As a member of CWS, you will be making forecasts for the entire state of Pennsylvania. A necessary first step in successfully doing that is understanding the climatology of the region. This will help you to understand how weather patterns will change across the state. For instance, an easterly wind in Central Pennsylvania is forced to rise because of the terrain, and often brings clouds and maybe drizzle to State College. However, that same wind downslopes into Pittsburgh, so on the same day, the temperature difference between the two cities could be more than 10 degrees.

Southeast Coastal Plain and Piedmont Plateau
Ridge and Valley Province
Allegheny Plateau
Lake Erie Plain
Southwest Plateau

Climatological information provided by: Nese and Grenci, A World of Weather: Fundamentals of Meteorology, Second Edition, 1998.

Please send comments and questions about this module to Anneliese Sherer