Weather (Wx) 

Please note: A new version of the Weather Course is available.  Information taught will be essentially the same a presented here, but with a new text and class format.  A course is planned for Fall 2009.

 

Contents

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Course Description

This weather course will furnish basic weather knowledge for safer and more enjoyable boating.  The student will learn to make weather predictions based upon observations of the sky, upon barometer and wind information, as well as weather data provided by maps, satellite images, and radio and TV broadcasts.  Wx 101 and Wx 102 use a USPS supplemental manual together with The Weather Book from USA Today (second edition, 1997) as the textbook.
Wx 101 - Basic Weather - topics include: Wx 102 - Advanced Weather - topics include:
  1. Effects of Heat and Cold
    • Specific Heat
    • Temperature
    • Lapse Rate
    • Insolation
    • Air Masses
    • Station Model
  2. Wind and Pressure
    • Measuring Air Pressure
    • Pressure and Altitude
    • Coriolis Effect
    • Buys Ballot's Law
    • Measuring Winds
    • Shifting Winds
    • Local Winds
    • Station Model
  3. Storms and Fronts
    • Fronts and Frontal Weather
    • Formation of a Low Pressure Area - Cyclogenesis
    • The Cold Front
    • Clouds and Precipitation Along a Cold Front
    • The Warm Front
    • Clouds and Precipitation Along a Warm Front
    • Stationary Front
    • Movement of Storms
    • Occlusion of a Low
    • Map Symbols
    • Plan for Safety
  4. Rain, Humidity, and Fog
    • Measuring Humidity
    • Cloud base
    • Forecasting Fog
      • Radiation Fog
      • Advection Fog
      • Precipitation Fog
    • Skipper's Analysis
  5. Floods, Droughts, and Winter Precipitation
    • Floods
    • Flooding and Boaters
    • Hydrological Cycle
    • Droughts
    • Winter Precipitation

 
  1. Thunderstorms and Tornadoes
    • Thunderstorms and Boating
      • Hail
      • Lightning
      • Thunder
      • When Caught in a Storm
    • Tornadoes
    • Waterspouts
    • Other Vortices 
  2. Tropical Weather
    • Elements of Tropical Systems
    • Tropical Weather and the Boater
    • Signs of a Hurricane
    • The Navigable Semicircle
    • Safety Precautions
  3. Atmosphere and Clouds
    • Clouds
      • Station Model
      • Sky Condition Definitions
    • The Atmosphere
  4. Forecasting
    • Weather Data
    • Analysis of Weather Maps
      • Cyclogenesis
      • A Practice Map
      • A Plotted Map
      • Frontal Analysis
      • Pressure-Field Analysis
      • Isobars
      • Air-Mass Analysis
      • Study of the Analyzed Map
      • An Exercise in Analysis
    • Prognostic Chart and Forecast
    • Study the Historic Sequence
      • How Pressure Centers Move
      • Pressure Center Development
      • The Movement of Fronts
      • Doing the Prognostic Chart
      • Make a Forecast
      • Local Factors to Consider
        • Wind
        • Precipitation
        • Clouds
        • Temperature
      • Using Local Observations
      • Know the Tools
      • Using Background Sources
    • Your Observations
      • What Pressure Can Tell You
      • Temperature and Dew Point
      • Interpreting and Estimating Wind
      • Clouds and What They Mean
      • Record Present Weather
      • Visibility, Limiting Elements
      • The State of the Sea
      • Making Forecasts
      • Try These Sample Forecasts
      • Importance of Upper-Air Flow
    • Regional Weather
      • New England, Mid-Atlantic
      • The Great Lakes
      • South Atlantic, Florida Gulf - General Area
      • Florida
      • Gulf States
      • The West Coast - General Area
      • Washington, Oregon
      • Northern and Central California
      • Southern California
  5. Climate
    • Climatic Variables and Data
    • Regional Climates

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USPS Weather Course Materials

Weather book cover The USA TODAY Weather Book by Jack Williams explains the basics of meteorology with text and the kind of colorful graphics that have become USA TODAY's trademark.  The American Meteorological Society (AMS) awarded Williams its Louis J. Battan Author's Award for the book in January 1994.  The AMS and many scientists have commented on the book's scientific accuracy and the AMS is using it in its education program. 
 
The USPS provides a supplemental text, containing additional information, homework questions, and references.
  A set of synoptic weather charts will be used for an exercise in forecasting.  (If you don't know what "synoptic" means, you will after the class.)
  A PowerPoint or jpeg slide set of cloud formations is available for downloading from the USPS Marine Environment Committee website.  Click here or go to http://www.usps.org/national/eddept/wx/main.htm#downloads. 
  For the instructor, PowerPoint slides are available on a CD-ROM and the USPS Supplement has additional information.

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Course Schedule

The 2004 version of Weather is divided into two parts, 101 and 102, each about 5 weeks in length plus an exam.  We will also take a field trip to the National Weather Service office.  This is a tentative schedule.   The schedule may be adjusted to maintain an acceptable pace.  A break between parts will be up to the students.

Note: This schedule is for a course taught in 2005.  A course is planned for late 2008 or early 2009, whenever the next version is available.

Week Date Subject
1 Jun 7 Intro and Guest Speaker
2 Jun 14 Effects of Heat and Cold
3 Jun 21 Wind and Pressure
4 Jun 28 Storms and Fronts
5 Jul 5 Break
6 Jul 12 Rain, Humidity, and Fog
7 Jul 19 Floods, Droughts, and Winter Precipitation 
8 Jul 26 Review
9 Aug 2 Exam
10 Aug 9 Thunderstorms and Tornadoes
11 Aug 16 Field trip to NWS  (map to NWS)
12 Aug 23 Tropical Weather
13 Aug 30 Atmosphere and Clouds
14 Sep 6 Forecasting
15 Sep 13 Climate
16 Sep 20 Exam

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Weather Links

 

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Your Instructor

Lt/C Roger Penneman, SN
Home email: rbpflotsam-at-sbcglobal-dot-net

 

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