WEATHER S

Weather: The conditions of the atmosphere at a place over a short time period. When we say it is hot, or
wet, or cloudy we are saying something about weather, which is the state of the atmosphere at a place at
specific time periods (from hour to hour or day to day). Weather can vary tremendously. It may be sunny
in one part of district but raining heavily in few kilometres.

Climate: Is the average weather condition of an area recorded over a long period of time (over 30 or 35
years). When we say climate of Botswana is hot dry semi-desert climate that is the summing up of the
average everyday weather conditions of the country throughout the year.

Elements of Weather

The basic atmospheric conditions of a place at a given time. There are 8 elements of weather:

 Sunshine
 Temperature
 Humidity
 Cloud cover
 Precipitation
 Wind direction
 Wind speed
 Atmospheric pressure

Task: Write the instrument and unit of measurement next to each of the weather elements above.

Atmosphere: The layer of gases surrounding Earth; composed mainly of nitrogen and oxygen.

Layers of Atmosphere The atmosphere is made up of 5 layers:-

● Troposphere – Weather occurs here, life, air travel.

● Stratosphere - Ozone found here.

● Mesosphere – Meteors burn up here

● Thermosphere – Space shuttle orbits here, Aurora borealis

● Exosphere – Merges with space, some satellites here.

1
Importance of the Atmosphere

● Keeps planet warm (Greenhouse effect)

● Provides oxygen to breathe (makes respiration possible)

● It protects us from small meteors

● It has ozone that protects us from radiation (UV)

Without atmosphere, smell, taste, sound, and combustion are not possible. The atmosphere is made of:
● 78% Nitrogen Gas ● 21 % Oxygen ● all other gases 1% - These are: Argon 0.7%, Carbon Dioxide .2%,
Neon, Helium, Methane, Krypton, Hydrogen, Xenon.

A Weather Station

-A place where observation, measuring and recording of weather elements is done.

Factors to Be Taken Into Account When Sitting a Weather Station

1. An open place where there is free air circulation or little obstruction of weather elements.

2. Accessible place so that recording can be done easily.

3. A fairly level or gently sloping ground so that it’s easy to position weather instruments.

4. The place should provide a wide view of the surrounding landscape and the sky.

5. The site should be free from flooding.

6. The place should have security, it must be fenced.

Stevenson’s Screen:

-A white wooden box mounted on 4 legs used to house thermometers and hygrometers. It is used to
standardise the way that weather temperatures are recorded around the world.

The instruments which are found in it are:

1. Six’s thermometer or Maximum thermometer and Minimum thermometer
2. Hygrometer/ wet bulb and dry bulb thermometer
Importance
1. Provide shade conditions for accurate temperature recording.
2. Ensure safety of thermometers because they are delicate.
2
Characteristics Which Make Stevenson Screen Suitable For Its Work
1. Painted white to reflect the sun for little absorption of solar heat energy.
2. Made of wood which is a bad conductor of heat.
3. Louvered sides to let the air circulate (Well ventilated), but slanted downwards to prevent light
getting in.
4. Raised 1,2m from ground to prevent contact with terrestrial radiation.
5. Has double roof which acts as an insulator to prevent direct heating from the sun.
6. On short grass so it’s standardised i.e. same amount of reflectivity.

Weather Instruments

1. Rain gauge: Measurement and recording of Rainfall

- Rain gauge is the instrument used to measure the amount of rainfall in a day.
- It should be made of impermeable material which can’t absorb water.
- It has a fixed diameter so that they collect the same amount of water and so comparisons can be
made.
- Made of a hollow cylinder (C) containing:
- Funnel (A) to collect the water.

3
- A container to collect the water. This might be graduated or water can be poured into a measuring
cylinder.
- It is emptied once every 24hrs at the same time. Rainfall is measured in millimetres from the
measuring cylinder.
- The figure represents the millimetres of water falling on each square millimetre of the ground.
- It could be used to measure snow fall by melting it before the readings are gotten.
- It is sunk into the ground, but not level with the surface so that splashes or surface water cannot get
into it.

2. Maximum-minimum thermometer: Measurement and recording Temperature

-Temperature is the degree of hotness or coldness of an object or a place.

It is measured using 2 types of thermometers namely:
1. Maximum thermometer and Minimum thermometer or,
2. Six’s thermometer

 Six’s thermometer records maximum and minimum temperatures over a 24hr period.
 Maximum thermometer contains mercury while the minimum thermometer contains alcohol.
 As temperature rises, mercury expands and pushes up a metal index. When it cools, mercury contracts and the index is left in
place at highest temperature.
 As temperature falls alcohol contracts and pulls metal index with it in the minimum bulb, but as the alcohol expands it flows
passed the index leaving it in place at the lowest temperature.
 Both indexes are read once every 24hrs from the bottom of the index.

4
  Thermometer is reset using a magnet.

Calculating Temperature
The table below shows temperature readings at a weather station for one week.

1. Diurnal/daily Temperature range

- Difference between the maximum and minimum temperature for any one day.
- E.g. for Mon: 28-18=10 ∙C
2. Mean Daily Temperature
- Average of the maximum and the minimum daily temperatures.
- E.g. for Mon: 28+18=46/2=23
3. Mean Monthly temperature
-Sum of mean daily temperatures in a month divided by the number of days in that month.
4. Mean Monthly minimum Temperature
-Sum of daily minimum temperatures divided by the number of days in that month.
5. Mean Monthly Maximum Temperature
-Sum of daily maximum temperatures divided by the number of days in that month.

5
 6. Mean Annual Temperature
-Sum of mean monthly temperatures divided by 12.
7. Mean Annual Temperature Range
-Difference between the highest and the lowest mean monthly temperatures in a year.

3. Wet and dry bulb thermometer (hygrometer): used to measure humidity

Humidity is a measure of the dampness of the atmosphere at a given place to place at given time. Humidity is the amount of water
vapour (moisture) in the atmosphere.
Dry bulb is a normal mercury thermometer, it measures actual air temperature.
• Wet bulb is the same but the bulb is covered with a fine cloth which is connected to a reservoir of water. Water evaporates from the
cloth and cools the temperature so it reads a few degrees lower than air temp.
• Both the wet and dry bulb temperatures are read in degrees Celsius.

There are two types of humidity:

a) Absolute humidity and
b) Relative humidity
Absolute humidity: Is the actual amount of water vapour in a given volume of air at a particular temperature.
Relative humidity: Is the ratio of the actual amount of water vapour in a given volume of air (i.e. absolute humidity) to the maximum
amount of water vapour that the same volume of air can hold at the same temperature. Relative humidity is expressed as a percentage.
Warm air can hold more water vapour than cold air.
When the relative humidity reaches 100 per cent, the air is completely saturated. The air temperature is said to be at dew-point. Further
cooling will condense the water vapour into clouds or rain. It is thus clear that when relative humidity is high the air is moist, when it is
low, the air is dry.

6
 4. Barometer: Measure air pressure/atmospheric pressure
– Atmospheric pressure is the force with which atmosphere presses down on a unit area
- Measured using barometers of three types namely mercury, aneroid and Fortin Barometers.

Mercury Barometer

The ordinary mercury barometer consists of a long glass tube, sealed at the upper and open at the lower
end. The lower end is inverted in a bowl of mercury, whose surface is exposed to the air.

How It Works

• Air exerts pressure on the mercury in the beaker.

• The height of mercury in the tube is proportional to the atmospheric pressure.

• The readings are taken in mmHg.

• Its 760mmHg at sea level

Advantage

Quite accurate

Disadvantage

1. Cumbersome to carry around.

2. Can be damaged quite easily while being carried around.

An aneroid barometer has a corrugated chamber containing a vacuum.

• As air pressure rises and falls the chamber contracts and expands.
• Levers conduct this movement to a spindle which moves the pointer on the dial which records the air pressure in mm of mercury.

7
5. Anemometer: Measures wind speed.
• Three light rotating cups are blown around by the wind the revolutions are counted and converted into; metres per sec.; km per hour;
knots etc.

6. Wind vane: Records wind direction.

• The fang is blown by the wind so that the arrow head points into the wind.
• Both are mounted on a high pole.