A sounding is information for the vertical atmospheric conditions at a point in time. Soundings start at the surface and go up several miles into the atmosphere.

Below is an example of a sounding. The Magenta layer at the bottom represents the Surface layer. This varies based on location, and can be higher or lower than what is presented. The peach color is the mid-levels. These are the levels in which during winter matter the most, since they often dictate what precipitation falls. This includes the 925mb layer through the 850mb layer. Above that is the upper levels, and above the upper levels is the extreme upper levels layer.

The temperature can be read through the red line and the degrees in C at the bottom of the chart.