Hi,
I've begun to design a database in a somewhat organized manner. I'd
like to know, before I go any further, if I'm on the right track.

So, basically I'm tracking weather data from a user (input twice a
day) and then inputting automated data at varying times during the
day. I'd like to relate all the tables together in an efficient way,
but I don't exactly know how this will happen.

I'll give you some example tables:
User input...all types of subjective data twice daily...so I'll have
two rows per day.
Observed Wind Data...various aspects of wind in 1-hr increments.
Model Wind Data...various aspects of wind data compiled and presented
in 1 row once per day.
Here are the tables themselves:

Table 1:User Input

DATE TIME(z) FRONT WNDSHFTSFO CLDCLEAR
2007-08-21 12 APPRCHFRNT 16Z 18Z
2007-08-21 21 DEPARTFRNT NULL SHFTCLR
2007-08-22 12 NULL NULL SHFTCLR
2007-08-22 21 NULL NULL SHFTCLR
2007-08-23 12 APPRCHFRNT 17Z 21Z
2007-08-23 21 APPRCHFRNT 21Z 23Z

Table 2:Observed wind shift
DATE TIME(z) OBWNDSHFTSFO
2007-08-21 12 NULL
2007-08-21 13 NULL
2007-08-21 14 14
2007-08-21 15 NULL
2007-08-21 16 NULL
2007-08-21 17 NULL
2007-08-22 12 NULL
2007-08-22 13 NULL
2007-08-22 14 NULL
2007-08-22 15 NULL
2007-08-22 16 NULL
2007-08-22 17 NULL
2007-08-23 12 NULL
2007-08-23 13 NULL
2007-08-23 14 NULL
2007-08-23 15 NULL
2007-08-23 16 NULL
2007-08-23 17 17


Table 3: Model Wind data
DATE TIME(z) MODWNDSHFTSFO
2007-08-21 12 14
2007-08-22 12 NULL
2007-08-23 12 18

So, I'd like to relate tables like these that have different times
(which I presume will be the second primary key in the tables). For
instance, how would I take all days that had fronts (indicated by
anything other than NULL in the FRONT column) and reference those
dates automatically (08-21-2007 and 08-23-2007) to retrieve data from
the other tables just on those dates? Perhaps this is confusing...I've
done some reading on normalization and have tried to implement that,
but I'm not comprehending how I'll be able to get useful views/
statistics from the joining of the tables.

Or could I just be specific in my query and say, "on days when a front
occurred, show me the following: WNDSHFTSFO, OBWNDSHFTSFO when not
NULL, and MODWNDSHFTSFO"...could I do that?
I have a lot more data that I'd like to be inter-relating between
tables, but I'm trying not to create a bunch of tables and then
realize I can't effectively compare them. I can clarify if any of the
above is not clear. Thanks!!
Shad