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Reference Weather Map |
Current Weather Map |
This panel depicts sea-level pressure and surface fronts overlaid on an infrared satellite image. This chart is useful for finding regions of high and low pressure systems.
The solid cyan contours represent pressure contours (isobars) in millibars. The isobars have an interval of 4 millibars. The wind speed is directly related to the distance between the isobars. The closer they are together, the stronger the pressure gradient, and the stronger the wind. Low and high pressure systems can also be located from the map above. Low pressure systems are located in the regions of the lowest pressure, while high pressure systems are located in the regions of highest pressure.
Fronts are boundaries between airmasses. Cold fronts (solid blue) move in the direction of their barbs, and bring colder temperatures to the areas it passes. Warm fronts (solid red) also move in the direction of their barbs but bring warmer temperatures to the areas it passes over. Occluded fronts (solid purple) and stationary fronts (alternating red and blue) can also be seen. More information on fronts can be found in the fronts module.
In the background, infrared satellite data shows the cloud patterns over North America. The brightness of the cloud images is inversely proportional to the temperature of cloud tops, therefore the deep clouds with high (and thus cold) cloud tops typically indicating areas of intense rain and/or hail associated with deep convection appear brightest on this image. However high cirrus clouds will often also appear very bright, but these clouds do not produce precipitation.
For more information on how pressure affects the weather go to our forces and winds module.
pres, ir sat |
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pres, ir sat, wind |