Science

Meteorologists employ a diverse assortment of instruments to observe weather conditions. These instruments allow a meteorologist to forecast the weather by relaying information to them about many...

There is often much confusion over the terms "watch" and "warning" when it comes to weather. The difference between the two, no matter what type of weather they describe, is in the potential of...

Weather maps (or charts) give you a picture of the weather over a geographical area at a single point in time. Creating a weather map gives you the data to forecast the weather as a whole or a...

In the simplest terms, a thermometer is used in weather forecasting by measuring temperature. The name is made up of the two words: "thermo" meaning heat and "meter" meaning to measure....

Man's attraction to things that fly may explain why weather balloons cause people to pause and observe when they see one even today. Most weather balloons are manufactured from flexible latex...

Many people wonder how the local weather forecaster comes up with the probability of precipitation. Most laymen call this percentage the chance of rain or snow. The percentage tells you the...

Currents of fast-moving air form the jet stream six to nine miles above the Earth's surface. These currents help weather forecasters predict the weather. Meteorologists use computer models to...

Weather instruments are easy to make at home with a few basic things you might already have around the house. Try these three homemade weather devices, and keep a record of your local activity....

Air has weight. The weight of air pressing down on the atmosphere and Earth's surface is air pressure. Air pressure is also known as barometric pressure, which is measured by barometers. Air...

Weather maps provide a variety of information on the weather. Some weather maps show cloud cover; some show wind direction and air pressure. Scientists use weather maps to display and analyze data...

Just like the lyrics in the popular Bob Dylan song, you do not need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind blows. All you need is a weather vane. These practical devices have adorned the...

Doppler radar is a way of measuring radio waves from a radar antenna to determine the frequencies of raindrops, hailstones, snowflakes and other objects in the air. This enables meteorologists to...

A tornado is a very violent rotating storm that forms under a cumuliform cloud. Tornadoes may or may not have visible funnels. Given the destructive and dangerous nature of tornadoes,...

Midland radios are weather alert receivers that allow users to receive up-to-date weather broadcasts from the National Weather Service. The receiver picks up local broadcasts and alerts you to...

Weather vanes first appeared more than two thousand years ago. They let people know the direction the wind came from and served as an early meteorological tool. These devices consist of two...

Hilton Head has been occupied for approximately 6,000 years. If averages hold true, that's more than a million days of sunshine that humans of one sort or another have enjoyed over the years....

The use of computers in weather forecasting is but a recent blip on the radar following millennia of meteorological studies. Notables such as Aristotle and Galileo studied weather systems. The...

A weather vane is a device used for determining the direction the wind is blowing. Weather vanes have been used since ancient times and have graced the steeples of grand cathedrals and the roofs...

Weather vanes are instruments used for determining the direction of the wind and are typically placed on a rooftop or in a garden. Weather vanes are only partially accurate and are usually...

These signals are then reflected back to the transmitting site, where a computer converts them into pictures that show the location and strength of the precipitation. Radio waves that are...

Weather affects everyone's life. For some people, such as aviation pilots, boaters and farmers, weather is extremely important. Yet we have no control over this phenomenon of nature. We can,...

When you see a weather balloon being launched, it looks as if someone forgot to fill it all the way up. The scientists did not forget, though; it was deliberate, prompted by a physical principle...

The National Weather Service states that atmospheric pressure "is the force per unit area exerted by the atmosphere at a given point." Being a primary weather parameter that can act as a proxy for...

The basic concept of the weather balloon has changed little since its development in the late 1800s, although improvements to the balloon material and data collection have occurred over the years....

Measuring air pressure is the primary function of the barometer. The National Weather Service describes air pressure as the sum total of pressure exerted as randomly moving individual molecules...

Weather balloons have long been valuable instrument for measuring and forecasting weather conditions. Today's weather balloons are far more sophisticated than those used in the past, yet...

Anemometers are used by amateur and professional meteorologists alike to measure wind speed. Whether you have access to a digital anemometer or are using a homemade version, you need to know how...

Weather vanes are also called weathercocks or wind vanes and, although they cannot actually predict the weather, they do show which direction the wind is blowing. Oftentimes this information is...

Weather balloons play in an important role in understanding weather patterns and forecasting dangerous storms and weather events. A weather balloon carries an instrument up to 100,000 feet high...

Programming your Radio Shack weather scanner properly will prove beneficial in times of severe weather conditions. Once you program in your specific county codes, you will only be alerted to...

A weather station is a facility with instruments for data collection on atmospheric phenomena. Many of these stations are linked to other facilities, satellites and field equipment to improve...

Wind vanes are not a new invention. For thousands of years, various cultures and societies have used wind vanes to aid in weather prediction. In modern times, weather vanes serve a decorative...

Meteorologists are concerned about polar weather conditions because of their impact on global climate change. Both poles are on the imaginary line that forms the geographical axis of the earth so...

The National Weather Service releases weather balloons twice a day from nearly 900 locations around the world--of which 92 of those locations are in the United States and its territories. Sounding...

Evangelista Torricelli, an Italian physicist and mathematician who lived in the early 1600s, invented the barometer. He was a young scientist who was interested in learning about air pressure. ...

There has been much talk about "weather change" and "climate change" in recent years, and it does not help that, for many people, the two words have become synonymous. But the truth is that they...

Sending a weather balloon or radiosonde balloon into the air may seem simple, though when investigating how we retrieve the valuable data they gather, we begin to see the fascination that people...

In this age of low-cost, highly accurate electronic weather instruments, building a homemade weather station no longer has to include actually building the sensors you'll use to collect data. With...

There are several ways that you can accurately predict what the weather will be in the next few hours or day. I am sure you have all heard of the old sailors saying, red sky at night, sailors...

Weather stations have a number of different instruments that allow for the study and prediction of weather. One of the more simple instruments you can find there is the anemometer. These...

A rain gauge is used to measure how much precipitation has fallen. Farmers and gardeners whose crops depend on a certain amount of water to thrive use a rain gauge to calculate how much water to...

Visibility is the measurement of how far one can see in the distance, and visibility can be affected by fog and sinking air. Discover how humidity can give a city a hazy look with help from a...

The best way to compare weather measurements with others is to contact local weather stations or visit the Nation Weather Service's Web site. Find out why it's helpful to know others in the...

The normal precipitation for an area can be easily researched on the Internet at weather.gov, which is the Web site for the National Weather Service. Discover how precipitation averages vary...

A weather balloon is used by the National Weather Service to measure air temperature, barometric pressure and humidity. Learn about the instruments attached to a weather balloon with help from a...

When taking an accurate temperature reading for an area, a good thermometer is needed, and this device needs to be placed in an area that is not in direct sunlight. Place a thermometer 4 feet off...

A weather station enables you to measure weather events, such as temperature change, rain and wind speed. Making a weather station can be a fun and easy activity for the whole family. All you need...

An anemometer is a device used to gauge the wind speed. It is a common tool of modern meteorology, and if you've seen a weather station, chances are you've seen them spinning in the wind. For...

You boss just told you to knock out a weather report and you don't have the slightest clue how to begin. You don't have to panic, nor do you have to go outside with a thermometer and look at the...

Weather vanes have arrows that point in the direction that wind is coming from, and this is achieved through differing surface areas on either side of the arrow. Discover how wind pushes the large...