Station Model Review

Station Model Review

Station Model Review
• Remember, dew point temperature can
NEVER be higher than the air temperature. They can be the same if the current weather is fog because fog means you are walking into a cloud when you go outside. For a cloud to form, either on the ground or thousands of feet up, the air temperature and dew point temperature must be the same.

Station Model Review
• The closer together the air temperature and dew point temperature the more humid the air. This occurs when it is cloudy and especially when the clouds are precipitating. For example, totally cloudy skies above may yield a surface air temperature of 50 degrees and a dew point of 42. If the current weather is moderate snow, the air temperature may be 27 degrees with a dew point of 25.

Station Model Review
• The wind direction stick points in the direction of where the wind is coming from .
• Wind speed is always on the right of the wind direction stick. Not your right, the sticks’ right. Long sticks are worth 10 mph, short sticks are 5 mph, and 50 mph is represented by a triangular shaped flag.

Station Model Review
• Air pressure on a station model only contains the last 3 digits of the air pressure. A pressure of 995.0 mb is written as 950 on the station model. A pressure of 1032 is written as 320 on the station model. If the tenth decimal place is not given, assume it is a zero.

Station Model Review
• If a storm (low pressure) is moving towards you, the air pressure is falling. If a storm is moving away from you, the air pressure is rising. If a storm is stationary or is at a point where it is hard to tell if it is moving closer or farther away, then the pressure is steady.
• If a high pressure is moving away from you, the pressure is falling. If a high pressure is moving towards you the pressure is rising. If the high pressure is stationary then the pressure is steady.

Pressure Rules
High Pressure: Wind Blows Outwards and
Clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
Low Pressure: Wind Blows Inwards and
Counterclockwise in the Northern
Hemisphere.

Pressure Rules
Extremely Rare Strong High: 1050 – 1086 (highest recorded pressure ever) mb
Strong High: 1036 - 1050 mb
Moderate High: 1022 – 1036 mb
Weak High: 1010 – 1022 mb
Weak Low: 1002 – 1014 mb
Moderate Low: 988 – 1002 mb (nor’easters, tropical storms, or category 1 hurricanes)
Strong Low: 960 – 988 mb (strong nor’easters or category 1, 2, or 3 hurricanes)
Extremely Rare Strong Low: 870 (lowest recorded pressure ever) – 960 mb (category 4 or 5 hurricanes)

Pressure Rules

Pressure Rules