Extreme Weather
Which type of extreme weather can be the most destructive?
Hurricane
Name all of the global winds and the approximate latitudes they are in.
Polar easterlies: 60-90 degrees latitude
Prevailing westerlies: 30-60 degrees latitude
Trade winds: 0-30 degrees latitude (near equator)
State the difference between maritime air masses and continental air masses.
Maritime air masses form over oceans and continental air masses form over lands.
Name the four processes of the water cycle.
Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, Runoff (Collection)
Compare and contrast isobars and isotherms.
They are both labeled on a map but isobars show areas with the same air pressure and isotherms show areas with the same temperature.
Winds move from an area of _____ to an area of ______.
high air pressure to low air pressure
Which global wind contributes to majority of the weather in the US?
Prevailing westerlies
An air mass formed over the Gulf of Mexico would be...
warm and humid/wet (maritime tropical)
What is the driving force of the water cycle?
The Sun.
Draw the following symbols you would likely see on a weather map:
-stationary front
-cold front
-occluded front
-warm front
-high pressure
-low pressure
-isobars
-isotherms
Drawings will be checked.
Where is Tornado Alley? Define it.
Which clouds are low-lying clouds? High up in the sky? Mid-level?
Low level: cumulonimbus, stratus
High level: cirrus
Mid-level: cumulus
Explain the difference between low level clouds and high levels clouds.
Low level clouds are filled with rain and can cause thunderstorms, high level clouds are filled with ice crystals and bring fair, pleasant weather
Define condensation.
when water vapor turns into liquid (water), occurs as temperature drops
What do the H and L stand for on the map. what type of weather would you see at H? at L?
H-high pressure, sunny weather
L-low pressure, rain and cloudy weather
Explain the Coriolis Effect and how it creates hurricanes.
The large curved winds coming from the ocean cause hurricanes.
Wind is caused by:
differences in air pressure and temperature
Compare and contrast the weather at each front (draw on sheet of paper with your group).
Warm front: sunny, bright, clear weather
Cold front: heavy rain and thunderstorms
Occluded front: depends on if cold front or warm front is trapped
Stationary front: light showers of rain for days
Imagine it is summer, and it is warm and humid outside, explain the weather you would expect if a cold dry air mass was rapidly coming towards you?
Thunderstorms (due to this being a cold front).
Define dew point.
the temperature at which the water vapor in the air condenses into water and forms droplets of water on grass
What type of front was Hurricane Michael and what type of air mass was it?
Cold front, maritime tropical
What type of extreme weather is the most unpredictable?
Tornado because they can form whenever there is a humid thunderstorm so usually no warning
Describe a sea and land breeze and what time they occur.
Sea breeze occurs during the day and comes from sea to land.
Land breeze occurs at night, coming from land to sea.
What is infiltration and what process in the water cycle does it belong to?
The process of water seeping and soaking into soil, runoff/collection
How does humidity affect a hot day? How is it measured?
If the air already has a lot of water vapor in the air people sweat and it cannot evaporate, making the human body hard to cool down.
This is called the heat index.