NAME: __________________________ SS#: ____________________________ Grade: ___________/20

This assignment is optional. If you want to replace a missing assignment, or if you feel you have several bad homework grades, I will use this assignment to replace those grades. If you have any questions on your grades, just e-mail me . This assignment will be all or nothing. I will not give any partial credit.

Here is another METAR report to decode. You will be seeing METAR code again later in your classes and it doesn't hurt to have more practice with it. The following observations comes from Tallahassee, Florida near the end of the game where FSU beat up on the Florida Gators!

METAR Code

KTLH 010353Z 29007KT 10SM CLR 11/09 A3004 RMK AO2 SLP172 T01060094 $=

1. What is the dewpoint temperature to the nearest tenth of a degree Celsius?

2. What is the air temperature to the nearest tenth of a degree Celsius?

3. Convert the air temperature to degrees Kelvin.

4. What is the altimeter setting for Tallahassee, FL? (Include the correct units)

5. Convert the altimeter setting to millibars.

Surface Station Plots

6-9. (4 pts) Take the METAR report for Tallahassee, FL and create a surface station plot. I am looking for 8 specific items and each is worth a 1/2 point. I want temperature and dewpoint (remember the proper units for a surface plot), cloud cover conditions, sea level pressure, the wind speed, the wind direction, the station ID, and the special weather conditions symbol if anything interesting is occuring.

Numerical Models

10. If you had a model whose grid spacing was 15km (ie: the distance between one grid point to the other is 15km), would the model be able to accurately resolve (see) a feature that may only cover a few square miles, like an isolated thunderstorm? (Yes or No)

11. Why did you give the answer you did for question 10?

Radars

12. What does a standard radar (not a Doppler radar) measure to make observations of precipitation?

13. What are two disadvantages to radars when trying to observe more distant targets?

Random Questions

14. Lets say that the Sarkeys Energy Center is out in the middle of a vast field. (Not far from the truth right now, but we're going to assume no obstructions). Also, lets say that Sarkeys has about 15 stories above ground and is around 150 feet high. How far away would I need to place an anemometer in order that Sarkeys would not influence the readings?

15. For a tropical system to be classified as a hurricane, its winds must be 75 miles per hour or greater. How fast is that in knots?

16. If you are looking at a 500 mb upper air chart, and the station you are looking at has a height of 574, how many meters is that?

17. What is convergence?

18. What is divergence?

19. If there is convergence at the suface, what does this tell you about the upward motion of the air?

20. How is propagation different than advection?