Pre-Reading Questions.

Look at the picture 3.1and answer these questions.

1. What can be seen in picture 3.1?
Suggested answer :Thailand Weather Forecast map.
2.When did the sun rise today?
Suggested answer : 6.06 A.M.
3.And when did it set?
Suggested answer : 6.22 P.M.
4.What is the highest temperature today?
Suggested answer : 34 °c.
5.The word “forecast” is means to …………..the weather in
the near future.
Suggested answer : predict .

Reading Passage
Now read the passage given below. You can look up the
meaning of the words in bold in the Vocabulary Study
Section that follows.

3.1 What is the weather forecast ?

weather the temperature and other conditions such as
sun, rain, and wind.
 forecast to make a statement saying what is likely to
happen in the future, based on the
information that you have now
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather describes conditions in the atmosphere at any
time or short period of time. Weather conditions can change
suddenly. Today may be warm and sunny, tomorrow may be
cool and cloudy. Weather conditions include rain, snow,
sleet, hail, fog, mist, sunshine, wind, temperature and
thunderstorms.
Climate describes surface and atmospheric conditions
over a longer time period or over a large geographical area.
The climate of an area is concerned with the average weather
conditions which are taken over a year or more. Climate
changes slowly, usually over decades, centuries and
thousands of years.
The effect of weather on our lives.
The weather affects us in many different ways. For
example, it affects our moods, what we wear, our leisure
activities and our mode of travel. Weather conditions can be
recorded over a period of time and at the same time the
effects the weather has on factors such as our mood can also
be noted.
Weather forecasting.
The observations are fed into the computer and used to
analyse the weather patterns at a particular time. Once the
analysis has been carried out, the computer produces a
forecast of the weather for specified times in the future. The
forecaster uses the output from the computer to produce
weather forecasts that are tailored to a wide range of
customers.

3.2 Observations
The many data sources used include ships, aircraft, oil
rigs, buoys and balloons, as well as manned land stations
around the world. Automation often assists or replaces the
human observer and can provide information from
inhospitable and remote areas. Information from remote-
sensing equipment, both on the ground and in space,
increasingly supplements and complements the conventional
systems.
Surface observations
Traditionally, meteorologists have relied upon
observations taken near the Earth's surface using instruments
(e.g. barometers, thermometers, anemometers and rain gauges)
and visual observations (e.g. cloud and weather type). These
surface observations are made at approved sites on land, and
from ships at sea.
Standard types of instruments are used, with observations
usually made at least every three hours, and in many cases
hourly. Over land in the UK there are 33 key observing
stations which are needed to define the broad-scale weather
patterns. They are manned by professional meteorologists,
with 12 making observations every hour, both day and night.
For weather observations at sea, the Met Office is indebted to
the crews of 400 vessels of the UK Voluntary Observing
Fleet and to observers on about 30 offshore drilling
platforms. This is part of a much larger scheme officially
involving around 6,500 ships from 53 nations, although the
real number is closer to 3,500 ships.
Upper-air observations
Important sources of upper-air information are the
balloon-borne instruments (known as radiosondes) which
provide information about the pressure, temperature and
humidity through the atmosphere. The radiosondes can reach a
height of over 20 km (66,000 feet); they are released twice a
day at the same time (midday and midnight UTC) all over the
world.
 Within the global network, the Met Office maintains six
sites in the UK. Two of these are fully manned while the
remaining four sites are equipped with autosondes, which are
released remotely. There are also Met Office radiosonde sites
in Gibraltar, St Helena and the Falkland Islands. Near the
UK, there is one fully manned site in the Irish Republic and a
variety of different sites in continental Europe. A type of
radar known as a Doppler radar is used to measure the winds
vertically through the atmosphere. When displayed over a
period of type, these Windprofiler data show the vertical
profile of wind above the site and how it changes with time.
A system for measuring the amount of water vapour in the
atmosphere is being developed, which is known as the
Ground-based GPS Network. This uses information from
Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) and about 150 stations are
envisaged.
 Vocabulary Study
temperatu a measure of how hot or cold a อุณหภูมิ
re place or thing is
condition the situation in which people เงื่อนไข สภาพ
live or work, especially the
physical things that affect the
quality of their lives
atmospher the mixture of gases that บรรยากาศ
e surrounds the Earth
sleet half-frozen rain that falls when แผ่นน้้าแข็งบนพื้ น
it is very cold ดินที่เกิดจากน้้าฝน
แข็งตัว
hail frozen rain drops which fall as ลูกเห็บ
hard balls of ice
climate the typical weather conditions in อากาศตามฤดูกาล
 a particular area
average the average amount is the อัตราเฉลี่ย
amount you get when you add
together several quantities and
divide this by the total number
of quantities
analyse to examine or think about วิเคราะห์
something carefully, in order to
understand it
data information or facts ข้อมูล
buoy an object that floats on the sea, ทุ่นลอยน้้า
a lake etc to mark a safe or
dangerous area
suppleme something that you add to ส่วนเสริม
nt something else to improve it or
make it complete
instrumen something or someone that is เครื่องมือ อุปกรณ์
t used to get a particular result
scheme an official plan that is intended แผนผัง แบบแผน
to help people in some way, for
example by providing education
or training
maintain to make something continue in บ้ารุง รักษาไว้
the same way or at the same
standard as before:
vertical pointing up in a line that forms ซึ่งตั้งฉากกับแนว
an angle of 90° with a flat ราบของขอบฟ้ า
surface
vapour a mass of very small drops of a กลายเป็ นไอ
liquid which float in the air, for
example because the liquid has
been heated:
radar a piece of equipment that uses อุปกรณ์ตรวจจับ
radio waves to find the position วัตถุท่อ
ี ยู่ไกลโดยใช้
of things and watch their วิธีสง่ วิทยุคลื่นสั้น
movement
 Recalling Information
1.Based from the first paragraph the difference between
weather and climate depend on what condition?
Suggested answer : Period of time and geographical area.
2. Is it true or false that weather describes conditions in the
atmosphere at any time or a short period of time?
Suggested answer :True.
3. Is it true or false that climate describes surface and
atmospheric conditions over a longer time or over a large
geographical area?
Suggested answer :True.
4. Does weather affect us in the way of our lives?
Suggested answer : Yes, in many ways.
5. Give me some examples, please.
Suggested answer : Our moods, what we wear, our freetime
activities and how we travel.
6. Do we use only source of information from air to analyse
the weather forecast?
Suggested answer : No.
7. Where are the data sources from?
Suggested answer : Air, land and water.
8. Give me some examples please.
Suggested answer : Ship, aircraft, oil rigs, buoys , balloons
and land stations around the world.
9. What do we call a type of radar that is used to measure
the wind vertically?
Suggested answer : Doppler.
10. From the last paragraph of the passage given is it true or
false that the ground-based GPS network is used to measure
the amount of water that falls to the earth?
Suggested answer : False.