Concept Examples

Above is an example of a Skew T-plot.  These charts measure the convective potential and stability of an air mass.  The yellow line represents an air parcels projected path up through the atmosphere.  The white lines represent the bounds of the air surrounding that parcel.  The indexes on the right side indicate many things.  For my purposes in this course I look at the Li and Ki indexes which measure the likely hood of convection.  When convection occurs air
 rises fast often resulting in thunderstorms.

This chart shows the impact of continental polar air masses as well as jetstream tendency.  Cold dry air pushes south, this has a huge impact on weather in Wisconsin; it is the reason we can have have blistering temperatures in Summer and bitter temperatures in Winter and sometimes dramatic shifts in temperature usually during Spring or Fall.  You can see by this chart, Wisconsin might be warm on Thursday but as that mass moves
 south it will be cold on Saturday.  The effect
I see from the jetstream here is that
it moves from west to east across the country so
these masses usually move in a southeast fashion don't
 impact the Pacific Northwest very much.

Here is an example of an upper atmosphere jetstream projection.  These lines represent something like a highway for air flow high up in the atmosphere.  The jetstream pushes air masses, affecting their path this is important for predicting conditions and storms.  The different levels of jetstream are also important to flying, like sea currents for ships.



 

This image is an example of radar.  It is displaying the amount
 of water vapor in the atmosphere.  It is useful to know that
kind of information because water is the fuel for precipitation
 and when storm conditions exist parallel to large amounts
  of water vapor people need to understand there will probably
 be severe weather conditions to prepare for.

This is a crude diagram of the effect pressure
differences have on air parcel movement.  Dense
air which exerts higher pressure(H) has the
relative tendency to sink.  As it sinks it moves
away from the center of pressure in a clockwise
direction (in the northern hemisphere).  Less
dense air(L) which exerts less pressure has the
tendency to rise.  As it does it moves towards
the center of lower pressure in a counter-
clockwise direction.