Introduction Have you ever watched the news on television If so you may have seen a meteorologist give a weather report If you listened to your local meteorologists carefully you probably heard them use numbers to describe amounts of rain or snow the intensity of an approaching storm and of course the temperature And where there are numbers there is math Believe it or not a meteorologist has to use math every day to determine what all those numbers mean After you’ve read this book you’ll understand what they mean too Every day meteorologists analyze and interpret a vast amount of data such as the rotating updraft in a supercell thunderstorm 4
Technology gives meteorologists access to incredible amounts of weather data as they prepare for the news 5
Learning About the Atmosphere A meteorologist is a scientist who studies the atmosphere The atmosphere is a layer of gases that surrounds a planet There are actually several layers to the Earth’s atmosphere but the lowest layer the one that contains all the gases we depend on to live is called the troposphere Like everything to do with weather the height of the troposphere is always changing What meteorologists refer to as weather including the temperature rainfall and storms is all a thanks to the atmosphere But the troposphere is where all weather takes place STEM in Action Generally speaking the average height of the troposphere around the world is 6 miles Do you know how many feet that is There are 5,280 feet in one mile To find out how many feet there are in 6 miles you need to multiply 5,280 x 6 31,680 So you can also say that the troposphere reaches 31,680 feet into the air That’s pretty high The highest mountain in the world Mount Everest reaches up 29,028 feet 8 85 meters 6
Cirrus clouds Cumulus clouds Stratus clouds It is also within the troposphere that you can find clouds Clouds are actually made of millions of little drops of water Most of the time the water in the air is in a vapor or gas state Clouds form when there is so much water in the atmosphere that it condenses or changes from vapor to liquid There are three basic types of clouds cirrus cumulus and stratus The cloud type you are probably most familiar with are cumulus clouds Cumulus clouds are big puffy clouds Stratus clouds are layered and flat and cirrus clouds are thin and wispy 7
