Understanding Weather
A comprehensive, institution-grade exploration of weather and atmospheric behavior — designed to build deep intuition, structured vocabulary, and system-level understanding.
Flagship Curriculum Living Program Coming Soon: Lessons + DiagramsThis page is the master index and program map. It will continue expanding with lesson pages, diagrams, checklists, guided labs, and reference material.
Program Contents
Coming soon: each section above becomes its own dedicated page, with diagrams, labs, quick checks, and “what to notice” lists that train intuition.
Welcome & How This Works
This curriculum is built to teach weather as a system. Every chapter is designed to be: clear, visual, structured, and usable in the real world. You can study linearly or follow a track.
Beginner Friendly
Start from scratch with clear language, strong examples, and progressive depth.
Institutional Structure
Organized like a formal program: foundations → methods → systems → synthesis.
Built to Grow
New lessons, diagrams, labs, and references will be continuously added.
Learning Paths
Beginner Track
- Foundations → Building Blocks → Moisture → Clouds → Wind → Systems
- Goal: build “why” intuition and basic weather literacy
- Coming Soon: guided weekly plan + practice prompts
Intermediate Track
- Energy balance → stability → vertical motion → precipitation → systems
- Goal: understand processes well enough to explain outcomes
- Coming Soon: mini problem sets and guided data interpretation
Advanced Track
- Scale interaction → persistent patterns → uncertainty → case studies
- Goal: integrate signals, build structured reasoning, develop pattern thinking
- Coming Soon: annotated events + structured analysis templates
Foundations of Weather
Weather emerges from imbalance: energy differences across space and time create motion, moisture transport, and evolving systems.
- What weather represents: state variables and change
- Why weather is dynamic: gradients, mixing, adjustment
- Why “pattern recognition” matters more than memorizing terms
- Coming Soon: “How to look at the sky” observation primer
Atmospheric Building Blocks
These are the fundamental pieces that explain most weather outcomes. Every advanced topic relies on these basics.
Temperature
Heat content, gradients, and their role in motion.
Pressure
Weight of air, gradients, and why winds form.
Density
Why air rises, sinks, and stratifies.
Moisture
Water vapor, saturation, and phase change energy.
Forces
What accelerates air and what resists motion.
Time
Rates, persistence, and why timing matters.
Coming soon: each card above becomes a dedicated “core concept” lesson with diagrams and quick checks.
Energy & Heat Transfer
- Radiation: absorption, reflection, emission
- Conduction vs convection: how heat moves
- Energy balance: why some days “snap” colder or warmer
- Coming Soon: day/night cycle explained with diagrams
Moisture & Phase Processes
- Humidity types: absolute, relative, mixing ratio
- Saturation and dew point
- Latent energy: why phase changes drive weather
- Coming Soon: “moisture without confusion” primer
Clouds: Formation & Meaning
- Condensation: how clouds form
- Cloud types as signals of structure
- Vertical development and what it implies
- Coming Soon: visual field guide + annotated photos
Precipitation Processes
- Droplet growth vs ice growth
- Why rain can fall from “thin” clouds
- Why snow can occur with minimal moisture
- Coming Soon: precipitation mechanisms explained with diagrams
Wind & Flow
- Pressure gradients and acceleration
- Surface friction and boundary layer behavior
- Terrain effects: channeling, rotor, gap winds
- Coming Soon: wind patterns guide + “what to expect” lists
Stability & Vertical Motion
- Stable vs unstable layers
- Why some days feel “suppressed” and others “active”
- Lift: mechanical, thermal, and large-scale
- Coming Soon: vertical structure diagrams and examples
Weather Systems
- Air masses and transitions
- Organized circulation patterns
- Persistence and breakdown: why patterns “stick”
- Coming Soon: system archetypes library
Scale & Interaction
- Local vs regional effects
- Vertical coupling across layers
- Multi-scale interaction and “stacking signals”
- Coming Soon: concept map and guided exercises
Observation & Measurement
- What to measure: temperature, pressure, moisture, wind
- How to observe the sky with purpose
- Why “trends” matter more than single values
- Coming Soon: observation checklist + practice logs
Data Literacy
- Reading time series
- Interpreting gradients
- Understanding uncertainty
- Coming Soon: “how to read weather charts” guide
Case Studies Library
Coming Soon: deep breakdowns of real events with annotated patterns, signals, timelines, and “what mattered most” summaries.
- Coming Soon: event timeline templates
- Coming Soon: “signal stacking” analysis framework
- Coming Soon: annotated regional pattern examples
Glossary & Dictionary
This glossary is intentionally designed to support the curriculum structure. It will expand continuously. Each term is defined in plain language first, followed by deeper context.
Core Terms (Start Here)
Coming soon: expanded glossary categories with 150+ terms organized by the curriculum sections above.