NWS Southern Region Skywatcher Chart

In 2003, 35,000 colorful charts were distributed to National Weather Service Forecast Offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico including the Virgin Islands.

These states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands comprise the Southern Region of the National Weather Service. The Skywatcher charts were distributed to middle and high schools in the Southern Region of the NWS.

Our purpose for this chart is two-fold. First, it is to provide your classroom with a long-lasting, colorful chart with useful information about different atmospheric phenomena to get students interested in looking up and observing the great variety of weather we experience.

Second, we are introducing the National Weather Service to you as your everyday source for weather information including the forecast for class field trips, an education experience for you and your students, and a source for important weather safety information to better protect you, your family and friends.

Following are some lesson plans to educate your students on how to navigate our main webpage and use this information; for work, for fun, for safety, for life. (These lesson plans are from JetStream - An Online School for Weather.

JetStream is a free resource for education about the hows and whys of our weather.) These lesson plans will take the student through key elements of the National Weather Service's Southern Region webpage. The information available from this website is applicable to any location in the Nation.

Forward Thinking

The student will obtain weather forecasts from across the nation and create their own weather forecast temperature map.

Ups and Downs

Using the Forecast-at-a-Glance webpage the student will obtain the hourly air temperatures and plot them on a graph enabeling them to see the daily temperature cycle.

If anyone can, Icon

Using the Forecast-at-a-Glance webpage the student will obtain their local forecast then create their own weather icons.

Head in the Clouds

The students will learn to identify different types of clouds using a CloudSpotter wheel they will make.