Maps & Charts - WTVM.com-Columbus, GA News Weather & Sports

Maps & Charts

In the weather business, we spend a lot of time doing analysis on maps that tell us different things about how the atmosphere behaves.  Some maps and charts tell us different things depending on what level of the atmosphere they are representing (temperatures, winds, vorticity, humidity, etc.).  We break these maps and charts down into two categories: "upper air" charts that deal with the atmosphere away from the surface of the Earth (broken down by pressure levels:  850 mb, 700 mb, 500 mb , 300 mb, and 250 mb being the main ones), and "surface" charts that deal with what is going on here on the ground (which includes rainfall, wind, and temperature forecasts among other things).  Soundings are a profile of the atmosphere obtained by weather balloons when they are relased twice a day.  They contain temperature, dewpoint, and wind data from the surface to the top of the troposphere, and are essential in severe weather forecasting.

Upper Air Maps and Charts Links:

Constant Pressure Level Analysis:

How to understand and interpret the different charts, courtesy Jeff Haby

850 mb analysis

700 mb analysis

500 mb analysis

300 mb analysis

250 mb analysis

200 mb analysis

Upper air analysis from the SPC

Sounding Sites:

All sounding sites from the College of Dupage

Sounding from Peachtree City (FFC)

Sounding from Birmingham (BMX)

Sounding from Tallahassee (TAE)

Surface Maps and Charts Links:

Current Surface Data:

Current Southeast surface map (with temperature, dewpoint, wind, and sky condition)

Current National surface map (with fronts)

National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) surface plots (pick a region)

Precipitation Forecasts: (from Hydrometeorological Prediction Center)

Day one QPF forecast

Day two QPF forecast

Day three QPF forecast

Fronts/Precipitation Forecasts: (from HPC)

12 hour forecast

24 hour forecast

36 hour forecast

48 hour forecast

Day three forecast

Day four forecast

Day five forecast

Day six forecast