Boston Weather 2015

This range chart shows daily maximum, minimum and mean temperatures for a year in Boston. Original visualization by Timm Kekeritz of Raureif was in the polar space, we demonstrate how to create similar designs in the Cartesian space.

First, we draw a vertical line (by holding down the Shift key), set its stroke width to 3, then repeat it by “date”.

Next, we select any line in the resulting collection, and bind its x position to “date”. This will break the lines from the collection’s grid layout, and create an x-axis. We then use the direct select tool to select the top vertex of any line, and bind its y position to “maxTemp”. Next, we direct select the bottom vertex of any line, and bind its y position to “minTemp”. Note here we have the option to either create a new scale, or merge with the existing scale created from “maxTemp. Let’s merge the scale, and drag the y axis handle to make its range extent larger.

Finally, we select any line, and bind its stroke color to “meanTemp”. Data Illustrateur automatically chooses a color scheme and a legend. We can change the orientation of the legend to “Horizontal”, and move the legend below the chart.