What’s on the Reading the Weather poster
A 7-row table: Cloud · Height · Means.
Clouds are named by height and form. Their sequence is what forecasts.
- Cirrus — High, wispy — Change within 24 hours
- Cirrostratus — High, veil — Rain in 12–24 hours
- Altostratus — Mid, grey sheet — Rain approaching
- Nimbostratus — Low, dark — Steady rain now
- Cumulus — Low, puffy — Fair, if they stay small
- Cumulonimbus — Towering anvil — Storm — take shelter
- Stratus — Low, flat — Drizzle or fog
Falling pressure means unsettled weather coming; rising means settling. The rate matters more than the number.
Questions about the Reading the Weather poster
- What’s on the Reading the Weather poster?
- A 7-row table: Cloud · Height · Means. Clouds are named by height and form. Their sequence is what forecasts. Cirrus — High, wispy — Change within 24 hours; Cirrostratus — High, veil — Rain in 12–24 hours; Altostratus — Mid, grey sheet — Rain approaching; Nimbostratus — Low, dark — Steady rain now; Cumulus — Low, puffy — Fair, if they stay small; Cumulonimbus — Towering anvil — Storm — take shelter; Stratus — Low, flat — Drizzle or fog. Falling pressure means unsettled weather coming; rising means settling. The rate matters more than the number.
- Who is the Reading the Weather poster for?
- Reading the Weather belongs to the Practical skills section rather than to a school year, because life skills is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning outdoors can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Reading the Weather poster?
- Cloud height and direction of change matter more than the shape at any single moment. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Reading the Weather belongs on the wall where that life skills work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Reading the Weather?
- Building a Fire, Six Knots and Foraging Safety sit alongside Reading the Weather in the Practical skills section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Building a FireSix KnotsForaging Safety
- Is the Reading the Weather poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Reading the Weather downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Practical skills section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Reading the Weather poster print at?
- Reading the Weather is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Reading the Weather loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Reading the Weather on the same wall.
Browse every Practical skills poster, or start from the full catalogue.