Throughout the Mid South Area field trip, students will observe and record weather information. Weather readings will be made at least three times a day. Once in the early morning, once around noon and once in the late evening. In addition, students should record information at any other time of the day which might prove to be an interesting comparison with the normal readings. For example, much of our tour will be spent in the city of Memphis, however a significant amount of time will also be spent in rural areas both north and south of Memphis and in the suburbs of Memphis. It might prove interesting to record and compare data from two significantly different locations.

Students should record the following data:

•  high and low temperatures
•  precipitation
•  cloud cover and type
• wind speed
• relative humidity
• heating degree days

In addition, students should record any weather information which they perceive to be unusual or noteworthy. At the end of the week, students should neatly record this information in table format. Students should then compare their data to that of the National Weather Service's climatological data for the Mid South. Finally, students should discuss, in narrative form, their findings for the week compared to the "norm", should discuss any of the interesting comparisons made throughout the week and should discuss any unusual weather.

One possible weather condition that might be considered unusual by some visitors from other parts of the country are thunderstorms. But native Memphians and people from the southeast in general are fairly accustomed to thunderstorms especially in the late afternoon during the warm months of the year (spring, summer, and fall). In fact, most of the southeast United States averages 50 days per year of thunderstorms. It is possible that we will experience this climatological fact while we are observing the weather during our tour. For more information about thunderstorms and their formation, follow this link to "Thunderstorms".

Thunderstorms Return to the Mid South Area trip.

Questions/Comments?

National Weather Service, Climate Report (July 2003), as Retrieved from the World Wide Web, (July 21, 2003).

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