Meteorology

Meteorology is a weather-based event designed to give students a basic understanding of the weather and an understanding of why the "weatherman" is always wrong. Its topic changes every year between Climate, Everyday Weather, and Severe Storms. A basic knowledge of fronts and air systems, among other common Meteorology topics, is suggested for every year. It is currently only an event in Division B, and no equivalent exists for Division C.

The event is designed for up to 2 people. You are allowed one Cheat Sheet to bring at the competition.

Event Rotation
The topic of Meteorology changes from year to year.

Basic Meteorological Information
Although the topic for Meteorology changes from year to year, one should know certain information that serves as a basis for understanding the specifics of each topic.

The Atmosphere
For more information about the Atmosphere, such as its origins and its relation to local wind patterns, please see Meteorology/Everyday Weather and Meteorology/Climate.

Instruments and Diagrams
For more information about meteorological instruments and diagrams, see Meteorology/Everyday Weather.

Resources
The event does not allow any resources during competition, except for a piece of paper with notes (written/typed/double-sided etc.) and a non graphing calculator. This new rule change is because of the scandal that occurred at Nationals one year where one team wrote down all the questions on the test in their database and gave the database to another team (obviously presenting a problem).

Personal resources for studying prior to the competition are not restricted. You should have some sort of Meteorology textbook that has information about all three topics, so you can use it even after the topic changes. Other, more specific and advanced textbooks can also be useful to experienced participants. A useful tactic for studying is looking up topics on Google to get familiar with some subjects before going more specific. Wikipedia is also useful for this purpose.

Making Your Cheat Sheet
For information about making a cheat sheet, please see Cheat Sheet.

Test Format
A Meteorology test usually is in the form of a written test or a PowerPoint with slides on it. Occasionally, a test may come in the form of stations that each team rotates between. In the written test, it is generally a good idea to split it if possible, so each person has less work to do, and you can spend time reviewing later on. Also, if time is a tiebreaker, that can be used to your advantage. Unfortunately, in the other formats, this cannot be done, but all other teams have the same disadvantage. As long as you are able to answer all of the questions in an educated fashion, your prospects are pretty bright.

Links

 * NOAA Weather Education
 * JetStream Online School for Meteorology