Chapter 3

Weather
 Chapter 3: Weather

What is weather ?
• State of the atmosphere
at any given time and
place

Four layers of the

atmosphere
• Troposphere
• Stratosphere
• Mesosphere
• Thermosphere
 Chapter 3: Weather

Troposphere
• Contains 75% of the gases in the atmosphere
• Temperature falls with increasing height
• Environmental lapse rate = average drop of 6.4C for
every 1km increase in height
• Most weather conditions are observed in this layer

Stratosphere
• Abundant ozone gas absorbs ultraviolet rays from the
sun
• Temperature increases with height
• Jet planes fly in this layer
 Chapter 3: Weather

Mesosphere
• Presence of strong winds blowing at 3,000km per hour
• Temperature falls with increasing height
• Temperatures can reach -80C
• Meteors burn up in this layer while entering the
atmosphere

Thermosphere
• Temperature increases with
height
• Presence of atomic oxygen
• Auroras occur in this layer,
e.g. the Northern Lights
 Chapter 3: Weather

The Earth’s heat balance

Absorbed by the Earth 46%

Absorbed by H20 vapour 19%
Dispersed by the 8%
atmosphere
Absorbed by clouds 7%

Reflected by clouds 20%

 Chapter 3: Weather

Temperature
• In the context of weather studies, temperature refers to
the degree of hotness/coldness in the atmosphere

Factors that influence temperature

• Latitude
• Distance from the sea
• Ocean currents
• Altitude
• Cloud cover and humidity
• Microclimatic factors

Cloud cover is a
factor that
influences tempe
rature
 Chapter 3: Weather

1. Latitude
• Places near the Equator have • Places away from the Equator
higher temperatures have lower temperatures
– Heat from the sun reaches the
– Heat from the sun reaches the
Earth at an oblique
Earth at a more direct angle
angle
– The heat is spread over a larger
– The heat is concentrated over a area
small area
 Chapter 3: Weather

2. Distance from the sea

• The sea moderates the
temperatures of places nearby
• In summer, the sea heats up slower
than land
 Cooling effect on land
along
the coast
• In winter, the sea loses heat slower
than land
 Warming effect on the
coastal
area
• Temperatures of places farther
inland are not moderated by the sea
 These places
experience
more extreme variations in
temperature
 Chapter 3: Weather
3. Ocean currents
 Chapter 3: Weather

• Warm currents
– Originate from the warm waters of the Equatorial region
– Raise the temperatures of coastal areas

• Cold currents
– Originate from the cold waters of the polar regions
– Lower the temperatures of coastal areas
 Chapter 3: Weather

4. Altitude
• Temperatures fall with increasing height
• Temperature drops about 6.5C for every 1km increase in
height
• Higher concentration of water vapour and gases in the
atmosphere nearer the Earth’s surface
 Most of the sun’s heat is absorbed at/near sea level,
resulting in higher temperatures

 At higher
altitudes,
there is less water
vapor and gases to
absorb the
sun’s heat,
resulting in
lower
temperatures
The peaks of high mountains are always snow covered
because temperature drops as height increases
 Chapter 3: Weather

5. Cloud cover and humidity

• During the day, clouds reflect solar radiation and
help to cool the land
• At night, clouds prevent loss of heat from the
ground and help to warm the land
• The higher the humidity, the greater the cloud
cover

Effects of little cloud cover in Sahara Desert

 Chapter 3: Weather

6. Microclimatic factors
• Factors that affect the climate on a small (local)
scale

• Aspect
– Direction a slope faces in relation to the sun
– In the northern hemisphere, south-facing slopes are
warmer
– In southern the hemisphere, north-facing slopes are
warmer

• Type of land surface

– Exposed concrete surfaces absorb more heat than
surfaces covered by vegetation or even bare soil
– Evaporation of moisture on plant surfaces and transpiration
cool the surrounding areas
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Measuring air
temperature
– Done using a
maximum and
minimum
thermometer,
also known as
Six’s
Thermometer
 Chapter 3: Weather

Key temperature statistics

1. Diurnal range of temperature
• Difference between the maximum and minimum
temperatures of a place for any one day
• Calculation:
Maximum temperature – Minimum
temperature
for the day for the day
2. Annual range of temperature
• Knowing the annual temperature range of a place will help
you deduce the climatic zone that it is located in
• Calculation:
Highest mean monthly – Lowest mean monthly
temperature in the year temperature in the
year
 Chapter 3: Weather

3. Mean (average) daily temperature

• Calculation:
Maximum temperature + Minimum temperature
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2

OR

Sum of 24 hourly temperature readings

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24

4. Mean monthly temperature

• Calculation:
Sum of all mean daily temperatures in the month
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Total number of days in the month
 Chapter 3: Weather

5. Mean annual temperature

• Terms to describe mean annual temperature:
Low Less than 10C
Moderate Between 10C and 20C
High Higher than 20C

• Calculation:
Sum of all mean monthly temperatures in the year
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12
 Chapter 3: Weather

Reading a temperature line graph

• Temperature data can be plotted on a line graph
 Chapter 3: Weather

• Some questions to ask when analysing a temperature

line graph:
– Do the temperatures fluctuate?
– How large or small are the variations in temperature?
– In which period of the year does the place experience high
temperatures?
– How high do the temperatures go?
– In which period of the year does the place experience low
temperatures?
– How low do the temperatures go?