Meteorology B

[roxas]

hey i am in meterology for the first year. what do i need to know

[brobo]

There is a list of everything you kneed to know on the Rules. Ask your coach for them.
Also, read this thread. It has a lot of info on it, or try the Meteorology Wiki or the [wiki][/wiki]

[srsvball95]

So I found this question while taking a Meteorlogy test and I'm confused on the answer:

You are in New York City for New Year's and the time has just changed to the year 2000. What time is it in Zulu (Z) time?
a. 5Z JAN 01 2000
b. 18Z DEC 31 1999
c. 12Z JAN 01 2000
d. 0Z JAN 01 2000


So I would assume it would be D because Zulu is the 24 hour clock and if it just changed to 200 then that means that it is 12 AM or 0Z, right? However, the answer key says that it is A and I don't really understand why...

Here's the link to the test:

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/wxtest/test/

[robotman]

i agree that it would be D
but A would also technically be correct but would be on the assumption that it has to be after 0Z or 12 o'clock at night to be the new year

hopefully the proctor would count either correct

[srsvball95]

But 5Z means 5 AM so I understand what your saying. It couldn't be 0Z because it would have to be after.. Thanks

[brobo]

No, it would be A without a doubt, although I could see how someone could get confused. It's almost a trick question.

The Zulu time would be 5Z Jan 1, 2000, because Zulu time is based on GMT. NYC (where you would be) is in the Eastern time zone, which is GMT+5. If you were going by military time, then the answer would be 0Z Jan 1, 2000, but you have to add 5 hours to the time because of the time zone.
So, while it is midnight in NYC, it is 5 A.M. in Greenwich (which is where the GMT is based on), and that is why you say 5Z. When working with Zulu, base your time off of the GMT timezone.

Here's a guide that might help you: http://www.cfbw.com/utc.shtml

[brobo]

Sorry for the double post, but I'm a little confused about something I found on a test and I want it clarified.

On the METAR test (find it here: Meteorology Test Exchange) there is one question that asks about the pressure in milibars, and another that asks you to draw a Station Model. In the METAR, the SLP is 162, and thats confirmed in the Station Model (on the answer key). But the answer key says (for the question about the air pressure) that the air pressure is 30.02
Is this a typo, or am I missing something important?
Thanks.

EDIT: I hope that this question makes sense...

[robotman]

ok that was my fault question number nine should be

9.What is the Air Pressure in Inches of Mercury

and the Station Ball symbol pressure is also wrong the pressure should be 3002 instead of 162


thats what i get for doing it late at night >.>

[brobo]

But then how do you get from the 162 Sea Level Pressure in the METAR code to 30.02?
I just want to get this all straight before the competition next week

[robotman]

it seems that in the last year or two either the METAR has been slightly modified and I was still reading it as if it was the old way

the change is in how the pressure is listed it changed from listing the actual millibars to listing millibars to listing in.HG (inches of mercury) under the A tag

so for you to get the millibars needed in a station ball model you have to multiply the pressure of A times 33.863

so if a is equal to 30.53 (A3053) the actual pressure would be
30.53 x 33.863 = 1033.83 which is the pressure in mb

sorry about the confusion it was my fault for not making sure they didnt update it