Road Trip Across Country: Experiencing Different Weather Zones - Essay Sample

The weather has impacted my life on numerous occasions; however, the week my friends and I decided to take across country trip throughout the country on our college summer break. The journey involved traveling from the east coast to the west coast by road. The journey was to start in Florida and end in California while having various stops in between for sight-seeing. The journey was long, and it would have us cross different state lines and, more importantly, crossing different weather zones. As a result, it was important for us to effectively understand the weather conditions of the areas we were planning on visiting. Understanding the weather conditions would be vital for us in planning for the right materials to buy and carry. We turned to the local meteorologist report of each of these places, and it was the summertime, established that the conditions would be rather warm; therefore, there was no need to carry heavy articles of clothing. To our surprise, a majority of these meteorological reports were inaccurate for some states, whereby we encountered harsh weather conditions such as rain. In some areas, the weather was too cold that we were required to purchase warm clothes and continuously rely on the car’s air conditioning.

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There are numerous aspects to consider when planning out a successful day of traveling. The weather is perhaps the most important factor in these plans. For an almost accurate estimation of the weather condition of a particular day, most people rely on their general understanding of the weather patterns of a given area. Depending on the weather condition the previous day, one can almost certainly predict how the following day’s weather will turn out; however, these predictions are often wrong. For a better analysis of the weather, people tend to rely on daily meteorologist reports from local or national television and radio stations.

These meteorologist records come from professional meteorologists whose primary job is to utilize various equipment and tools to collect and sample data of the weather and attempt to successfully predict weather patterns on a daily, weekly or annual basis. Throughout the years, the roles of a meteorologist, however, have continued to be increasingly criticized for providing inaccurate predictions despite an increase in the innovation of technology used to collect and sample data of the weather (Alley, Emanuel, and Zhang, 2019). There are, however, numerous challenges that these professionals are currently facing that are making a successful prediction of the weather a more complex task than in previous years.

As mentioned, tracking weather patterns has vital when it comes to successfully predicting the weather; however, despite having more sophisticated methods of weather forecasting, meteorologists continue to predict it inaccurately. The answer lies in the models that the professionals utilize. In America, professionals use a medium-range approach. This approach utilizes various short-range prediction systems that operate hourly (Alley, Emanuel, and Zhang, 2019). The duration, mental focus, and costs are divided into different models. This approach is, therefore, often plagued with errors compared to the European models. The approach is, however, still useful in several key areas.

Weather tracking is important and should continue to advance. It aids people in avoiding adverse weather conditions such as extreme rainfall and winter storms, among others. These predictions not only save lives but also ensure that a state or city can effectively plan for its citizens (Compton, 2018). Despite advanced technology, professionals admit that weather prediction is based on numerous years of experience with different models as well as human intuition.

References

Alley, R. B., Emanuel, K. A., & Zhang, F. (2019). Advances in weather prediction. Science, 363(6425), 342-344. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6425/342.summary

Compton, J. (2018). When Weather Forecasters Are Wrong: Image Repair and Public Rhetoric After Severe Weather. Science Communication, 40(6), 778-788. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1075547018799101