[Physics Class Notes] on Weather Pdf for Exam

• Weather is a mixture of day-to-day conditions of an atmosphere at a place with respect to humidity, temperature, wind and speed determine the weather of a place.

• It can be sunny, cloudy, cold or clear and most weather happens in the troposphere, the part of Earth’s atmosphere that is closest to the ground.

• A natural phenomenon  that maintains equilibrium in the atmosphere.

• It is different in different parts of the world and varies over minutes, hours, days and weeks.

• It also varies according to longitudes, latitudes and pressure differences. The disasters like cyclones, Tornadoes causing property loss or life loss are called severe weather conditions.

Types of Weather

Depending on the condition of the atmosphere, we named these conditions as the ‘weather’. 

It is of various types that are discussed below:

• Cold

• Cloudy

• Humid

• Rainy

• Sunny

• Hot

• Windy

• Stormy

• Hurricanes

• Cyclones

• Tornadoes

• Wet

• Dry

• Snow

• Typhoons

• Sand-storms

• Snow-storms

• Foggy

• Thunderstorm

• Sleet

• Wildfire

• Thundersnow

• Hail

• Blizzard

• Mist

• Avalanche

Elements of Weather

There are nine main elements or components (or parts) of weather that are discussed below:

These all are the important elements and they together describe the weather of any place at any given time.

Elements of Weather and Climate

There are many elements or components of weather and climate that describe the weather and climate of a geographical location at a given time that are discussed below:

List of Weather Conditions

There are six main components or list of weather conditions that are as follows:

These components together determine the weather of a given place at any given time.

List of Weather Seasons

There are five weather seasons namely,

• Winter

• Summer

• Autumn

• Spring

• Monsoon

Instruments Used to Measure Weather

Every physical quantity has a standard measurement (units or SI units). 

For measuring each quantity there is always something called an instrument that is required to measure its magnitude. 

Just like a line is measured by using a scale, body temperature by a thermometer, weight by a weighing machine.

Similarly, the weather is also measured by using an instrument.

There are various instruments to measure weather of a geographical location at a particular time.

Let’s discuss some common instruments:

An instrument that measures the wind speed.

It tells the direction of the wind.

It measures the relative humidity.

It measures the air temperature. 

When air around the tube heats up the liquid (of mercury or alcohol), the liquid rises up and that tube estimates the actual temperature.

An instrument to measure the humidity of the air.

It measures the amount of rain fallen over a time-period.

It measures the weather conditions high up in the atmosphere.

It captures photographs to track large-scale air motions taking place over the Earth’s surface from space.

Used by meteorologists to measure air pressure.

When the barometer readings rise up, it indicates dry and sunny weather.

When the barometer readings fall, it indicates rain and stormy weather.

It shows the atmospheric conditions over a large portion of the Earth’s surface.

The weather measurements are formatted in special format and transmitted to WMO (World Meteorological Organization) to help the weather forecast model.

Importance of Weather Recording

Weather forecasting is the process of predicting weather conditions through application of the principle of physics.

There are several reasons why it is important to record the weather that are as follows:

• The weather recording helps people make important decisions about various aspects of their day and their future activities. 

• In today’s time, people use instruments like thermometers and rain gauges  so that they are able to make their own measurements and predictions precisely about the daily weather, especially the temperature.

• Weather conditions can help people ascertain minor things like, “What clothes should I wear today?” to major things like, “Is it safe to travel on plane?”.

• Measuring the weather has become a lot more advanced. 

• Meteorologists are now able to warn people about bad weather that is approaching and that could have dangerous or disastrous consequences.

• Estimating the weather has the ability to aid people, businesses, farmers, transport systems and provide warning/ alerting systems.

• It is also important in determining an area’s climate, that implies measuring the weather over a lengthy period of time, for which weather measurements are constantly broadcast throughout the day on television and radio so that people are kept updated on changes.