Summary

A variety of upper-level maps are used in weather forecasting. In most of them, the winds are not shown directly, but the wind pattern can be inferred from the height contours: wind parallel to the contours, with lower heights to the left; strong winds where the contours are closer together and the gradient is large.

The maps include:

1. 300 mb maps: useful for locating jet streams and the motion of weather systems;
2. 500 mb maps: useful for inferring and tracking large-scale upward motion caused by vorticity advection;
3. 700 mb maps: useful for determining the strength and location of areas of upward and downward motion; and
4. 850 mb maps: useful for tracking air mass motion and large-scale temperature changes.

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