What is the weather?

1. What is the weather? Weather is the condition of the air around us over a short period of time (from day to day)

2. The elements of weather • Temperature (the amount of heat) • Precipitation (water – rain, sleet, hail, snow) • Wind speed • Wind direction • Cloud Type • Cloud Cover • Visibility (How far can you see?)

3. Temperature • This is a measure of how hot or cold it is. We can tell this by looking at the clothes that people wear. We use a thermometer to measure temperature

4. Precipitation • Water in the air falls to the ground in one of several forms • Rain • Snow • Sleet • Hail • But also ice and fog • We use a rain guage to measure the amount of rain that falls

5. Wind Speed • This tells us how strong the wind is. We can get a good ideas of this by looking at smoke and trees. The Beaufort scale is used to measure wind strength or we can use an instrument called an anemometer

6. Wind direction • This is the direction from which the wind blows – it is measured by a wind vane

7. Cloud Type • Clouds come in many shapes, sizes and heights.

8. Cloud Cover • This is the amount of the sky covered by cloud. It is measured in eighths Clear sky 4/8 8/8 (Total cover)

9. Visibility • This is the distance that can be seen. It is measured in metres.

10. What will we use to record the weather?