Honestly, I may be getting ahead of details in order to cover weather forecasting. My intent is to expose maps, charts, and information then refer back to these as knowledge improves. Most of the maps and charts are not particularly challenging to read. The challenge is taking all of these different data sets and trying to create a single unified picture of weather and predict how weather will change over the next 48-96 hours.

Create a Weather Journal. Refer to weather maps and charts as entries are made in the weather journal. Mixing these two forms of weather observations together will help you fully appreciate local and regional atmospheric changes, and may help you develop a better sense of changing weather conditions, perhaps resulting in making you a decent prognosticator of weather.

Weather forecasting can be as much “art” as science. No two meteorologists may arrive at the same weather forecast. Maps derived from data collected at weather stations are examined, and look at pressure maps collected at 850mb, 700mb, 500mb, and 300mb-200mb will also be covered.