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Kindergarten to 5th Grade
What are fronts and what are the different types?
To start learning about weather, we have to first find out what fronts are as well as what high- and low-pressure systems are.
During the Spring, Summer, and Fall, warmer temperatures are typically found with high-pressure systems and cooler temperatures are found with approaching fronts tied to low-pressure systems. During the Winter-time, colder temperatures are typically found with high-pressure systems. However, warmer temperatures are often with low-pressure systems since low-pressure systems often have precipitation with them which commonly warms the lower atmosphere.
High-pressure systems are identified as weather systems which have atmospheric pressure that decreases as you travel away from the center.
During the Spring, Summer, and Fall, warmer temperatures are typically found with high-pressure systems and cooler temperatures are found with approaching fronts tied to low-pressure systems. During the Winter-time, colder temperatures are typically found with high-pressure systems. However, warmer temperatures are often with low-pressure systems since low-pressure systems often have precipitation with them which commonly warms the lower atmosphere.
High-pressure systems are identified as weather systems which have atmospheric pressure that decreases as you travel away from the center.
Credit: Meteoblue
Low-pressure systems can be identified as weather systems which have atmospheric pressure that increases in value as you travel away from the center. The region where two different air masses meet is often precipitation will form. Often times, precipitation will form along, ahead of, and sometimes behind fronts.
A front is a line drawn on weather maps which represents the approximate dividing position between different types of air masses. More specifically, fronts are often used to help represent an approximate boundary between areas of warmer and colder temperatures.
A cold front is an atmospheric feature which gradually brings cooler air into an area. Cold fronts will often act to replace areas of warmer air with colder air or areas of colder air with warmer air.
On a weather map, a cold front will always have a blue line with triangles pointing towards the direction in which the cold front is moving. In reality, cold fronts always have wiggles and curves because of localized changes in wind and temperature.
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Credit: Meteorologist Shannon Scully
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A warm front is an atmospheric feature which acts to replace cooler or colder air with warmer air. On a weather map, a red line with half circles filled in represents a warm front and the direction in which the warm front is moving.
Warm fronts will often bring along somewhat warmer (and often wetter) conditions. As with cold fronts, on weather maps, warm fronts are shown as straight lines, but they are not in fact straight lines as explained above for cold fronts.
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Credit: Meteorologist Shannon Scully
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A stationary front is an atmospheric feature which represents the boundary between a warm front and cold front but neither front overtakes the other. An alternating line with blue-colored triangles and red-colored half circles on a weather map indicates a stationary front.
Typical weather conditions along a stationary front are often similar to those weather conditions observed along the leading edge of a warm front. Weather conditions observed along the leading edge of a warm front are often characterized as “nuisance” weather conditions.
Typical weather conditions along a stationary front are often similar to those weather conditions observed along the leading edge of a warm front. Weather conditions observed along the leading edge of a warm front are often characterized as “nuisance” weather conditions.
An occluded front is an atmospheric feature which represents any situation when a cold front catches up to the warm front within a given low-pressure system and “overtakes it”. A line with alternating purple-colored triangles and half circles indicates an occluded front.
Occluded fronts are most commonly observed during the Fall, Winter, and Spring-time weather events since occluded fronts are most commonly associated with mid-latitude (i.e., North America, southern Arctic, & western/central North Atlantic) low-pressure systems which occur over larger land-masses.
Occluded fronts are most commonly observed during the Fall, Winter, and Spring-time weather events since occluded fronts are most commonly associated with mid-latitude (i.e., North America, southern Arctic, & western/central North Atlantic) low-pressure systems which occur over larger land-masses.
The strongest fronts (i.e., primarily cold fronts and occluded fronts) are typically found in association with Northern Hemispheric Winter-time low-pressure systems due to the greater presence of a stronger ocean-to-land temperature contrast.
As opposed to the lesser land-to-ocean temperature contrast in the Southern Hemisphere which is a direct result of less land coverage in the Southern Hemisphere vs. the Northern Hemisphere which has the majority of the world’s population.
As opposed to the lesser land-to-ocean temperature contrast in the Southern Hemisphere which is a direct result of less land coverage in the Southern Hemisphere vs. the Northern Hemisphere which has the majority of the world’s population.
What’s the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius?
What is humidity?
At any point around the globe and at any time, there is always at least some amount of moisture in the air. Whether you are sitting in the middle of the Sahara Desert in late August, if you are approaching the peak of Mount Everest in early February, or if you are on a paddle board over the eastern Mediterranean Sea in mid-July, there will be always be moisture in the air.
Humidity is the measure of moisture (also referred to as atmospheric water vapor content) in the atmosphere as compared to the amount of dry air which is present. Whenever the amount of moisture in the air is increasing, this indicates that the humidity is increasing.
We measure relative humidity to compare how much water is in the air vs. how much water vapor could be in the air. This is very important to know for producing more accurate regional weather forecasts since helps to indicate the likelihood of observing impactful weather events.
Credit: National Geographic
Humidity is the measure of moisture (also referred to as atmospheric water vapor content) in the atmosphere as compared to the amount of dry air which is present. Whenever the amount of moisture in the air is increasing, this indicates that the humidity is increasing.
We measure relative humidity to compare how much water is in the air vs. how much water vapor could be in the air. This is very important to know for producing more accurate regional weather forecasts since helps to indicate the likelihood of observing impactful weather events.
Credit: National Geographic
Let's Learn about the Water Cycle!
To understand humidity, we must also understand what humidity is most often linked to within Earth's atmosphere. That link is the global water cycle.
What are different types of precipitation?
- Rain
- Hail
- Snow
- Sleet
- Freezing Rain
- Ice Pellets (Graupel)
Breaking down precipitation types!
Throughout the course of any year, millions of people from around the world end up having to deal with various forms of liquid or frozen precipitation.
The first important fact to understand is that anticipating changes in precipitation types is one of the harder things to do. To understand how such different types of precipitation form is what can help you be more aware and better prepared in your "neck of the woods".
Whenever precipitation is predicted anywhere in the world, there needs to be enough moisture in the air. Having enough moisture in the air is required for the building of small objects called cloud droplets. Cloud droplets are needed to form slightly larger objects called cloud drops which help to form clouds.
Once clouds form and build up enough moisture, then liquid and/or frozen precipitation can start to form.
The first important fact to understand is that anticipating changes in precipitation types is one of the harder things to do. To understand how such different types of precipitation form is what can help you be more aware and better prepared in your "neck of the woods".
Whenever precipitation is predicted anywhere in the world, there needs to be enough moisture in the air. Having enough moisture in the air is required for the building of small objects called cloud droplets. Cloud droplets are needed to form slightly larger objects called cloud drops which help to form clouds.
Once clouds form and build up enough moisture, then liquid and/or frozen precipitation can start to form.
Rain is liquid water falling to Earth from some height in the atmosphere. Since rain reach Earth's surface as a liquid, the temperature through the layer of the atmosphere the rain falls through must be above 32°F.
During the Spring to Summer-time seasons, air temperatures will typically be warmer which will allow the atmosphere to contain greater moisture. With greater moisture available, you can more easily form clouds and thunderstorms under the right conditions. The warmer the lower atmosphere is, the greater the chance for the formation and lifting of ice particles within any thunderstorm. Once ice particles are lifted within a thunderstorm and there is enough liquid water content available within the upper parts of a thunderstorm, then hail stones can often begin to grow.
Credit: Encyclopedia Brittanica
As we shift from Fall to the Winter-time season, the focus will typically shift from liquid to frozen precipitation types. One of the more interesting Winter-time precipitation types is snow. Snow is comprised of ice crystals which form within a layer of the atmosphere which has a temperature that is below freezing. For more frozen facts on how snowflakes form, please visit our GWCC snowflake education section.
During the Winter-time, when it comes to predicting icing events (also known as ice storms when they are severe enough), one of the more challenging precipitation types to forecast is sleet. Sleet is somewhat similar to freezing rain except that sleet re-freezes in the air after melting in a warm layer of the atmosphere prior to reaching the surface of the Earth.
Credit: Encyclopedia Brittanica
Freezing rain is frozen precipitation which melts above the surface of the Earth and then re-freezes as it reaches the surface of the Earth. This process occurs if there is a layer of the atmosphere that is above-freezing and is located just above a below-freezing layer close to the surface of the Earth.
Ice pellets are frozen precipitation which melt above the surface of the Earth and then re-freeze at some height above the surface of the Earth. This process occurs if there is a layer of the atmosphere that is above-freezing and is located just above a much deeper below-freezing layer above the surface of the Earth.
Credit: MetOffice
So.. how do clouds form?
Credit: Met Office
How do weather satellites support and improve weather forecasts?
Hurricane evacuation preparation: Things to know
Summertime Weather Safety
Winter Storm Preparation
How are storms different between the Northern and Southern hemisphere?
Earth from a perspective of latitude is divided into two hemispheres which include the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Storms moved differently in these two hemispheres due to the Earth spinning on its axis and the opposing presence of the Coriolis Effect.
The Coriolis Effect is the natural phenomenon which influences the spin and curvature of weather systems which exist for a minimum of 3 days or more. The Coriolis Effect occurs as a direct result of the tilt of Earth’s axis as it revolves in its annual orbit around Earth’s Sun.
In the Northern Hemisphere, a low-pressure system spins in a counter-clockwise direction (cyclonic flow) and a high-pressure system spins in a clockwise direction (anti-cyclonic flow).
However, in the Southern Hemisphere, a low-pressure system spins clockwise (or anti-cyclonic flow) and a high-pressure system spins counter-clockwise (or cyclonic flow).
The Coriolis Effect is the natural phenomenon which influences the spin and curvature of weather systems which exist for a minimum of 3 days or more. The Coriolis Effect occurs as a direct result of the tilt of Earth’s axis as it revolves in its annual orbit around Earth’s Sun.
In the Northern Hemisphere, a low-pressure system spins in a counter-clockwise direction (cyclonic flow) and a high-pressure system spins in a clockwise direction (anti-cyclonic flow).
However, in the Southern Hemisphere, a low-pressure system spins clockwise (or anti-cyclonic flow) and a high-pressure system spins counter-clockwise (or cyclonic flow).
Credit: PBS NOVA
How does a rainbow form?
Any time after it rains on a typical Spring or Summer-time day, there is a chance that you may find some very interesting things to look at up in the sky. One such feature which you may be lucky enough to find is a rainbow.
A rainbow forms when light changes direction as it is passing through raindrops which are falling through a certain layer of the atmosphere or when light changes the direction it is moving as it passes through leftover moisture in the atmosphere from recent precipitation.
To be more exact, the sunlight hits the raindrop and bounces off the raindrop’s surface. When this happens, the sunlight color spectrum is broken up into seven different colors (i.e., the seven colors which make up the typical color spectrum that includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet).
This break-up of the sunlight's color spectrum happens as a result of the reflected light travelling along a set path and also when the reflected light keeps the angle of reflection which causes the rainbow that you can see if real life.
To break this down a little more, the angle of reflection is best defined as the mathematical angle at which the sunlight moving towards or away from the surface of the Earth reflects off of given raindrops leftover from recent precipitation.
In short, a rainbow is a bunch of raindrops in the atmosphere that act like a prism and divides the light into roughly 7 colors.
A rainbow forms when light changes direction as it is passing through raindrops which are falling through a certain layer of the atmosphere or when light changes the direction it is moving as it passes through leftover moisture in the atmosphere from recent precipitation.
To be more exact, the sunlight hits the raindrop and bounces off the raindrop’s surface. When this happens, the sunlight color spectrum is broken up into seven different colors (i.e., the seven colors which make up the typical color spectrum that includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet).
This break-up of the sunlight's color spectrum happens as a result of the reflected light travelling along a set path and also when the reflected light keeps the angle of reflection which causes the rainbow that you can see if real life.
To break this down a little more, the angle of reflection is best defined as the mathematical angle at which the sunlight moving towards or away from the surface of the Earth reflects off of given raindrops leftover from recent precipitation.
In short, a rainbow is a bunch of raindrops in the atmosphere that act like a prism and divides the light into roughly 7 colors.
What are the different seasons? How are they different from the Northern and Southern Hemisphere?
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"Figure 6h-2: Position of the equinoxes, solstices, aphelion, and perihelion relative to the Earth's orbit around the Sun. The equinoxes and solstices should be 90º apart in the ecliptic plane." PhysicalGeography.net (Dr. Michael Pidwirny & Scott Jones University of British Columbia Okanagan)
"Figure 6h-3: The Earth’s rotational axis is tilted 23.5° from the red line drawn perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. This tilt remains the same anywhere along the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Seasons are appropriate only for the Northern Hemisphere." PhysicalGeography.net
"Figure 6h-4: Annual change in the position of the Earth in its revolution around the Sun. In this graphic, we are viewing the Earth from a position in space that is above the North Pole (yellow dot) at the summer solstice, the winter solstice, and the two equinoxes. Note how the position of the North Pole on the Earth's surface does not change. However, its position relative to the Sun does change and this shift is responsible for the seasons. The red circle on each of the Earths represents the Arctic Circle (66.5 degrees N). During the June solstice, the area above the Arctic Circle is experiencing 24 hours of daylight because the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees toward the Sun. The Arctic Circle experiences 24 hours of night when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the Sun in the December solstice. During the two equinoxes, the circle of illumination cuts through the polar axis and all locations on the Earth experience 12 hours of day and night. Seasons are appropriate only for the Northern Hemisphere." PhysicalGeography.net
What are tidal cycles, how do they work, and their impact to global coastal communities?
How can we tell what the weather was like in the past?
Climatologists are scientists who focus on studying long-term patterns in basic atmospheric details such as temperature, humidity, wind speed/direction, rainfall, etc.)
Climatologists use many different atmospheric tools and methods to look back at past weather events. Climate science and the many ways in which Earth's and other planetary climates are studied is always changing based on how current climate data research is improving.
One such tool which climatologists use to study past weather events and/or trends include looking at the rings of older trees. This type of research work is called dendrochronology and helps determine the atmospheric conditions which a tree may have experienced during its existence. Such conditions which climatologists will look for often includes atmospheric events such as droughts, floods, heat waves and lengthy periods of much colder temperatures.
Climatologists use many different atmospheric tools and methods to look back at past weather events. Climate science and the many ways in which Earth's and other planetary climates are studied is always changing based on how current climate data research is improving.
One such tool which climatologists use to study past weather events and/or trends include looking at the rings of older trees. This type of research work is called dendrochronology and helps determine the atmospheric conditions which a tree may have experienced during its existence. Such conditions which climatologists will look for often includes atmospheric events such as droughts, floods, heat waves and lengthy periods of much colder temperatures.
Credit: NASA Climate Kids
Another tool which is often used by climatologists to study the history of Earth's climate are ice cores. Ice cores are utilized by climatologists in the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the world.
For this type of research, climatologists carve out small cores out of glaciers that have stored air bubbles. When the air bubbles settle and become trapped within deep snow cover and preserves the air bubbles. Air bubbles can tell us how many atmospheric gases and how much of each given atmospheric gas is contained within a given ice core.
Gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen are most commonly found within ice cores. These three gases are absolutely crucial to sustaining life on planet Earth. The concentration of each atmospheric gas found within a given ice core tells us a tremendous amount of important information about past weather and/or climate situations!
For this type of research, climatologists carve out small cores out of glaciers that have stored air bubbles. When the air bubbles settle and become trapped within deep snow cover and preserves the air bubbles. Air bubbles can tell us how many atmospheric gases and how much of each given atmospheric gas is contained within a given ice core.
Gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen are most commonly found within ice cores. These three gases are absolutely crucial to sustaining life on planet Earth. The concentration of each atmospheric gas found within a given ice core tells us a tremendous amount of important information about past weather and/or climate situations!
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Credit: Meteorologist Shannon Scully
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Coral reefs are often used as another tool to study past climate. By looking at the rings on coral reef beds as well as the color of coral reef beds, climatologists can determine how long the coral has lived and what atmospheric and oceanic conditions it may have experienced during its existence.
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Credit: Meteorologist Shannon Scully
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Credit: National Geographic Australia
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Another simple tool which is used to study Earth's current and past climate is the air itself. The air we breathe is used to study different details of current and past climate situations. Scientists often study the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
A certain amount of the carbon dioxide within Earth's atmosphere and Earth's oceans can be attributed to natural causes. However, a much larger amount of the carbon dioxide within Earth's atmosphere and Earth's oceans today is due to man-made (or anthropogenic) causes. In the United States, at an observatory called Mauna Loa in Hawaii, records of global carbon dioxide concentrations and research is kept.
A certain amount of the carbon dioxide within Earth's atmosphere and Earth's oceans can be attributed to natural causes. However, a much larger amount of the carbon dioxide within Earth's atmosphere and Earth's oceans today is due to man-made (or anthropogenic) causes. In the United States, at an observatory called Mauna Loa in Hawaii, records of global carbon dioxide concentrations and research is kept.
The water cycle or budget
The water cycle is a process that tells us how precipitation forms and how moisture evaporates from various parts of planet Earth. The process starts when water molecules evaporate from the surface of the Earth.
In some situations, the water molecules condense within various levels of the atmosphere and form clouds. Once the clouds get saturated enough or completely full of water molecules, the clouds release these water molecules in the form of rain, snow, or other precipitation types which fall to the ground.
At this point, the land either soaks in the rain water or the rain water (and/or melt water from snow) files out as run off from nearby rocks and/or mountains. From the rocks and mountains, it flows into the oceans where it starts the process all over again. (Credit: NASA)
In some situations, the water molecules condense within various levels of the atmosphere and form clouds. Once the clouds get saturated enough or completely full of water molecules, the clouds release these water molecules in the form of rain, snow, or other precipitation types which fall to the ground.
At this point, the land either soaks in the rain water or the rain water (and/or melt water from snow) files out as run off from nearby rocks and/or mountains. From the rocks and mountains, it flows into the oceans where it starts the process all over again. (Credit: NASA)
"The hydrologic cycle begins with the evaporation of water from the surface of the ocean. As moist air is lifted, it cools and water vapor condenses to form clouds. Moisture is transported around the globe until it returns to the surface as precipitation. Once the water reaches the ground, one of two processes may occur; 1) some of the water may evaporate back into the atmosphere or 2) the water may penetrate the surface and become groundwater. Groundwater either seeps its way to into the oceans, rivers, and streams, or is released back into the atmosphere through transpiration. The balance of water that remains on the earth's surface is runoff, which empties into lakes, rivers and streams and is carried back to the oceans, where the cycle begins again." Credit: University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
Credit: NOAA
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