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How to Make My Own Weather Forecast Background

Whenever a weather forecaster appears on the news, the background behind him is the same the world over. While the maps themselves may change depending on the region, the various symbols used to show the types of predicted weather remain relatively unchanged. On television, all that the weather forecaster often has as a background is a green screen that the map and symbols are projected onto. Since most people don't have that kind of technology at home, when constructing your own weather forecasting background, you'll need to have an actual map to work from.

Things You'll Need

Plywood sheet
Table saw
Wood glue
Box cutter
Cork board
Area map
White spray paint
Black permanent marker
Colored pencils or markers
Card stock
Scissors
Thumbtacks
Tape or glue

Instructions

Instructions
- 1
  Cut a piece of plywood to the size you want your background to be. Lay a piece of cork board (hardware stores generally sell it by the meter or foot) over the top of the plywood base and cut away the excess material with box cutters. Apply wood glue to the plywood and press the cork down onto it. Turn the plywood over so that the cork is pressed against the ground, and leave it to dry.
- 2
  Locate a map of the area you want to do a forecast for. Forecast maps are usually done either by county, state, region or nationally. Make sure that the map you use as a reference includes the location of that area's major cities.
- 3
  Apply a coat of white spray paint to the cork once it's completely adhered to the plywood. Make the coat heavy enough so that you can no longer see the brown of the cork.
- 4
  Draw an outline of the map onto the weather board with a black permanent marker. If the edges of the map aren't straight lines, draw a rough outline first with a pencil, then go over it with the marker. Mark the locations of the major cities, and write their names.
- 5
  Draw symbols to represent the different types of weather on card stock. Suns, clouds, rain, thunderstorms, gusts of wind and snowflakes are all common types of weather symbols that need to be included on your forecasting background. You can be as detailed as you want and include symbols that represent partly cloudy with a chance of rain and other alternating weather patterns.
- 6
  Cut out the symbols and lay them face down on the ground. Using tape or glue, attach thumbtacks to the back of each one so that you'll be able to stick them onto the weather forecasting background and remove them with ease later.

Nature