Skew-T Revisited

The Skew-T log-p diagram, typically just called a Skew-T, is an amazing tool for understanding whats happening in the atmosphere at a given station. They are essential for understanding a precipitation regime or differentiating icing layers. Even after nearly three decades in meteorology I would find it almost impossible to understand an icing situation without this tool, and I often visualize the makeup of an environment with a sort of mental Skew-T image. I cant underscore how valuable these diagrams are once you get to know them.

Tim Vasquez

Tuesday, October 01, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The Skew-T log-p diagram is an essential meteorological tool that graphically displays atmospheric conditions, including temperature, dewpoint, pressure, and wind, at various altitudes above a station.
It's a specialized line graph plotting observed environmental data (temperature and dewpoint lines from weather balloons) and sometimes hypothetical parcel data, crucial for understanding phenomena like icing layers, precipitation regimes, and atmospheric stability.
Valuable for pilots and meteorologists, the Skew-T enables detailed flight planning and weather assessment by revealing insights into turbulence, cloud formation, and potential hazards throughout the atmosphere.

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In our September 2018 issue, Luca Bencini-Tibo gave us an excellent introduction to Skew-T log-p diagrams. In this article I’ll give you a short refresher and help link all of this with actual weather situations you might see.

The Skew-T log-p diagram, typically just called a “Skew-T,” is an amazing tool for understanding what’s happening in the atmosphere at a given station. They are essential for understanding a precipitation regime or differentiating icing layers. Even after nearly three decades in meteorology I would find it almost impossible to understand an icing situation without this tool, and I often visualize the makeup of an environment with a sort of mental Skew-T image. I can’t underscore how valuable these diagrams are once you get to know them.