Measuring and Forecasting Weather

Temperature
● Measured in degrees Celsius and with a maximum and minimum thermometer

Maximum and minimum thermometer

● Glass tube
● Mercury and alcohol
● Mercury moves up maximum side as temperature rises
● Metal marks point
● As temperature falls, the lowest temperature is recorded on the minimum side

Stevenson screen
● Painted white to reflect sunrays from the box
● Slatted sides allow air but not direct sunlight
● Contains a hygrometer

Wind
● Wind vane
● Anemometer
● Beaufort scale

Wind vane
● Free moving arrow on high mast
● Tail is wide and blown forward by wind
● Arrow points direction from which wind blows

Anemometer
● Three cups rotate when the wind blows
● The stronger the wind blows, the faster they rotate
● The number of rotations is recorded on a meter

Humidity

● Hygrometer
● Humidity refers to the amount of water vapour in the air

Web and dry bulb thermometer

● One thermometer is dry and measures the air temperature
● Other bulb is wet by a cloth cover dipping into water
● Difference in temperature indicates the relative humidity

©Belle Wu and Emily Gaughan 2017

 Atmospheric pressure

● An aneroid barometer measures atmospheric pressure

● It consists of a hollow metal box with a vacuum
● Air enters the vacuum and a needle attached to the box indicates the pressure of the air
in the box
● Pressure is measured in millibars or hectopascals
● Isobars are the lines on a map that join places of equal pressure

Sunshine

Campbell Stokes Recorder

● Measures hours of sunshine each day
● A solid ball
● Concentrate the sun’s rays onto a removable strip
● Rays scorch card
● Different parts are scorched as sun changes position
● Card is marked off in hours, so that the scorch marks reveal when and for how long the
sun is shining

Rainfall

Rain gauge
● Measures precipitation in mm
● Outer cylinder
● Partially buried in ground
● Spot away from buildings or trees
● Outer cylinder has a funnel directing water into a measuring cylinder
● Measuring cylinder shows rainfall in mm

Lines on weather maps

Isobars= ​pressure
Isotherms= ​temperature
Isohyets= ​precipitation
Isohels= ​sunshine
Isotachs= ​wind speed

©Belle Wu and Emily Gaughan 2017