What Makes The Air Turn Cold?

We live in an "ocean of air." The temperature of the air can vary from place to place. When the temperature is high we say the weather is "warm," when it is low, we say it is "cold."

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There are several different ways the air in an area can change temperature. List at least two ways the outside air can become colder. Be sure to list specific causes. Discuss your list with your classmates.

Input your consensus below:

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Atmospheric air can move from one location to another. For an activity in which you will look at actual weather reports from the day of the snowstorm, go to Weather Observations For December 18, 1990.

Cold And Warm Air Masses On The Move is an experiment on air movement. You will need a refrigerator and a candle for this activity.

You may be interested in making weather plots in a systematic manner. We call this "plotting the weather map." To learn about how this can be done, go to Developing A Plotting Method.

Now compare your ideas with the way that a meteorologist uses to plot the weather map. The Standard Plotting Method shows an example of the standard plotting "model" a meteorologist uses.

[TO DO]

Why did the air turn cold in the Puget Sound area on December 18, 1990? What was the source of the cold air?

Go to the "Where Did The Moisture That Turned Into Snow Come From?" page.

Return to the "What Makes It Snow?" page.