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Properties of the Atmosphere
Meteorological Measurements
Weather Maps
Forecasting and Simulating Severe Weather
Atmospheric Stability
Forces and Force Balances
The Development of High- and Low-Pressure Systems
Airmasses and Fronts
Extratropical Cyclones Forming East of the Rocky Mountains
Extratropical Cyclones Forming Along the East and Gulf Coasts
Freezing Precipitation and Ice Storms
Lake Effect Snowstorms
Cold Waves
Great Plains Blizzards
Mountain Snowstorms
Mountain Windstorms
Thunderstorms
Tornadoes
Hailstorms
Lightning
Downbursts
El Niño, La Niña, and the Southern Oscillation
Tropical Cyclones
Floods
Drought
Heat Waves

Weather Maps

850mb Charts - 850mb maps show the conditions in the lower troposphere. This animation shows the temperature (color contours) and height contours (white lines). Strong changes or gradients in temperature are typically indicative of frontal boundaries - along which significant weather may develop.

Department of Atmospheric Sciences Severe and Hazardous Weather at Department of Atmospheric Sciences University of Illinois