Sesson 2: Forecasting

Key Idea

Scientists record the high temperature each day. At the end of a month, this creates a large set of data. It can be hard to understand the weather for the whole month just by looking at a long list of numbers.

A simple way to describe all this data is to find its temperature range. The range is the spread between the lowest daily high and the highest daily high for that month. This single description helps summarize what the temperature was like over many days.

Key Idea

Besides temperature, another part of weather is precipitation. This is the rain or snow that falls from the sky. Scientists keep track of how much precipitation a place gets each day.

To find the pattern for a whole month, all the daily amounts of rain and snow are added together. This gives a total amount of precipitation. This number helps describe the weather for that month in that location.

Key Idea

By looking at weather data from many days, scientists can find a pattern. A pattern shows what the weather is usually like in a certain place. For example, the temperatures in a city might usually stay within a specific range during the month of July.

This known pattern helps scientists make a prediction about what the weather might be like in the future. This type of prediction is called a forecast. A forecast does not have to name one exact temperature. Instead, it tells what temperatures are likely to happen based on the pattern.