So there is a question in the CPL MET exam to input the pressure of YPPH from the synoptic chart to the nearest hPa.
And YPPH is not even marked on the map. And as near as I can tell, there is no isobar line going over where I am pretty sure it is.
I know it's Perth airport, but where EXACTLY on the map I wasn't sure. I've never been to WA. The synoptic chart isn't exactly big on the screen.
So I used the middle value between the 1020 and 1012 isobar. (1016) which seemed to split the rough location.

Now I have a KDR for Synoptic Meteorology.

G'day dav,

Well that's a first for us. Your approach to the problem is correct (assuming you had Perth down towards the bottom left hand corner of WA) .It is reasonable to expect people to know roughly where the capital cities are, but to expect a student to eyeball the location and enter an estimated MSL pressure in an exam context is in my opinion inappropriate. What about foreign students? The assurance always was that local knowledge was not required in the exam...

Are you sure this is the synoptic question you missed in the exam and did you pass despite that? Looks like everyone needs to brush up on their geography before sitting the Meteorology exam

Cheers,

Rich

Hi Rich,
Ok thanks.
I can't be sure that is the synoptic one I failed. Another synoptic one was
"What will the wind be do after taking off from YMML"
Combo answers of: increase/decrease/veer/back

But they never said which direction you are heading (north, south east or west)
So there was a Low south of YMML with less spacing between isobars so stronger wind, and north of YMML
there was a high so they were further apart.

As far as I know, it was 50/50. Don't know if I got it or not, would have loved to have known the answer.
I ended up failing. Not by a huge amount. It was my first attempt.

Hi dav,

Sorry to hear about the fail. If it was a small margin, you'll cane it next time for sure.

As for the YMML question, the behavious of the wind is independent of your heading. Surface wind tends to veer and decrease in strength when compared to the gradient wind (above about 3000ft AGL) in the Southern hemisphere, so you could expect the wind to back and increase in strength as you climbed out of YMML.

Cheers,

Rich

Hi Rich,
Yep thanks for the info. I realised later I got too hung up on the isobars and the pressure systems near the location.

Cheers,
Dav

Hi Dav,

The only thing I can add is that the latitude and longitude of Perth can be found on the PCA chart which is permitted material in the exam. Even so, you can't get a very accurate answer from that chart. Maybe that is what they expected you to do. However, I agree that it would have been more appropriate to simply mark it on the synoptic chart. After all, if you want to be pedantic, you could claim that finding the coordinates of a location is not mentioned in the Met syllabus.

Bob

Hi Bob,
Thanks for the pointers, much appreciated.
I will be better armed for the next attempt!

Cheers,
Dav