Step 1 – Thermometer: I’m assuming most people know what a thermometer is.  A thermometer measures the temperature.  This is helpful to understanding the conditions that could be present in the atmosphere and the types of precipitation that will fall.

Step 2 – Barometer:  A barometer is a tool that may be a little more foreign.  A barometer measures the air pressure.  This is crucial to storm chasers.  The pressure inside of a tornado is critical to furthering research.  If you know the pressure than you can predict what the weather is going to be.  The lower the pressure is the more likely rainy weather  and humidity is.  The bigger the pressure is the weather is more likely to be dry and sunny.

Step 3 – Sling Psychrometer:  I’m willing to bet no one knows what this tool is used for.  A psychrometer measures the relative humidity.  This tool looks like two thermometers stuck together.  You wet the cloth on the one end and then swing the instrument around a few times.  As you swing it the water will evaporate at a certain time which determines the relative humidity.

Step 4 – Rain Gauge:  This instrument is self explanatory.  This tool is used to measure the amount of precipitation that was received.  You place it in a specific area, and than you can see how much precipitation fell over a certain period of time.

Step 5 – Wind Vane:  This is also self explanatory.  A wind vane measures the wind direction, which is important to understanding tornadoes and weather to come.  As you’ve probably figured out, if the wind suddenly increases it is usually foreshadowing an incoming thunderstorm by using a wind vane you can tell what direction the storm is coming from.

Step 6 – Anemometer: An anemometer is used to measure wind speed.  This instrument is commonly attached to the roofs of storm chasers as they chase a storm.  For example, Reed Timmer has one of the roof of his armored tank, The Dominator, when they enter tornadoes the anemometer measures the wind speeds and helps classify the tornado and take measurements to help further research.  In the picture the anemometer is the tall instrument on the roof of his vehicle.

Step 7 – Hygrometer:  The last step is the hygrometer.  The hygrometer measures the the water vapor content of the air.  This tool measures humidity.  Humidity helps determine the kind of weather you should expect.

By using these steps and instruments, you will be able to take accurate weather measurements and be able to predict the weather for the day.  Taking weather measurements is crucial to the improvement of research.  Without these instruments, we would have a much harder time understanding what is going on in the atmosphere.