THE WEATHER STATION

- It is a place where weather instruments are kept.

- The main weather station in Zimbabwe is in Harare.
- There are several weather stations throughout the country which collect and send their
information to Harare.
- The siting or location of a weather station is very important if accurate recordings are
to be obtained.
- All weather stations must have the same conditions, that is, instruments must be kept
in exactly the same way if we are to take recordings which can be compared.
- The main precaution is to locate the weather station in an open area, away from trees
and buildings which may shelter the instruments leadings to false readings.
- The station must be well protected, usually by a fence, to avoid theft, vandalism and
public interference with the instruments which may affect the readings.
- The station must be well maintained, with all weather instruments (covered earlier)
working properly.
- Thermometers should be housed in a special box called a Stevenson screen.
- They should be placed 1,2 to 1,8 m above the ground to ensure accurate readings.
- Anemometers and wind vanes are placed about10 m above the ground in a place
where the air can flow freely.
- Rain gauges should be placed on open level ground away from any obstructions.
- They should be about 60 cm above the ground.
- The many weather stations throughout the country sometimes experience problems
when recording weather elements resulting in inaccurate records.
- These problems are commonly faced by communities with small weather stations.
- The main problems they face are:
 inadequate equipment (shortage of instruments)
 lack of trained recorders
 irregularity of reading and recording
 faulty instruments
 vandalism
 narrow range of weather elements recorded
 THE STEVENSON SCREEN

- All weather stations should have a Stevenson Screen.

- It is a specially designed wooden box that holds
 maximum and minimum thermometers
 wet and dry bulb thermometers (hygrometer)
 barometer
- This protects the thermometers from direct sunlight.
- The Stevenson Screen should be in the open away from trees and buildings.
- It is painted white to reflect rays of the sun and heat.
- It is made of wood to prevent heat absorption.
- It has a double roof further insulated by air space to prevent direct intense heat from
the sun getting to the instruments.
- It has louvered sides to allow free circulation of air.
- It is 121 cm above the ground to prevent the thermometers from measuring ground
temperature.
- One side is hinged to act as a door.
- The door of the Stevenson Screen in the Southern hemisphere faces south.
- This is to prevent direct rays of the sun from reaching the thermometers when the
door is opened.
- The best site is where there is short grass.

A STEVENSON SCREEN

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 WEATHER DATA
- Weather information is important to all people all over the world.

IMPORTANCE OF WEATHER INFORMATION

- Weather determines what we wear and what we do.
- School children need to know when to put on warm clothes and when to carry rain
coats.
- Tourists need weather information in order to plan their journeys, what clothing to
wear and carry.
- Soccer, cricket, horse racing and other sport have to be stopped during rains.
- Some construction work has to be stopped in bad weather (such as rain, frost, storms,
high humidity) because building materials may be damaged.
- Pilots need to know the weather because it is dangerous to fly in a storm and other
bad weather conditions.
- Boats and ships at sea need calm weather for safe navigation. Strong winds and
storms lead to destruction of vessels and loss of life.
- Thick fog reduce visibility on land and at sea leading to accidents.
- Farmers need to know when to
 start planting crops
 irrigate their crops
 spray pesticides
 protect their crops from frost
 shelter their livestock from thunderstorms

RECORDING WEATHER DATA

- Weather data can be recorded in tables, graphs and maps.

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 TEMPERATURE
- Temperature records can be shown using a line graph.
- A temperature graph is drawn with the vertical scale showing the temperature in
degrees celsius (c), and the horizontal scale representing the time period.

Example

Mean daily temperature

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
25c 30c 35c 20c 15c

Mean daily temperature graph

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 - On Monday, the mean temperature was 25c, so we go up the vertical line marked
Mon (Monday) to a point in line with temperature 25 and place a dot.
- This procedure is repeated with all the other days using readings given in the table.
- Complete the line graph by joining the dots together.
- Temperature can also be recorded in the form of a map.
- Average temperatures for a number of weather stations in an area or a country are
recorded on an outline map of the area or country.
- Places or stations with the same temperatures are joined together by lines.
- Lines that are drawn to join points of equal values are called isolines.
- Lines drawn on a map to join places of equal temperature are called isotherms

ACTIVITY (Do this at the back of your note book.)

1. Using an atlas, find a graph showing temperature and find an isotherm map of
Zimbabwe. Study them closely.
2. Use the temperature data below to draw a line graph showing the average temperature
for each month of the year for Beitbridge.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
27c 26c 26c 23c 20c 17c 16c 20c 22c 25c 26c 27c

ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
- Like temperature, atmospheric pressure can be shown on maps by isolines.
- Isobars are lines joining all places with the same atmospheric pressure.

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 PRESSURE OVER SOUTHERN AFRICA

ACTIVITY (Do this at the back of your note book)

1. Watch or listen to the weather report of Zimbabwe on the TV or radio. What did the
forecast tell you about pressure?
2. Use an atlas, and find a map showing atmospheric pressure in Southern Africa in
summer and winter. Study the pressure patterns.
(a) List the differences.
(b) Discuss how you think the pressure patterns influence the summer and winter
climates of Southern Africa.

RAINFALL
- Rainfall can be recorded in a table, or by using a bar graph.
- A rainfall graph is drawn with the vertical scale showing the millimetres (mm) of rain
and the horizontal scale showing the period (days, months etc) when the records were
taken.

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 RAINFALL TABLE FOR HARARE

ACTIVITY
- The rainfall and temperature records of an area are usually recorded on the same
horizontal scale.

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 SYNOPTIC SYMBOLS
- The study of weather is known as meteorology.
- People who study weather and make weather forecasts are called meteorologists.
- In Zimbabwe, weather data is collected from all the weather stations around the
country and sent to the National Weather Bureau in Harare.
- Meteorologists record the observations and use them to make weather maps and to
forecast the weather.
- Weather maps are also known as synoptic charts.
- Symbols and figures are used to help us understand this vast amount of information.
- Some of the symbols have already been covered under the elements of weather.
- The weather conditions at each weather station are indicated using a station model.
- This makes it easy to show and read all the information.
- The same symbols are used in countries all over the world.

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 STATION MODEL FOR KWEKWE

1. The circle is used to show cloud cover.

- In the example, the cloud cover is 4 Oktas ( )

2. The wind direction is shown by the compass direction of the arrow attached to the
circle.
- In the example the wind is blowing from the south-east.
3. The wind speed is shown by feathers attached to the arrow.
- A full feather represents 10 knots, a half feather 5 knots and a solid triangle at the end
of the arrow represents 50 knots.
- In the example, the wind speed is 25 knots.
4. A number to the lower left shows the dew point temperature. In the example it is
24C.
5. Weather symbols to the left show weather conditions in terms of precipitation. In the
example, it is rain.
6. A number to the upper left of the circle shows the air temperature. In the example, the
temperature is 27C.

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SHORT DESCRIPTION OF WEATHER EXPERIENCED IN KWEKWE

- There was a strong breeze blowing from the south east at 25 knots.

- It was partly cloudy, with cloud cover.

- Rainfall was experienced.

- It was hot at 27C.

A SYNOPTIC CHART FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA

- The lines on the synoptic chart are isobars.

- The pressure is in millibars (mb).
- The isobar interval is usually 4 mb.
- An H indicates a high-pressure cell and L indicates a low-pressure cell.
NB: Study the information on the station models for the weather stations shown.

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 WEATHER (SYNOPTIC) SYMBOLS
Mist

Fog
* Rain and snow

Rain shower
Drizzle

Shower
* Snow shower

 Rain
 Rain and snow shower

Hail * Hail shower

* Snow

Thunderstorm

 Rain and drizzle

Warm front

Cold front

Occluded front

ACTIVITY (Do this at the back of your note book)

1. Study the station model for Masvingo and answer the questions below.

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Give each of the following:
(a) air temperature
(b) dew point temperature
(c) cloud cover
(d) weather (precipitation)
(e) wind speed
(f) wind direction

2. Draw a station model for Victoria Falls using the following information:
a) air temperature: 33C
b) dew point temperature: 29C
c) cloud cover: 6 Oktas
d) weather: showers
e) wind speed: 15 knots
f) wind direction: south-west

3. Refer to the synoptic chart for Southern Africa and answer the following questions:
a) What is the lowest pressure shown on the map?
What type of weather do you expect to find here?
b) What is the highest pressure shown on the map?
What type of weather do you expect to find here?
c) Describe the weather conditions as shown for Hararae.

WEATHER STATISTICS

- Statistics involves collecting, analysing and interpreting numerical data.

- Weather statistics already covered include the use of rainfall and temperature figures
to calculate temperature ranges and averages, and annual rainfall.
- Weather statistics are very useful to all people who depend on weather, such as
farmers and airplane pilots.

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 - Statistics help us to predict when droughts or floods may occur, or when storms can
be expected.
- We can use weather statistics to find out what has happened in the past and predict
trends for the future.
- We can use data about rainfall and temperature from all recorded years to find out
what the highest ever recorded rainfall or temperature in Zimbabwe are.
- We can also analyse data about annual rainfall and temperatures to find out whether
they are higher or lower this year than in previous years.
- Meteorologists use weather statistics to compare previous weather conditions with
current weather conditions to forecast future weather.

ACTIVITY
Use the numerical data in the table below to calculate the weather statistics that follow.

Place Harare Kotwa Mutoko Chimanimani Mutare Beitbridge Shangani

Average
annual 831mm 633mm 713mm 1 210mm 809mm 333mm 639mm
rainfall
Average
18,4c 21,5c 19,5c 16c 19,4c 23c 18c
temperature

1. Which place has the highest annual rainfall?

2. Which place has the lowest annual rainfall?
3. What is the difference in annual rainfall between the two places you named in
questions 1 and 2?
4. Which place has the highest average temperature?
5. Which place has the lowest average temperature?
6. What is the difference in average temperature between the two places you named in
questions 4 and 5?

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