Temperature Trends

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Have you been to these places?
Death Valley
Antarctica
Washington State
Palau
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Weather Affects Everybody
Remember this?
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Have you experienced this?
Probably not in San Diego
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Have you seen a tornado?
Click on picture to play movie
Again, probably not in San Diego
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Where is this likely to happen?
Click on picture to play movie
http//www.noaa.org
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Where can you do this?
This is actually California!
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And the point is

• From fires
• to lightning
• to tornados
• to hurricanes
• to your local surf report

Weather affects all of ussometimes in dramatic
ways
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We live in a country where

• On any given day temperatures can vary by more
  than 100 degrees
• 80 in Key West, Florida and -40 in Kalispell,
  Montana
• Average rainfall in the same state (Hawaii) can
  vary from less than 6 inches per year up to
  nearly 500 inches per year

Pretty neat isnt it!
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But how much do we really know about
weather/climate?

• Perceptions of people from other countries of USA
  weather?
• Perceptions of people from USA of weather in
  other states?
• Perceptions of people about weather in other
  parts of the same state?

Why does everybody think Californians run around
in flip flops and bikinis all day long?
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The Big Question
At least the one we will be investigating
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How Do Climates Differ Across the Country?
San Francisco
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How Do Climates Differ Across the Country?
Colorado Springs
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How Do Climates Differ Across the Country?
Dodge City
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How Do Climates Differ Across the Country?
Norfolk
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Why investigate San Francisco, Colorado Springs,
Dodge City, and Norfolk?
Same Latitude
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What do we expect of the climate among these four
cities?

• All approximately 38 N latitude
• Expect approximately the same weather
• San Francisco and Virginia Beach near ocean
• Might expect similarities
• All relatively close to sea level (except
  Colorado Springs)
• Might expect similarities

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What do we expect of the weather among these four
cities?

• Pacific Ocean
• vs. Mountains (high elevation)
• vs. Plains (not near any body of water)
• vs. Atlantic Ocean
• So we might expect some differences

But what will the differences be?
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The Specific Questions
We will focus in on temperature trends only
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Temperature Trends of Four cities?

• Which city has the highest yearly average
  temperature?
• Which city gets hottest in the summer?
• Which city has the lowest yearly average
  temperature?
• Which city gets coldest in the winter?
• Why? Why? Why?

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What we need to do

• Find temperature data online
• Lets find average monthly temperatures for each
  city
• Use a spreadsheet to analyze our data
• Calculate yearly average for each city
• Create appropriate graphs of our data