How to read Hodographs: Page 3
Back to page 2 Go on to page 4--from Paul's 115 notes packetBack to the 188 notes page

hodograph image--Nexlab
This is the actual hodograph that was plotted using the data that is explained on page 2. To make things easier, the winds from the surface up to 700 millibars are indicated with a blue line. The winds from 700 millibars through 300 millibars are in yellow and the winds above 300 millibars are white. The dots are the actual wind velocities (the direction and speed). The little numbers by the dot represent the pressure level at which this wind velocity was located (i.e. 7 = 700 millibars, 3 = 300 millibars).

Here is an example of where the 700 millibar wind is located on this hodograph, using a wind vector.

Each circle represents 10 knots of wind speed. The further a dot is placed from the center of the hodograph, the faster the wind speed. This example shows the placement of the 30 knot circle with a light dashed blue line. Anything outside of that line must be greater than 30 knots. Notice the 500 millibar windspeed (marked with a yellow 5) is inside the 30 knot circle, but beyond the 20 knot circle. It's closer to the 20 knot line. You can assume the speed is somewhere in the 21-23 knot range (the acual speed was 22 knots).