How to Read Weather Map

How to Read Weather Map How to Read Weather Map Weather maps are simplified versions or depictions of current/predicted weather conditions of an area. With its use you can easily find out the exact climatic condition prevailing or is expected to prevail over a certain region. To read and understand what the map is depicting you need to get familiarized with the commonly accepted weather symbols. This will help you understand at once what the map is telling about the weather condition.

Instructions

The very first thing you can notice is the symbols allotted for areas of high or low pressure. This is generally indicated with a large blue “H” for high air pressure and a large red “L” for low air pressure. Fair weather condition is expected if a high is over the area and chances of precipitation or cloud if there is a low pressure in the area.
Look out for the warm and cold fronts, entering or exiting the particular area. While the cold fronts indicated in blue show a mass of cold air, the warm fronts in red indicate warm air masse.
Do not forget to pay attention to occluded fronts. Indicated in purple, it is basically a combination of warm front and cold front. The symbol signifies taking over of one air mass over another. It could be warm air overtaking cold air or cold air overtaking warm air. It is also the indication of temperatures changes that is likely to take place in the area.
Check out the stationary fronts. These fronts indicate the air masses that are remaining in the location. These symbols depicted on the map indicate that same temperature will prevail for a while.
In order to find out the rainfall that an area will receive, look out for the rain symbols. These are generally represented in black dots. If there are many heavy black dots, it indicates heavier rainfall. Drizzle is represented through comas. Precipitation is indicated with both the symbols.
To find out the possibility of snow, you must look out for snowflake symbols. While one flake indicates flurries, more flakes reveal heavier snow than expected.
Look out for other symbols to have an up-to-date picture of the expected weather. There are different symbols for freezing conditions and blowing snow. Locate them in the weather map and find out if they are affecting your region.
To know more about the exact weather condition, carefully go through every symbol that is used on the weather map. An explanation of these symbols is often given in the lower corner of the map.