Science Exit Project: Lab Report
Science Exit Project: Weather
Weather itself is the state of the atmosphere at a given time. The weather seems very difficult to predict, however it is not as complicated as it seems. After looking at the variables and breaking down the pattern, a prediction can be made of the weather. The goal of this experiment is to look at the weather conditions for a given month, and then tell what shaped it, or what caused a certain variable to change.
Procedure/Materials:
First, I made a chart of the weather variables that I would be using. These were minimum and maximum temperatures, average humidity in percent, dew point temperature, and pressure. The dates I decided to use were of the entire month of October 2013. Then, using the internet, …show more content…
I recorded all of the data for the chart for the month. An online weather radar service has all of the necessary information. Once the data was all charted, I made graphs of them. To do this experiment, the materials needed are a computer with internet, MS Excel (or equivalent software), and a printer.
Results:
Throughout the month, the temperature generally decreased.
In the first week, the temperature slowly decreased, and the dew point increased. Then, the temperature and dew point kept decreasing, until halfway into the second week when the temperature kept decreasing but the dew point spiked up. Then, on October 17th, dew point and temperature met once again. From then, the temperature decreased a little, but the dew point dropped significantly. Suddenly, on the 30th, dew point shot up to equal the temperature. Every time that the dew point was near the temperature, there was a higher chance of precipitation. For example, on the 4th, 6th, 7th, 16th, and 30th, there was precipitation. On all of these dates, the dew point was close to the temperature. Also, the temperature trend was a decrease. This is probably because it was getting closer to winter and the angle of insolation was decreasing. The decrease probably was not very significant compared to inland cities because water retains its heat longer than land, and New York City is a coastal …show more content…
city. The humidity was changing very rapidly. Despite this, the relative humidity remained above 40% and under 90%. The relative humidity increased until the 6th of October when it spiked (88%) and fell until the 8th (50%) of October. Increased until the 10th (72%), and fell on the 12th (62%) The relative humidity increased to 75% on the 16th. On the 21st, the relative humidity went back down to 44%. It increased to 59% to the 22nd, then decreased to 40% on the 27th. Finally, it went up to 78% on the 31st. When the relative humidity is higher, there is more of a chance of rain. This is probably why it was raining on the 6th, 7th and 31st, when relative humidity was high or rapidly increasing. Precipitation was not very frequent in October, and the pressure was under 1030 hPa throughout the month.
The pressure dropped on the 7th, and there was 8 mm. of rain. The pressure then increased but dropped on the 10th. This repeated on the 17th, and there was some rain as well. The pressure increased and decreased in a cyclic pattern and then dropped on the 31st again. Then, there was 1.3 mm of rain. Since air in low pressure rise, it cools adiabatically the higher up it goes. Then, it can’t hold some of its water, and the water droplets condense into clouds. When these droplets get too heavy, they fall as rain or
precipitation. During the month of October, there were no storms or blizzards. However, there was a thunder storm north of New York City on the 7th of October. It missed most of the city, and there was not much rain, but there was a wind advisory in effect until 7:00 p.m. that night. In conclusion, many factors of the weather were dependent on other variables. A low pressure area usually brings rain, and higher relative humidity usually is related to precipitation. As months get closer to winter, temperature gets colder. Coastal cities do not have as large a range as most cities. Finally, when the dew point is closer to the temperature, then there is higher chance of precipitation.
Bibliography:
http://www.wunderground.com
(For all of the data graphed)
Weather itself is the state of the atmosphere at a given time. The weather seems very difficult to predict, however it is not as complicated as it seems. After looking at the variables and breaking down the pattern, a prediction can be made of the weather. The goal of this experiment is to look at the weather conditions for a given month, and then tell what shaped it, or what caused a certain variable to change.
Procedure/Materials:
First, I made a chart of the weather variables that I would be using. These were minimum and maximum temperatures, average humidity in percent, dew point temperature, and pressure. The dates I decided to use were of the entire month of October 2013. Then, using the internet, …show more content…
I recorded all of the data for the chart for the month. An online weather radar service has all of the necessary information. Once the data was all charted, I made graphs of them. To do this experiment, the materials needed are a computer with internet, MS Excel (or equivalent software), and a printer.
Results:
Throughout the month, the temperature generally decreased.
In the first week, the temperature slowly decreased, and the dew point increased. Then, the temperature and dew point kept decreasing, until halfway into the second week when the temperature kept decreasing but the dew point spiked up. Then, on October 17th, dew point and temperature met once again. From then, the temperature decreased a little, but the dew point dropped significantly. Suddenly, on the 30th, dew point shot up to equal the temperature. Every time that the dew point was near the temperature, there was a higher chance of precipitation. For example, on the 4th, 6th, 7th, 16th, and 30th, there was precipitation. On all of these dates, the dew point was close to the temperature. Also, the temperature trend was a decrease. This is probably because it was getting closer to winter and the angle of insolation was decreasing. The decrease probably was not very significant compared to inland cities because water retains its heat longer than land, and New York City is a coastal …show more content…
city. The humidity was changing very rapidly. Despite this, the relative humidity remained above 40% and under 90%. The relative humidity increased until the 6th of October when it spiked (88%) and fell until the 8th (50%) of October. Increased until the 10th (72%), and fell on the 12th (62%) The relative humidity increased to 75% on the 16th. On the 21st, the relative humidity went back down to 44%. It increased to 59% to the 22nd, then decreased to 40% on the 27th. Finally, it went up to 78% on the 31st. When the relative humidity is higher, there is more of a chance of rain. This is probably why it was raining on the 6th, 7th and 31st, when relative humidity was high or rapidly increasing. Precipitation was not very frequent in October, and the pressure was under 1030 hPa throughout the month.
The pressure dropped on the 7th, and there was 8 mm. of rain. The pressure then increased but dropped on the 10th. This repeated on the 17th, and there was some rain as well. The pressure increased and decreased in a cyclic pattern and then dropped on the 31st again. Then, there was 1.3 mm of rain. Since air in low pressure rise, it cools adiabatically the higher up it goes. Then, it can’t hold some of its water, and the water droplets condense into clouds. When these droplets get too heavy, they fall as rain or
precipitation. During the month of October, there were no storms or blizzards. However, there was a thunder storm north of New York City on the 7th of October. It missed most of the city, and there was not much rain, but there was a wind advisory in effect until 7:00 p.m. that night. In conclusion, many factors of the weather were dependent on other variables. A low pressure area usually brings rain, and higher relative humidity usually is related to precipitation. As months get closer to winter, temperature gets colder. Coastal cities do not have as large a range as most cities. Finally, when the dew point is closer to the temperature, then there is higher chance of precipitation.
Bibliography:
http://www.wunderground.com
(For all of the data graphed)