RWLO Educational Technology: Use Excel to create a Climatogram

Name:_________________________ Date:___________________________

Use Excel to create a Climatogram

INSTRUCTIONS:
A climatogram is a chart commonly used to graphically display both annual average
temperature (highs, lows, and averages) and precipitation information for a city or
region. Generally, it is based on 30 or more years of data. It has both bars and lines
plotted on two vertical axes (y axes) using annual temperature and precipitation data
with a single horizontal axis (x axis) displaying time labeled with each month of the year.
Both axes, typically precipitation on the left and temperature on the right, have
numerical values in degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius and inches or millimeters of
precipitation that generally do not match.

For this RWLO, you will download real climate data from your location using the Internet
and use Microsoft Excel or similar spreadsheet program to create a climatogram. Once
completed, you will make a recommendation regarding the "best" and "worst" time of
the year to visit your city.
A. Practice using a Climatogram: Rio de Janeiro
Climatograms are frequently included in travel books and tourism brochures so
interested visitors can select the "best" time of year to visit a certain location. Look at
the climatogram for Rio de Janeiro below. The blue bar graphs correspond to the
average monthly precipitation in inches and are plotted along the Primary left Y-axis.
The line graphs correspond to the average monthly high (red), mean (orange), and
low (yellow) temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit (F).

Copyright 2004 Stevens Institute of Technology 1

Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education, All Rights Reserved
RWLO Educational Technology: Use Excel to create a Climatogram

Based on the chart, answer the following questions:

1. Which month or months do you think are the "best" time of year to visit Rio de
Janeiro? Why?

2. Which month or months do you think are the "worst" time of year to visit Rio
de Janeiro? Why?

B. Create a Climatogram for your City

1. Download the Excel spreadsheet: This spreadsheet has already been
formatted for you. You will use this empty spreadsheet to create a climatogram
for your city.
climatogram.xls (13.5 KB) (http://www.rwlo.org/users/56/Use%20Excel%20to
%20create%20a%20Climatogram/Content%20Material/climatogram.xls)

2. Locate your City: Follow the directions below to locate your city.
a. Go to The Weather Channel web site (www.weather.com).

b. Enter the name of your city or zip code in the "Local Forecast" and click
the "Go" button. If you are not redirected to the exact location, select your
city from choices listed.

c. Scroll down below the Doppler Radar image to the "10-Day Forecast"
table and click the button.

d. You should now see a bar chart for the "Monthly Averages for [Your City]".
Just below the chart, scroll down until you see a table that lists the Months,
Avg. High, Avg. Low, Mean, Avg. Precip., etc.

e. Verify that the radio button for "English Units" is selected and proceed to
the next step.

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Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education, All Rights Reserved
RWLO Educational Technology: Use Excel to create a Climatogram

2. Enter the Data: You will now enter the monthly averages from the weather web
site for your city into the Excel spreadsheet as in the sample table below. Do not
enter the units of measurements (F, in., etc.), just the numerical values. Also,
don't forget to change "YOUR CITY" to the name of your city.

4. Create your Climatogram: Once you've entered all of the data in the excel
spreadsheet, PRINT and carefully review the following step-by-step instructions
for How to Create a Climatogram. This help file describes how to create a
climatogram using Microsoft Excel.
o How to Create a Climatogram
(http://www.rwlo.org/users/56/Use%20Excel%20to%20create%20a
%20Climatogram/Content%20Material/climatogram.shtml)

C. Analyze your Climatogram

Based on your graph, answer the following questions:
1. Which month or months do you think the "best" time of year to visit your city?
Why?

2. Which month or months do you think the "worst" time of year to visit your city?
Why?

3. Meteorologists and climatologists use climatograms to better understand the

general climate of a region. How do graphs help to communicate information
and make data easier to understand?

D. Extra-Credit
1. Add Record High and Record Low temperature lines using the climate data
from the weather web site to your climatogram.

Copyright 2004 Stevens Institute of Technology 3

Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education, All Rights Reserved