A Meteorological Station. How Are the Whims of the Weather Forecast?

The weather has presented all of us with rather unpleasant surprises. Sudden downpours cause floods; in winter, moving about on the ice becomes dangerous; in May and June, late frosts destroy the fruit set on the fruit trees; and a summer holiday or a hike can be spoilt by thunderclouds. For members of many professions, it is important to know the weather's manifestations every day and every hour. Information about storms, snow and dust storms, fog, and precipitation is essential for pilots, sailors, and drivers. Information about frosts and rains is of interest to agricultural workers. It is interesting and useful for absolutely everyone to know the tricks of bad weather and the little gifts of that capricious lady, in order to plan their affairs, choose their clothes, and make the right decisions. One often hears: "The forecasters promise," but forecasters can only predict. A weather forecast is a production process consisting of several stages. At the start of compiling a forecast, meteorological technicians take measurements and observe the weather changes at a meteorological station.

 

The set of meteorological observations includes: atmospheric pressure, air temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction, the systems of condensation of water vapour, atmospheric phenomena, and vertical movements of air.

A weather station is a site on which special equipment and instruments are installed, as well as a building in which meteorological technicians process the information and transmit it to the hydrometeorological centre.

 

The processed readings, gathered from all the country's weather stations, are transmitted to the World Meteorological Organization.

Every 3 hours a specialist comes to the site and takes the readings. All the equipment is painted white to avoid heating by the sun.

Some stations operate on a reduced programme, but a thermometer is present at each of them. Some of the thermometers are inserted into the ground at various depths — thus the soil temperatures are measured.

In the psychrometric screen, installed at a height of 2 metres above the ground, are placed thermometers for measuring air temperature, a psychrometer and a hygrometer for measuring air humidity. A mercury barometer records the atmospheric pressure.

 

A weather vane, mounted on a mast, indicates the direction and force of the wind.

 

Precipitation settles in a vessel protected from the wind by metal petals.

 

In the winter period an ice-measuring stand with taut threads is used, on which the technicians measure the thickness and weight of wet snow, rime, and glaze ice.

 

The parameters of the cloud cover and the lower boundary of the clouds are determined.

 

On a special bed, cereal crops are sown in order to monitor the weather changes on ploughed and sown soil. Small meteorological points also exist in the open field for observing the synoptic situation.

 

At present, forecasters have learned to predict the weather for the current day with an accuracy of up to 90%. This is a high probability figure, for the weather's caprices depend on many factors, including human activity.

In order to forecast the weather for the coming days, one needs to have data on the variability of that wilful lady across the whole surface of the earth.