How do meteorologists predict the weather?
Weather forecasting is an inexact science, and many different methods are used in combination to make a prediction. The “climatology method” averages weather statistics gathered over many years for a specific region to make a prediction, but it only works when the weather pattern is similar to what is expected for the chosen time of year. Taking it to the next level, meteorologists examine a forecast and then look to a day in the past where the conditions were very similar — and then predict that the current weather is expected to behave like that. However, tiny differences in conditions can make big differences in the actual weather. Radar systems send a signal — usually microwaves — towards an object or region, and then analyze how long it takes for the signal to be reflected back. Those results can reveal valuable information about the weather. WHAT IS DOPPLER RADAR: Doppler radar uses a well-known effect of light called the Doppler shift. Just as a train whistle will sound highe
