The Thermometer

• In the simplest terms, a thermometer is used in weather forecasting by measuring temperature. The name is made up of the two words: "thermo" meaning heat and "meter" meaning to measure. Forecasters use information from a thermometer to predict temperatures in the near future and the potential for weather change.
  
  This devise to measure air temperature is a basic weather instrument. It also measures atmosphere heat. Temperature is measured by gauging movement of molecules that make up the atmosphere. The faster they move, the more the temperature increases. A thermometer should not be placed in direct sun, because it will distort the results.
  
  

Uses

• Temperature forecasts are important to the agriculture industry and utilities. Farmers depend on the weather for crop success: when to plant and when to harvest the crop. Also, utility companies can use this information to determine the demand on services that is to come. People use the weather forecast and temperature forecast in everyday life to plan their day, including what to wear. Meteorologists use thermometers as well as other instruments to determine air pressure, wind speed and precipitation, in order to predict the weather.
  
  

Weather Forecasting

• Weather forecasting is simply the use of scientific instruments to predict the weather. Those instruments include the thermometer, trend knowledge by experts, barometer and mathematical forecast models. Forecasters measure barometric pressure, temperature and atmospheric data and combine this information to predict the weather forecast. Most weather forecasts can be trusted up to 5 days into the future; beyond that, atmospheric conditions can't be read with certainty.