Internet Weather Forecasting Activity:

Notes and Suggestions


Prof. Jon Kahl

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How do I register my class for the Internet Weather Forecasting Activity?

You may register your class using the online registration page, www.uwm.edu/~kahl/Forecast/register.html. You will be asked for your name, email address, name and location of your school, and the way you'd like your class listed (for example, 'Mr. Crowley's 10th grade Earth Science class.)

How do my students participate?

1. Direct the students to the main web page for the forecasting activity (http://www.uwm.edu/~kahl/Forecast)

2. Have the students look up the current week’s forecasting location. This information is provided on the "Forecast Sites and Verification web page, http://www.uwm.edu/~kahl/Forecast/sites.html (a link is provided on the main web page).

3. Have the students inspect current weather data in order to formulate their forecasts. I’ve provided a link on the main web page to another page, ‘The Virtual Weather Map Room", containing a fairly comprehensive selection of weather charts and data (www.uwm.edu/~kahl/106/106_wx.html). Of course, the students need not use the Virtual Map Room. They could use weather data found on other web sites, from the newspaper, or from anywhere else that you feel is appropriate.
  1. Have the students return to the main web page and click on the appropriate link in the "Submit your Forecast" section. They will be taken to a "Forecast Preparation Page" containing a form to fill out for their forecast. Once a student clicks the "Submit forecast" bar at the bottom of this page, an email message will be composed and sent to the appropriate address (the one you gave me). If the forecast submission process is successful, the web browser will display a screen showing the text of the email message that was sent (this page can be printed out if desired). If the forecast was not submitted successfully, the student will get an error message.

  2. Two days after making a forecast the students can check the verification (the weather that actually occurred at the forecast location). The verification is posted on the"Forecast Sites and Verification web page, www.uwm.edu/~kahl/Forecast/sites.html (a link is provided on the main web page).

What if I want my students to forecast for a different city?

No problem. There is a place on the "Forecast Preparation Page" in which a student must specify the location for which they are forecasting. There is no requirement that this location be the same as the one I’m presently using for my University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students (i.e., the ones listed at http://www.uwm.edu/~kahl/Forecast/sites.html).

What if I want students from more than one of my classes to participate?

Again, no problem. Whenever a student submits a forecast using the "Forecast Preparation Page" assigned to you, the email message containing the student’s forecast will be sent to the address that you gave me. If you have multiple classes and you want each class’s forecasts sent to a different email address, that can easily be accommodated. Just register separately for each class using the online registration page, www.uwm.edu/~kahl/Forecast/register.html.

Please feel free to contact me with questions, comments, or problems!

Jon Kahl
Professor of Atmospheric Science
Department of Mathematical Sciences
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
P.O. Box 413
Milwaukee, WI 53201
Tel: 414-229-3949
Fax: 414-229-4907
Email: kahl@uwm.edu

Web: www.uwm.edu/~kahl

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