edu and/or report your experience through the edX contact
form.

Research
By registering as an online learner in our open online courses, you are also
participating in research intended to enhance HarvardX's instructional
offerings as well as the quality of learning and related sciences worldwide.
In the interest of research, you may be exposed to some variations in the
course materials. HarvardX does not use learner data for any purpose
beyond the University's stated missions of education and research. For
purposes of research, we may share information we collect from online
learning activities, including Personally Identifiable Information, with
researchers beyond Harvard. However, your Personally Identifiable
Information will only be shared as permitted by applicable law, will be
limited to what is necessary to perform the research, and will be subject to
an agreement to protect the data. We may also share with the public or
third parties aggregated information that does not personally identify you.
Similarly, any research findings will be reported at the aggregate level and
will not expose your personal identity.

Please read the edX Privacy Policy for more information regarding the
processing, transmission, and use of data collected through the edX
platform. You can find out more about our research at the
Course Team and Credits

 Faculty: Professor John Huth, Donner Professor of Science, Harvard

University
 Project Leads: Nicole Sanderson and Sarah Walkowiak
  Video Editor: Siobhan Landry
 Content Developers: Lauren Niu, Ken Hagberg
 Platform Development: Shilpa Idnani, Colin Fredericks
 Image Research: Cathleen O'Connell
 Illustrations and Animations: Olivia Crosby, Rachel D'Erminio
(Raetastic!)
 Slow Motion: Matt Kearney, Expert Digital Imaging
 Special Thanks: Daniel Davis, Allen Crockett, Daniel Rosenberg
and the Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demonstration Team, The
Harvard Science Center Building Staff, The HarvardX Production and
Administrative Support Teams, Richard. T.

"Keep Looking Up!" - Jack Horkheimer

Part 1 will cover background material about how weather systems work at
the global scale. Most of the course will focus on weather at your own
immediate local scale, but you will need to understand these high level
concepts about weather systems and where they come from to help you
make better weather observations and understand weather phenomena.
Background Concepts
This section is a short review of some background concepts that you will need to understand the
course material. You will not need to know these concepts in-depth, but will need to be familiar with
them. You may have heard of some of these concepts before in other physics or science courses. If
so, please skim this section as a refresher as some of the concepts have additional context as applied
to weather.

If you understand these concepts, you will see these physical processes unfolding outside before your
very eyes!

Part 1 has three sections:

 Background Concepts and Terminology Used in this Course

 Weather Basics

 Heat Transfer

LEARNING GOALS FOR THIS SECTION:

 Describe the role of Air, Water, Wind in Weather Systems

 Describe the Coriolis effect and its impact on weather systems

 Locate and describe the major wind belts

 Identify wind types

 Classify wind speed using the Beaufort scale

Units of Pressure
Level 2 headings may be created by course providers in the future.
Bookmark this page

UNITS OF PRESSURE

Weather reports typically measure pressure in millibars (mb), which is the primary unit of pressure
we will reference in this course. Other units will occasionally be referenced in this course, such
as Torr, a unit of pressure used by some scientific instruments to measure pressure in a labratory
setting.

This section will give you some background on units of pressure and provide examples to help you
relate the scale of pressure units used for measuring weather to other units used in more common
applications that you might be familiar with. Thinking about pressure more deliberately can help
increase your awareness of pressure in your weather observations.

In weather reports, the most common unit you’ll see is the millibar. This is based on the Systeme
Internationale, or SI metric convention, where the fundamental quantities are meters, kilograms, and
seconds. Pressure is a force per unit area. In the SI, the unit of pressure are Newtons per square
meter, called a Pascals after the French scientist Blaise Pascal. For historical reasons, the millibar
has been taken to be identical to a Hecto-Pascal – that is – one hundred Pascals.

Let’s tune up your intuition for pressures in millibars with some expected ranges. The average
pressure at sea-level is 1013 mb. A typical high on a clear day might be 1030 mb, and a low would be
perhaps 980 mb, say, during a squall. A rapid drop often signals the approach of a storm system.
There is an aphorism that describes this, “When the glass drops low, get ready for a blow.” In this
saying the “glass” is a barometer.

Photo: '2014_08_04_chasecation_lightning 44234' by Todd Shoemake. www.flickr.com/photos/lightning_todd/14836893922/ License:(CC-BY 2.0)

While 1030 to 980 millibars is a typical range you’d measure, readings can depart substantially from
this under extreme conditions. A major storm system called a bomb cyclone passed through New
England and I measured 972 mb at the lowest – the lowest I’ve personally seen.

Graph data External link

The center of tropical cyclones -- typhoons or hurricanes -- have some of the lowest pressures ever
recorded. The lowest seen in the United States was 900 for Hurricane Camille, which hit in 1969. The
world record low is 870 millibars from a typhoon in the Pacific. The world record high was recorded in
2001 in Mongolia at 1086 mb.

For the purposes of this course, we’ll stick with millibars, but I want to alert you to other units of
pressure that you might come across and the context where you might see them.

The barometer was invented by the Italian physicist Torricelli in the 17th century. The original
consisted of a tray of mercury with a vertical glass column in the middle.
The column is held at a vacuum, and the difference between external air pressure and the vacuum
drives mercury up the column. The height of the mercury in the column is a direct measure of
pressure. In English units, pressure is sometimes reported in inches of mercury or simply inches. A
fancy brass barometer hanging in my dining room reports pressure in inches. A typical pressure at
sea level is 30 inches. Recall that this is 1013 millibars.

A variant on measuring the height is to report pressure in millimeters, rather than inches, of mercury.
A typical sea level reading is 760 in millimeters. Blood pressure readings are given in millimeters of
mercury. A typical healthy blood pressure reading is given as 120/80 mmHg – the two readings called
systolic and diastolic pressure. This is not the absolute pressure inside the blood stream, but the
pressure above ambient pressure that keeps blood flowing. Referenced to millibars, the would
translate into 160/107 millibars. One millimeter of mercury is also referred to as a Torr, after Torricelli,
and is often used in many scientific applications.

Another unit for pressure is pounds per square inch, abbreviated as psi. In these units, a sea level
pressure is 15 pounds per square inch. You might come across psi measures when inflating car or
bicycle tires. Often in industry pressure gauges read in ps-. My bicycle tires are supposed to be filled
to 50 psi when I inflate them. This means in gauge pressure – the difference between atmospheric
and what’s inside the tire. For reference, 50 psi translates roughly into 3400 millibars.
 Photo: John Huth
CALCULATING SEA LEVEL EQUIVALENT

Weather maps and reports will reference pressures to the sea level equivalent. Doing this takes out
the variation of pressure with altitude.

So, while the actual pressure in Denver, the mile-high city, might be 817 millibars on average, it gets
reported as 1013.

It’s a fairly easy conversion to do, with a drop of about 30 millibars for every 1000 feet or 300 meters.
 P

hoto: Good Morning Denver, Sheila Sund, License: CC-BY 2.0, Source: www.flickr.com/photos/sheila_sund/8903465080/

Personally, I do this when hiking in the mountains. I have a barometer on my wristwatch, and I do the
mental arithmetic – this allows me to judge if a thunderstorm is approaching, but hidden behind a
ridgeline. If I get a sea-level equivalent drop from 1013 millibars to 990 millibars in a short period of
time, I know it’s a good idea to find shelter...

Again, the only units you need worry about for this course are millibars, but since you may come
across these other units in other walks of life, I felt it was important to make contact with them.
-- Professor Huth
Frames of Reference

This course will occasionally refer to different frames of reference when describing weather
phenomena or the forces that act on them. This section provides a short introduction to frames of
reference if you are not familiar with them. You will not need to know this concept in-depth, but should
be aware of it, and how the frame of reference you are making your observations from can impact
what you notice.

FRAMES OF REFERENCE

There is the concept called a frame of reference. This concept is an abstraction of constructs you
have encountered in everyday life. A frame of reference is a way of organizing measurements in two
systems that are moving with respect to each other. You can imagine a kind of scaffolding of a
coordinate system to measure positions, and also clocks to measure time.

Photo: by Fabrizio Verrecchia. www.pexels.com/photo/adult-backpack-blur-business-298018/ License: www.pexels.com/photo-license/

We can also imagine comparing events in two different frames of reference. One example would be a
train that is moving and a railroad platform. To an observer on the platform, it would appear that the
train is moving, but to an observer on the train, it would appear that the platform is moving.

In physics we draw a distinction between two kinds of frames of reference – one is called an inertial
frame of reference. Inertial frames of reference are related to each other by a change in velocity. You
may recall the concept of force equals mass times acceleration. Also recall that acceleration is the
change in velocity over time. If there is a force that appears in one inertial frame, the same force
appears in other inertial frames as seen by different viewers.

Now, there are other kinds of frames of reference, namely non-inertial frames. These frames of
reference will differ from each other by accelerations. Let’s take the example of two elevators. If you
are in an elevator on earth, you’ll normally feel the pull of gravity downward. If we compare an
elevator at rest, and an elevator moving at a uniform velocity upward or downward, the pull of gravity
is the same.

On the other hand, if one elevator is moving with an acceleration relative to the other, it would appear
that new forces appear: for example, an elevator that goes from rest and moves upward. In this case,
a passenger would feel like they got a little heavier as the elevator accelerates. Or, the elevator may
accelerate downward, and the passenger feels lighter. In an extreme case, if the elevator is in free
fall, god forbid, the passenger would be weightless, and it would seem that gravity was turned off.

We sometimes call these frames of reference "accelerated frames". In the non-inertial frames, new
forces seem to appear, and we often call these fictitious forces.

One example of a non-inertial or accelerated frame of reference is one that’s rotating. In a rotating
frame, the velocity of an object is always changing in direction, but the magnitude remains the same.
In a rotating frame, you may feel forces that arise. One example is being in a car that’s turning a
corner. When it does, it seems like a force arises that’s pushing you to the outside of the turn. This is
sometimes referred to as a "centrifugal force".

Normally, physicists don’t like to use non-inertial or accelerating frames, as fictitious forces such as a
centrifugal force arise. In the Coriolis Effect, the rotation of the earth makes it appear that a force
arises that deflects moving objects when viewed from the point of view of an observer rotating with the
earth. This is sometimes referred to as the Coriolis Force, but many physicists call it an “effect” to
avoid labelling it as a real force. We will return to discussing the Coriolis Effect in more detail later in
the course.