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Pressure and Temperature
This panel depicts temperature and sea-level pressure contours. This
chart is useful for finding fronts and
high and
low pressure systems.
The solid black contours represent pressure contours
(isobars) in millibars.
The isobars have a contour interval of four millibars. The wind speed
is directly related to the distance between the isobars. The closer the
isobars are together, the stronger the
pressure gradient, and the stronger the wind.
The colored regions represent the surface temparature. The contour
interval of the isotherms is 5 degrees Fahrenheit. From the chart
above you can sometimes find warm and
cold fronts.
Fronts are usually located where temperature
changes drastically over a short distance.
When pressure contours are perpendicular to isotherms it means it is
either getting warmer or colder. By knowing that winds flow
counter-clockwise around a low and
clockwise around a high, one can
usually see whether there is warming or cooling going on.
Usually when the winds are from the south, and you have
isotherms (temperature lines) perpendicular to the isobars
(pressure lines) you have
warm air advection
(warm air moving up from the south). The opposite is true if you
have winds from the north and isotherms perpendicular to isobars.
In that case you have cold air advection
(cold air coming in from the north) going on.
For more information on how pressure affects the weather go to our pressure module
temp contours
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Dew Point Maps
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![[Image: (28K)]](gifs/sfctmpslp1.gif){kind=link}