Weather
Published on: October 04, 2013
Our Changing Weather
Some days are warm and sunny; others are cold and rainy. Every day the weather is a little different from the day before. What makes these patterns happen? It comes down to air masses — great bodies of air that form over the frozen poles, the warm equator, and the continents in between. When these air masses meet, they produce the weather we feel each day.
Air Masses and Fronts
Cold, dry air masses slide down from the polar regions toward the warm, moist air drifting up from the equator. Where they meet, the atmosphere changes — and so does the weather.
A front is the boundary line between two different air masses:
- A cold front and a warm front are the two main types.
- When cold air overtakes warm air, the two combine into an occluded front.
- A stationary front stays in place for a long time and can bring lingering rainy weather.
- A dry line separates a dry air mass from a moist one, making temperatures vary from one side to the other.
High and Low Pressure
A low pressure system is a twirling mass of warm, moist air, marked on weather maps with a red L. Tropical storms and hurricanes grow out of low-pressure systems. A high pressure system is cool, dry air, marked with a red H, and tends to bring fair, sunny skies and light winds.
Explore the Weather at Home
- Weather symbols printout — the symbols you'll see on weather maps.
- Printable weather calendar — record the daily weather together.
- Types-of-weather reading & nomenclature cards — free printable three-part cards.
The weather is always changing — from cold to hot, dry to rainy, clear to cloudy. Watching and recording it is one of the simplest, richest nature studies a child can do.
Materials We Like
- How Rain Was Born — a gentle picture book about where weather comes from.
- Nature Exploration Kit — tools for observing the sky and seasons outdoors.