Let's pretend we are on a cruise in the Atlantic Ocean, we have been saving our money for ages and we have been excited about going on a cruise for at least six months! This is going to be an experience of a lifetime!! So exciting! So amazing!! The cruise is going to be perfect! We are lined up at the dock getting ready to board... It's kind of windy and you look up and notice some puffy clouds. In the back of your mind you are thinking, hmm, I learned something about this in 6th grade...what was it?? Twelve hours into the cruise you are tossed out of your bed! The cruise ship is going up and down, up and down, you have run into a storm! What? What? How did this happen? The cruise is ruined!! Not the first time weather has spoiled the party... We can put a man on the moon and shoot rockets into the air, and land them on a ship! Why can't we tell what the weather will be? Well, we can...kind of... and pretty accurately...we just need to learn what a low pressure air mass looks like and a high pressure air mass looks like. "Gas is invisible!" you might exclaim. If we recognize the signs of the different high and low pressure systems, we can see "invisible"! We know that high pressure systems bring fair weather, light winds and low pressure systems bring lousy weather, storms and strong winds. High pressure systems have cool, dry air that is sinking toward the ground. This weather map shows the cool dry air that is sinking. There isn't a cloud in sight from Texas to Florida. On the other hand you can see the warm, moist air traveling all around the cool dry air. That is a high pressure air mass surrounded by low pressure air masses. You can tell what kind of weather you may be having if you look outside. Sunny, not a cloud in the sky? High pressure air mass! The air is cool and dry, sinking toward the Earth. The sky is getting cloudy, it's getting pretty breezy, the clouds are getting thicker? Low air pressure mass! The air is moist, rising and condensing above the Earth. Hopefully the next cruise we plan we will be a little wiser, we can prepare for the worst and when it comes we won't be surprised. The best cruises are near the equator and do you know what that means? Lots of low air pressure systems!!!
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |