Weather & Climate
This term refers to the atmospheric conditions of a specific place at a specific time.
What is weather?
These blow from northeast to southwest in the Northern Hemisphere between the equator and 30° N.
What are trade winds?
The deflection of wind and water due to Earth’s rotation is known as this.
What is the Coriolis effect?
A hurricane, typhoon, or tropical cyclone begins as this type of system, characterized by thunderstorms and rotating winds below 62 km/h.
What is a tropical depression?
This term refers to the long-term average conditions of a region.
What is climate?
These are responsible for moving weather systems across much of North America from west to east.
What are westerlies?
This type of front forms when a cold air mass moves under a warm air mass, bringing thunderstorms and a drop in temperature.
What is a cold front?
Due to the Coriolis effect, an ocean current in the Northern Hemisphere will curve in this direction.
What is right or clockwise?
The strongest tropical cyclones, with sustained winds over 241 km/h, are known by this classification in the Northwest Pacific.
What is a typhoon?
These large-scale movements of warm and cold ocean water help regulate global climate by distributing thermal energy across latitudes.
What are ocean currents?
What are prevailing winds?
Global wind that always exist in the regions of the atmosphere from 0 to 90 degrees latitude above and below the equator.What are prevailing winds?
High density, sinking air that bring clear skies and fair weather; brings happy or favorable weather.
What is a high pressure system?
Name and describe the process responsible for most thermal energy transfer in the atmosphere.
Convection. Warm, less dense air rises and cooler, denser air sinks.
This central feature of a tropical cyclone, characterized by sinking air and calm conditions, is surrounded by the most intense winds.
What is the eye?
How does the curvature of Earth and its tilt influence energy across the globe?
It causes uneven distribution of the Sun's energy across Earth's surface due to direct sunlight at the equator and indirect sunlight at the poles.
These high-altitude, fast-moving air currents influence local and global weather patterns.
What are jet streams?
When a front stalls and neither air mass advances, it is classified as this type of front, often resulting in prolonged precipitation.
What is a stationary front?
If Earth did not rotate, global wind and ocean currents would primarily move in this direction.
What is straight from high to low pressure or north to south?
A major hurricane weakens after making landfall because it loses access to this critical energy source.
What is warm, moist air from the ocean?
What would happen if earth could reflect more of the sun's energy?
Earth's climate would change with a global decrease in temperature.
How do air masses influence weather?
Movement over North America causing change in temperature, humidity and precipitation.
Rising, less dense, warm air leading to cloud formation and precipitation; brings lousy or lazy weather.
What is a low pressure system?
The rotation of tropical cyclones is affected by the Coriolis effect, causing hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere to spin this way.
What is counterclockwise?
What is wind shear?
This meteorological phenomenon, defined as a rapid change in wind speed and direction at different altitudes, can weaken a developing hurricane.