I had a similar problem. Found it very helpful to look at real weather. Here's what I used to do, every day:
Wake up, look out the window. Decide what kind of cloud I'm looking at (needed to cross-check with the pics in Thom at first, but not after a while) and what kind of whether is usually associated with that cloud. Then, log on to the Met Office website and look at the 3-day surface pressure animation - try to figure out what the weather trend is. Then come up with my own forecast. Finally, compare to the met office forecast. Of course, you won't get it right every time, because you're working with much less information than the professional forecasters have to work with, but it's the process that you'll benefit from, not the result!
FFF. .----------