Describe the factors that influence the weather, and explain how meteorologists are able to predict changes in the weather.

Normally, climatic conditions become colder as altitude increases. "Life zones" on a high mountain reflect the changes, plants at the base are the same as those in surrounding countryside, but no trees at all can grow above the timberline. Snow crowns the highest elevations.

There are 3 major wind patterns found in the Northern Hemisphere and also 3 in the Southern Hemisphere. These are average conditions and do not essentially reveal conditions on a particular day. As seasons change, the wind patterns shift north or south. So does the inter-tropical convergence zone, which moves back and forth across the Equator. Sailors called this zone the doldrums because its winds are normally weak.