Michigan Statewide Data Examples

This map portrays the average amount of precipitation which annually falls on Michigan (snow, sleet, rain, etc.). Much of the large annual precipitation amount in the western Upper Peninsula falls as snow during the winter. Large amounts of spring rainfall account for the large annual average precipitation in southernmost Michigan. This type of spatial display is called an isoline map; lines that connect places of equal value or magnitude (in this case average annual precipitation). This type of display is only appropriate for continuous data types (everywhere in Michigan receives some amount of precipitation annually). Data may also be discontinuous or discrete (e.g. the number of pigs or cows) and isoline presentations are not appropriate for these types of data.