Basically I'm not shy about a clinic, but I know I'm no expert either so I do not want to pass myself off as one.
In answer to your questions:
First I use both the Miramar and Vandenberg soundings to get some idea of the atmosphere near the coast. If there are big differences between Vandenberg and Miramar I will usually side more with the Miramar sounding unless a front is approaching, then the Vandenberg sounding would be more usable. If Miramar and Vandenberg are looking good I will look at the Las Vegas sounding to see how good the desert is looking. All three looking good indicates great conditions in the entire southland. So unless the wind is howling, go out and have fun.
Any other Skew-T charts (
like the ones here) other than these three are interpolated, but they are good estimates.
The numbers on the left are in
millibars (atmospheric air pressure is often given in millibars where "standard" sea level pressure is defined as 1013.25 mbar (hPa). They represent the atmospheric pressure throughout the atmosphere. As the height increases the pressure decreases. 900 = 3,000', 800 = 6,000', 650 = 12,000' and 500 = 18,000'. No need to go any higher because we are not allowed above 17,999'.
The
red line is the temperature profile as the balloon rises. Temperature scale is on the bottom. Higher temps are on the right and decreases toward the left. The
green line is the dew point. When the red line and green line are near each other clouds are likely to form. You'll usually see this on the Vandenberg sounding first as a front approaches.
I've edited the LV sounding from today to show you a very good lapse rate as shown on the sounding. This won't be typical of Sylmar, but if you ever see it look like this make sure your calling in sick on that day.
The BlipMap RUC (Rapid Update Cycle model) for 5/9/2006 shows the predicted height in agreement (somewhat) with the Skew-T.
![Image](http://chipmans.net/hg/files/5-9.png)