Weather check

Fig 1: Symbols of the weather.

	The weather is being checked all day and all night by lots of different people and machines.
Fig 2: Satellite floating over the earth.

Weather stations

There are over 200 weather stations around the country that collect information night and day. They measure many things including how much rain has fallen, the temperature and humidity, air pressure and the wind speed and direction. At the weather station a rain gauge measures how much rain has fallen. Thermometers are used to measure both the highest and lowest temperatures.
	Fig 3: Radiosonde.

	Aircraft can send weather reports to the satellites. Special balloons called radiosondes send back information to the ground about the weather high above us. Satellites send back images of what they can see of the Earth’s weather from space.
Fig 4: Weather station.

There is a special computer at the Met Office in Exeter which stores all of the information received about the weather. It takes the computer two hours to make its forecast. Weather forecasters then look at the charts and maps and decide what sort of weather we might expect.
	Fig 5: A weather buoy.

Key words

Things to do

Make your own forecast of what the weather will be like tomorrow. Draw a picture of what you think it will be like.

Make up some signs for your weather chart to show sun, rain, wind, snow and fog.

Things to make

A sundial

You will need:

• a piece of card;
  
• a piece of wood;
  
• magnetic compass;
  
• glue;
  
• scissors

Cut a piece of card into the shape of a triangle with two sides 12 cm long and one 16 cm long. Make sure that you put a flap on the bottom. Stick the card to the base. Draw two curved lines from the corner of your sundial to the card. Get an adult to use the compass and help you find north. Put you sundial out on a sunny day. With a watch, go out and mark where the shadow is each hour. The next time it is sunny, you can then use your sundial.

Fig 6: A sundial.

For the record

Use your sundial and find out at what time of the day the longest and the shortest shadows fall.

Ask your teacher for two thermometers. Put one in a shady place and one in a sunny place. Write down the temperature every hour. When is the temperature at its highest and lowest?

Did you know?

One of the highest temperatures ever recorded was in Death Valley in the USA when the temperature reached 58 °C. (The highest recorded temperature in the UK is 39 °C.)

The lowest temperature ever recorded was in Vostock, Antarctica, when -89 °C was recorded on 21 July 1983. (The lowest recorded temperature in the UK is -27 °C.)