Nws Weather Information Air Caught Rain National Large

The National Weather Service (NWS) is part of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is an American governmental "agency" (large department). NWS provides weather "forecasts" (predictions, or statements about what will probably happen in the future) for the United States. NWS has a large "database" (a large collection of electronic information) about weather and it is available to the "public" (ordinary citizens) and other government agencies.

The NWS website at www.weather.gov has many maps and "up-to-the-minute" (updated, current) information about the weather. NWS "issues" (announces or provides) "warnings" (statements that make people aware of a danger and prepare them for it) during dangerous weather, like storms and hurricanes.

NWS "gathers" (collects or gets) information about the weather in many different ways. Some of the information comes from "satellites" (large piece of equipment that go around the planet and send information back to Earth). Other information comes from land-based "weather stations" (small buildings with many tools for measuring temperature, rainfall, wind, etc.).

NWS has a lot of information about historical weather "patterns" (the ways that things behave over time) for the nation, individual states, and local areas. It can be interesting to read about the highest and lowest temperatures for a particular area, or the "frequency" (how often something happens) of storms.

Finally, NWS has maps of "air quality" (how clean the air is), showing which states and cities have the worst "air pollution" (contamination of the air; air with many dangerous chemicals in it). It issues warnings when the air quality is too poor, telling people that they should stay at home on those days.