Barometric Pressure (top)

The weight of the air that makes up our atmosphere exerts a pressure on the surface of the earth. This pressure is known as atmospheric pressure. Generally, the more air above an area, the higher the atmospheric pressure. This, in turn, means that atmospheric pressure changes with altitude. For example, atmospheric pressure is greater at sea-level than on a mountaintop. To compensate for this difference in pressure at different elevations, and to facilitate comparison between locations with different altitudes, meteorologists adjust atmospheric pressure so that it reflects what the pressure would be if measured at sea-level. This adjusted pressure is known as barometric pressure.

Barometric pressure changes with local weather conditions, making barometric pressure an important and useful weather forecasting tool. High pressure zones are generally associated with fair weather, while low pressure zones are generally associated with poor weather. For forecasting purposes, the absolute barometric pressure value is generally less important than the change in barometric pressure. In general, rising pressure indicates improving weather conditions, while falling pressure indicates deteriorating weather conditions.

Dew Point (top)

Dew-point is the temperature to which air must be cooled for saturation (100% relative humidity) to occur, providing there is no change in water content. The dew-point is an important measurement used to predict the formation of dew, frost, and fog. If dew-point and temperature are close together in the late afternoon when the air begins to turn colder, fog is likely during the night. Dew-point is also a good indicator of the air’s actual water vapor content, unlike relative humidity, which takes the air’s temperature into account. High dew-point indicates high vapor content; low dew-point indicates low vapor content. In addition a high dew-point indicates a better chance of rain and severe thunderstorms. You can even use dew-point to predict the minimum overnight temperature. Provided no new fronts are expected overnight and the afternoon Relative Humidity ³ 50%, the afternoon’s dew-point gives you an idea of what minimum temperature to expect overnight, since the air is not likely to get colder than the dew-point anytime during the night.

Heat Index (top)

The Heat Index uses the temperature and the relative humidity to determine how hot the air actually "feels." When humidity is low, the apparent temperature will be lower than the air temperature, since perspiration evaporates rapidly to cool the body. However, when humidity is high (i.e., the air is saturated with water vapor) the apparent temperature "feels" higher than the actual air temperature, because perspiration evaporates more slowly.

Humidity (top)

Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. The higher the temperature, the greater the number of water molecules the air can hold. "Relative humidity" describes the amount of water in the air compared with how much the air can hold at the current temperature. For example, 50% relative humidity means the air holds half the water vapor it is capable of holding.

Temperature Humidity Wind (THW) Index (top)

The THW Index uses humidity, temperature and wind to calculate an apparent temperature that incorporates the cooling effects of wind on our perception of temperature.

Wind Chill (top)

Wind chill takes into account how the speed of the wind affects our perception of air temperature. Your body warms the surrounding air molecules by transferring heat from your skin. If there’s no air movement, this insulating layer of warm air molecules stays next to your body and offers some protection from cooler air molecules. Wind disperses this layer of warm air, causing the air temperature to "feel" colder. The faster the wind blows, the quicker the layer of warm air is dispersed, and the colder you feel. Above 76.7ºF (24.8ºC), wind movement has no effect on the apparent temperature.