How the Pro's Do It!

Hundreds of observation stations across the country provide weather data each hour. The Columbia and Jefferson City regional airports are two locations in the mid-Missouri area that provide this information.

Professional weathercasters take all the data from these observation stations and code it so they can tell at a glance what the conditions are. To do this they use small symbols to represent a specific piece of data. Here is a sample of some advanced symbols used in meterology. Can you guess what these might mean? We'll tell you later on.

Using Weather Codes

Lets look at current observations across the Midwestern United States. Print out the image from the following link and then hit the "back" button. http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/surface/sfc_ict.gif

You are now holding the current weather conditions for a very large area. Of course, with the Internet we were able to get all of this information in a matter of moments, without leaving the computer. Let's check out this mess of information on your printout. It's fairly simple to read once you know how. We are going to use five pieces of information from each of these reporting stations.

That data is then translated or coded into a weather observation symbol.

Why would airports be a good place for a weather observing station?
Airports need this information for the safety of air traffic. Pilots depend on weather reports for wind and precipitation data. Imagine trying to land an airplane in heavy snow. Most airports submit the weather information to the National Weather Service. This data is available on the Internet.