What's the Weather?
Data Story
Examine and ask questions about weather patterns observed in a NWS Doppler radar map from November 2017.
Welcome to this Tuva data story! Do you ever see white golfball-like domes like the one on the left? Many of these are Doppler radar deployed by the National Weather Service. The radar’s radio waves bounce off of moisture droplets, which allows the NWS to detect and track where rain clouds are and where they are moving. From the reflected signal, the radar interprets where the areas with the largest moisture droplets are, which is shown by the dBZ scale in the map below. This map is for 8:18 am EST, on a day in November, 2017. There are over 150 radar in the U.S. National Weather Service network. In this data story, you will examine and ask questions about weather patterns observed in this map. Click Next to get started!
Topics and standards: Science, Proportion, Earth Science, Weather, Atmosphere, Scale, MS-ESS2-5, ESS2.D, HS-ESS2-2, Weather & Climate, Developing & Using Models, Patterns, Grades 9-12, Grades 6-8, Quantity, Notice-Think-Wonder, Ice, Air, TEKS Science 8.10.B, TEKS Science EARTH.6.B, TEKS Science EARTH.8.H, TEKS Science EARTH.9.B, TEKS Science EARTH.9.C, TEKS Science EARTH.12.F, TEKS Science ENV.5.C, TEKS Science ENV.9.A, 6-ESS2-7, 3.3.6-8.J, 3.3.9-12.H