Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms
Daily and Seasonal Weather

Understanding Total Monthly Precipitation 

Meteorologists record the type and amount of precipitation that falls each day. That data is helpful for predicting what type and how much precipitation might fall at a certain place.

So, if your location gets snow in the winter, your community will have snowplows to clear snow off the roads. A place that does not expect snow will likely not have snowplows.

This map shows the total amount of precipitation in the United States for the entire month of April 2019.
A map of the United States is titled “January 2019 Total Precipitation.”
Colors on the map show the total amounts of precipitation. The key is a color bar that is divided into eight equal units; each unit represents 1 inch of rain, and the range is from 0 to 8 inches. The key progresses from white (no precipitation), to shades of green and blue, to the darkest blue, which represents areas that received 8 or more inches of precipitation for the month. The darker blue areas with 6 to 8 inches of precipitation are along the west coast, the northeast states, and some inland southeast states. Shades of green and lighter blue representing two and a half to 4 inches surround those darker blue areas on the right half of the country and some patches appear on the left half. Less than an inch of precipitation is mostly down the middle of the country.

Click Visualize It to practice using the Total Monthly Precipitation Map.

Interpret

1. What area of the country had 6 or more inches of rain?

2. Describe another area of the country where total monthly precipitation is different. Make sure your answer includes the amount of precipitation and the area.

Produced by

Notice that the title and the colorbar describe the kind of data shown on the map. Circle the areas that had 6 or more inches of precipitation.