Water Cycle
What is the process called when water vapor cools and turns back into liquid?
Condensation
What causes wind to blow?
Uneven heating of Earth's surface
What are air masses?
Large volumes of air that have the same temperature and humidity throughout
What is a front?
The boundary where two different air masses meet
What does a red "L" on a weather map represent
Low Pressure - cloudy skies
What type of precipitation occurs when water droplets in clouds freeze into ice crystals?
Snow
What is a land breeze and when does it occur?
A breeze that blows from land to water at night as the land cools faster than the water
What two characteristics are used to describe air masses?
Moisture (dry or wet) and temperature (warm or cold)
What type of front forms when warm air moves over cold air, bringing steady rain or snow?
Warm Front
What type of weather would be seen around an area that has a Big Blue H on it? Explain why
Clear skies and sunny, because the H means High pressure - high pressure means cool air is sinking - no moisture rising to create clouds
What is the process called where water from the surface of the Earth evaporates, cools, and falls back to Earth as precipitation?
Water cycle
Describe or draw a sea breeze
A breeze that blows from water to land during the day as the land heats up faster than the water
What type of air mass brings dry, warm air?
Continental Tropical
What type of weather is associated with cold fronts?
Heavy storms followed by cooler, clear skies
What air masses are creating the front circled in the picture #1?
cP (continental polar from Canada) and cT (continental tropical from Mexico)
What do we call the movement of water through plants and its release into the atmosphere as water vapor?
Transpiration
What is the Coriolis Effect?
The Coriolis Effect causes winds to be deflected due to Earth’s rotation
Which air mass would develop over the Northern Pacific Ocean?
Maritime Polar
What is a stationary front?
A front where two air masses meet and stop moving, possibly bringing days of rain
What is the name of the front that circled in Picture #2 - what is special about this front?
Occluded Front - formed with THREE air masses
How does the sun power our weather?
The sun heats water on Earth’s surface, causing evaporation, then condensation, which is the creation of clouds
Name the three global wind patterns and where they occur.
Trade winds (near equator from east to west), Polar Easterlies (near poles from east to west), and Prevailing Westerlies (middle of hemisphere from west to east)
What moves air masses from one place to another?
Winds and jet streams
Draw or describe the symbol that is associated with an occluded front
Purple line with triangles and semicircles on the same side - pointing in the direction it is traveling
What will the weather be like when the front circled in Picture #3 has passed by?
Warm and humid - warm front is the warm air mass moving into the area - temperature drops after has passed