European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Foffi. "1 v v a v by Ray Wrights a Ramstein Bureau chief from Afghanistan to Antigua an from Helsinki to Hong Kong meteorologists speak the same language a graphic numerical language with 99 sym Bols of stars oversized dots commas horizontal and vertical lines and other squiggles each assigned a number. Weather symbology it s called an laymen Are learning the Lingo through daily to presentations of weather map Sand their interpretations. The meteorologists devised the Paral Lel numerical code for transmitting weather reports around the  transmit numbers like a football quarterback calling signals 34 99 10 50 17," explained . John Mazzella 31st weather so 2nd weather Wing Ramstein air  course we would t transmit this collection of signals at one time because34 Means severe Sand storms 99, heavy thunderstorm with Hail at time of observation 10, Light fog 50, intermittent drizzle not freezing slight at time of observation and 17, Thunder heard Bueno precipitation at the  other code numbers attached to let ters indicate condition of Clouds Pas weather and barometric characteristics. Ii numerical system bypasses the stumbling Block of language differ  weathermen decode the numbers and make up their reports for custom ers which May include radio television and newspapers in addition to Prim customers such As the air Force and , who has been relaying weather information to of to audiences for three years explained the Symbol that most often pop up on the to  horizontal lines represent fog usually dense and Here in Europe often dense enough to obscure the sky com  lines also represent fog but they indicate shallow ground fog which maybe in patches or May be continuous. A drizzle Droplet is indicated by a enlarged comma. One comma Means intermittent Light drizzle. Two commas Side by Side show continuous Light drizzle. Three drizzle commas arranged in a Pyramid mean continuous moderate drizzle. It can wet you rather quickly even though the droplets Are Small Mazzella  one comma above the other and the symbols show that the  immoderate but Tennit Seiil. A Diamond shape of tour comma Means heavy continuous  and three vertical commas stand for heavy but intermittent Driz be. When a med bag of weather Pheno Mena is occurring at the same time the table of symbols provides Many combi nations. A Dot above a comma represents Light rain and drizzle. A Dot above Star represents Light rain and Snow. / three horizontal lines above a Sta mean fog and Snow occurring at the same time. Low pressure cells and High pressure. Areas Are spelled out in Layman s Lan Guage by Mazzella. A Low cell usually consists of contrasting warm and cold air. The air flow around a Low is counterclockwise inward and upward. It is the spiralling upward motion of air that brings on condensation thus Clouds and weather. High pressure cells consist of Cool or cold air that had its origin in the far North or May even form Over a Large body of cold water. "since1 the air is cold it is dense. Itis this very weight that makes the air want to seek a lower level. It does thisby gliding Down and spreading out. Such a situation allows for a drying out of the air. Thus with a High the Weathers usually sunny and Calm though not necessarily warm. I should add her that the sinking air of a High pressure cell acts As a Gigantic trap for All Man made  a cold front is merely the leading Edge of a Large mass of cold air that in replacing warmer air. Because a cold front has the shape of a snub nose i forces some of the warm air to Rise swiftly even violently. Because of this snub nose the weather band usually consists of the More violent weather such As rain showers thunderstorms showers of Hail and of course the Devil of them All the Tornado. A warm front is also a leading Edge of an air mass but this time it is warm air that is moving toward retreating old air. Because the warm air is lighter it is forced to make a Long  Over the cold air. The upper part of the warm front soften several Hundred Miles ahead of the warm frontal position on the  of this gradual rather than abrupt up Glide As in the cold front up Glide the Clouds Are usually thicker More widespread and the precipitation is in the form of continuous drizzle rain or Snow. Often it will rain for two or three Days because of the slowness of the warm front s movement. When we speak of an occlusion Weare merely referring to the fact that a cold front has merged with a War front and one of them has been forced to lose its position on the Earth s sur face and being forced upward will pro Duce precipitation and Clouds far ahead or behind the actual surface front Mazzella explained. While Mazzella has presented the bul of the weather forecasts on Ramstein to during his tour he is now assisted by . Bob Walsh who alternates with him. Mazzella emphasizes that be Hind the presentation lies a tremendous amount of weather plotting map analysis and satellite report interpretations by numerous members of the Safe forecast Center Ramstein. The to presentation is just one of the outlets for this valuable information he said. To watchers get the impression he enjoys this particular part of his Job. Foo Ricasa Center Page 16 weather expert Mazzella sketches a forecast in his meteorologists  the stars and stripes sunday april 21,