Term
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Definition
| classifies tornadoes on a scale from 0 to 5 |
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Term
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Definition
(Low pressure) the warm air mass is moving against a retreating mass of cooler air
-warm air rides up over or "overruns" cooler air
-precipitation there is light to moderate in intensity -> gentile push or rise up and get horizontal formation of clouds with lots of time so the drops tend to form small
-pressure gradually decreases then levels as it passes
-if cold air is cold enough, get ice pellets or freezing rain
-The frontal zone is broad and it may rain for days
-cloud forms are mostly horizontal
-tends to advance more slowly than a cold front
(line has red half circles that point in the direction of the front) |
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Term
| an air mass that may form over canada |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
(Low Pressure)
-pushes under warmer lighter air
-pressure falls, then drops sharply as the front passes, then rises
-vertical cloud development
-heavy showery precipitation for a short time, forms faster so fewer droplets (larger size)
-tends to advance more rapidly than a warm front
-cumulonimbus, might have fair weather clouds
-heavy precipitation closer to the cold front itself and over lap back behind it
(line is blue triangles that point in the direction of the front) |
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Term
| 'A' climates (separated by moisture) |
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Definition
| climates around the equator, humid/tropical, warm/hot, moist (if it cools off at night, morning will have dew sometimes fog), winterless (lack of seasons), march annual temp has little change which means annual range is very low and usually less than the daily range, warm moist air masses, seasonal winds (trade winds) (wet summer and dry winter) |
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Term
| 'C' climates (separated by position) |
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Definition
climates above tropic of cancer and below the tropic of Capricorn, mid-latitude with a mild winter
-Cf: east coast, sometimes a west coast, even precipitation, prevailing westerlies
-Cw: like monsoon climate, cooler, moisture, seasonal reversal winds
-Cs: west coast, dry summer (Mediterranean climate)
-Third letters: a (warmest), b (cooler), c (cool), d (coldest)
-mid latitude rainforest |
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Term
| 'D' climates (separated by temperature) |
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Definition
Dw, Ds (may not even exist): dry summer, dry winter, even precipitation, humid continentails, dryer than marine, annual march of temperature you get a huge annual range
-Ds: semi-arid (steppe)
-Dw: arid (desert)
-Dfb: severe winter, even precipitation, lots of forest
-Dfa: mild winter (warm summer)
-Dfd: subartic climates, polar easterly winds (colder than Dfa and Dfb)
-Dfc: taiga (boreal forest) veg. (thick and short trees ranging to tall, and few to many) (colder than Dfa and Dfb)
-air masses/prevailing winds in Dfa and Dfb: prevailing westerly wind, cP and mT air masses, greater annual range of temperature
-third letters: h (tropical or sub-tropical), k (mid-latitude)and a,b, c, d |
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Term
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Definition
polar climate
-second letter: T(tundra veg), F (no veg., icecap snow should never melt) |
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Term
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Definition
| highlands: mountains, high elevation |
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Term
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Definition
| make up more climates than any other in the world (ocean climates: very constant) gradual change |
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Term
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Definition
-differential heating of land and water
-ocean currents
-altitude
-geographic position
-cloud cover and albeto |
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Term
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Definition
-surface characteristics (including land vs. water): snow cover, surface veg, desert or not?, land or water? (land: sun doesn't shine into soil; water: sun shines in depending on clear or not, reflective or not)
-geographic position: latitude(effects climate of an area) (sun's position: actual distance the sun has between Earth doesn't make a different to seasons; angle of incidence of insolation), altitude, sources of water (is there one?, if there is, where is it?: relative to you, upwind, downwind, distance from you, mountains)
-positions of mountains and highlands (relative to you)
-atmospheric circulation: pressure zones (off coast of cali, peru, burmuda island), prevailing winds, dominating air masses
-ocean currents |
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Term
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Definition
| is tilted on its axis of rotation at about 23.5 degrees from the plane of the ecliptic, is closer to the sun in january than in july, rotates on its axis approximately once each 24 hours |
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Term
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Definition
| the heat energy involved in change of state |
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Term
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Definition
| the change of state from a gas to a liquid |
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Term
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Definition
| the temperature of the air if the air space is at 20 degrees Fahrenheit and is saturated with water |
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Term
| if the lapse rate of an air mass is 4 degrees (C/KM), the air mass shows |
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Definition
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Term
| an air parcel may become unstable if |
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Definition
| it is strongly heated at the bottom, or if it cools significantly from the top (ex: by radiation from cloud types) |
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Term
| air moving up and over a mountain and down the other side.. |
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Definition
| may lose moisture in the process, may be warmer on the lee side of the mountain than it was on the windward side, may create a rain shadow desert, is an orographic process |
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Term
| examples of deposition occurring in the hydrologc cycle |
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Definition
| formation of snow and white frost |
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Term
| if the actual mixing radio in a certain air mass and a saturation mixing ratio in that same air mass is the same then |
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Definition
| the air is at the dew point, the air is saturated with water, the relative humidity is at 100% |
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Term
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Definition
| more water evaporates from the oceans then falls into them |
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Term
| the amount of energy (insolation) arriving at the earth's surface at a specific site may be affected by |
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Definition
| dust in the atmospheric, clouds in the atmosphere, the length of the daylight period, the angle of the suns rays |
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Term
| we experience seasons here because |
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Definition
| of the revolution of the earth around the sun, the tilt of the axis of rotation of the earth, and our location away from the equator |
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Term
| temperature observed at a specific site in the climate system may be determined in part by |
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Definition
| heating characteristics of the surface, the characteristics of an ocean current, the elevation of the site, its geographic position, cloud cover at or before the time of obersvation |
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Term
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Definition
| the conversion of water from solid to gas without passing through the liquid phase |
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Term
| The sun emits predominantly short wavelength energy and the earth emits predominantly long wavelength energy. These generalities hold because |
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Definition
| the earth is cool and the sun is hot |
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Term
| The daily march of temperatures refers to |
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Definition
| the pattern of temperatures at a place over a 24 hour period |
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Term
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Definition
| is located at 66 and 1/2 degrees North latitude |
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Term
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Definition
| is located at 66 and 1/2 degrees south latitude |
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Term
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Definition
| is located at 23 1/2 degrees south latitude |
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Term
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Definition
| is located at 23 1/2 degrees north latitude |
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Term
| during our summer the day length |
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Definition
| varies from 12 hours at the equator to 24 hours at the north pole |
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Term
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Definition
| is a measure of an amount of energy (for example, one calorie) |
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Term
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Definition
| is a measure of the intensity of that energy(for example 70 degrees fahrenheit) |
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Term
| On the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere |
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Definition
| the sun shines most directly on the equator |
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Term
| on the first day of summer in the northern hemisphere |
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Definition
| the sun shines most directly on the tropic of cancer |
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Term
| at 45 degrees south latitude, the angle of the noon sun is lowest and the length of daylight is shortest on |
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Definition
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Term
| the earth receives energy from the sun by |
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Definition
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Term
| Factors that influence the sensation of temperature that the human body feels |
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Definition
| air temperature, humidity, wind speed |
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Term
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Definition
| coming from the E are warm, coming from the W are cold |
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Term
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Definition
| exchange of energy between system and environment |
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Term
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Definition
| no exchange of energy between systems and its environment (same amount of energy, just spreads as you go up and cools, going down it compresses and gets hotter) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| daily range of temperature |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| (total max + total min)/60 |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| monthy mean of hottest month - monthy mean of coldest month |
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Term
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Definition
| mean daily temperature - base (base given, if negative answer is 0 degrees) |
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Term
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Definition
| base - mean daily temperature (base is always 65 degrees, if negative answer is 0 degrees) |
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Term
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Definition
| mean daily temperature - base (base is always 65 degrees, if neg answer is 0 degrees) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| the heat transport carried out by air and oceanic circulations serves to |
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Definition
| keep the tropics from becoming warmer, keeps the poles from becoming colder |
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Term
| the hottest month in the northern hemisphere |
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Definition
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Term
| Strong updrafts of warm moist parcels of air are more likely to form |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| it means the cloud is dark and heavily laden with moisture (used with another cloud word such as stratus) |
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Term
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Definition
| warmed by insolation to a temperature above the dew point |
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Term
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Definition
| as warm moist air moves over cooler soil |
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Term
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Definition
| are most likely composed of ice |
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Term
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Definition
| will appear thin because there is little moisture in the cold upper troposphere |
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Term
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Definition
| is normally a summer phenomenon because intense heating is required to produce strong updrafts, ball or pellet of ice formed with concentric layers |
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Term
| frost damage of crops may be prevented by |
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Definition
| making use of the high specific heat and the latent energy properties of water, or covering the crop to trap radiation from the ground to keep it warm |
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Term
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Definition
| comprised the main body of thunderheads |
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Term
| fogs and clouds may be formed |
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Definition
| by cooling the air or by evaporating water into the air |
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Term
| air pressure is important because |
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Definition
| its influence on atmospheric circulation helps to determine our weather and climate |
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Term
| Mel's students, standing out in the wide open fields on the GVSU campus with their backs to the direction the clouds are moving from |
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Definition
| are applying Buys-Ballots law, know that low pressure lies to their left, know that high pressure will be found to their right |
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Term
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Definition
| associated with high pressure |
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Term
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Definition
| are associated with low pressure |
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Term
| air pressure gradient causes |
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Definition
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Term
| pressure gradients are created by |
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Definition
| differential (unequal) heating and cooling of the surface of the earth |
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Term
| because of the coriolis effect, an air particle moving from south to north near the surface of the earth in Michigan will be deflected to the |
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Definition
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Term
| characteristics of low pressure systems at the earth's surface in the northern hemisphere |
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Definition
| cyclone, ascending air, clouds, converging air at the surface, counterclockwise, foul (unsettled)weather |
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Term
| characteristics of high pressure systems at the earth's surface in the northern hemisphere |
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Definition
| anticyclone, clear, clockwise rotation, descending air, fair weather, larger diurnal temperature range |
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Term
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Definition
| can be considered to be the weight of a column of the atmosphere, can be measured with a sylphon cell, can be measured with a mercury barometer, varies with altitude |
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Term
| when isobars are plotted on a map, the relative speed (slower or faster) of the wind can be inferred from |
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Definition
| the closeness of the isobars to each other |
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Term
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Definition
| involves warm surface water moving from the Western Pacific towards the west coast of South America |
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Term
| Geostrophic winds do not.. |
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Definition
| experience the influence of surface friction |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| high wind, move from west to east, move in undulations called rossby waves |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Smoke tends to lower instead of rise just before rainfall events occur because |
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Definition
| the reduced density (low pressure) of the air |
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Term
| when high pressure consistently dominates an area, the area should have a |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| that portion of the atmosphere adjacent to the surface of the earth that is affected by friction |
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Term
| the majority of the clouds associated with a warm front are most likely to be |
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Definition
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Term
| a stationary front occurs |
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Definition
| when a cold air mass and a warm air mass are pushing against each other but there is no movement of the boundary between them |
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Term
| on a weather map, a line with symbols (triangles and/or semicircles) represents a |
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Definition
| front, cold front if triangles are used, warm front if semicircles are used, stationary front if triangles are used on the side of the line and semicircles are used on the opposite side of the line, occluded front if both triangles and semicircles are used on the same side of the line |
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Term
| a mid-latitude cyclone starts to form because of influences such as |
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Definition
| friction between two air masses moving in opposite directions, air flow aloft (jet stream influence) |
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Term
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Definition
| is a boundary between two air masses with different characteristics |
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Term
| because of the length of time it takes for the wave cyclones that affect Michigan to form and travel across the continent to us |
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Definition
| we tend to have one after another in the winter time that are spaced about one week apart |
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Term
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Definition
| need a rather uniform insolation and a rather uniform moisture availability in order to be effective |
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Term
| the most damaging aspects of a hurricane is |
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Definition
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Term
| example of a bad source region |
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Definition
| the large area of asian plains (Siberia) during summer |
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Term
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Definition
| open area of ocean around bermuda, large unbroken expanse of tropical rain forest in the Amazon basin, american great plains during the winter, the artic ocean during the winter |
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Term
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Definition
| tend to track (travel or move) along the path of the polar jet stream |
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Term
| mT air mass type is likely to form thunderstorms within itself because thunderstorm formation requires |
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Definition
| heat, moisture, and instability |
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Term
| pronounced cooling that occurs on continents at high latitudes during winter leads to the formation of |
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Definition
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Term
| why are maritime air masses from the north Atlantic near Maine not a constant concern from weather in the U.S.? |
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Definition
| prevailing westerly winds move them away from the U.S. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| in middle latitudes, thunderstorms tend to occur |
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Definition
| at the boundary zones separating air masses |
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Term
| in the tropics, thunderstorms tend to occur |
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Definition
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Term
| "lake effect" snow is associated with the _____ air mass moving across Lake Michigan or another similar body of water in late fall or early winter |
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Definition
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Term
| ideal source region of air masses should be |
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Definition
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Term
| if an air mass were to form over land in the equatorial region... |
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Definition
| it would most likely be more characteristic of a maritime air mass than a continental air mass |
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Term
| a warm front is said to exist when.. |
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Definition
| advancing warm air overrides retreating cold air |
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Term
| middle-latitude cyclones typically develop along |
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Definition
| segments of the polar fronts |
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Term
| the lifting of air and the resulting formation of clouds and rain is more gentle (gradual) for a |
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Definition
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Term
| weather associated with a cold front usually |
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Definition
| is more violent but of shorter duration |
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Term
| another common term for the wave cyclone is |
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Definition
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Term
| the greatest number of thunderstorms per year tends to occur in places like |
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Definition
| florida where strong heating by the sun creates strong updrafts and turbulence in the atmosphere |
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Term
| where in the climate system are Mel's students? They can see a giant cumulonimbus cloud that shows signs of rotation around a vertical axis |
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Definition
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Term
| Where in the climate system are Mel's students? Studying lightning formation very closely, they can see pieces of soft ice rubbing together to create charge separation |
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Definition
| in an updraft of a cumulonimbus cloud |
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Term
| a hurricane in the tropical north Atlantic is the same as |
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Definition
| typhoon or tropical cyclone |
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Term
| tropical low pressure systems that may affect the eastern U.S. tend to first become hurricane strength |
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Definition
| over the deep warm ocean water of the mid-to western Atlantic Ocean area |
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Term
| the sequence of events in a thunderstorm in order include |
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Definition
| stepped leader, induced ascending (positive) streamer, return stroke |
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Term
| a lightning bolt (electrical discharge) involves |
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Definition
| an approximately three quarter inch core of ionized air |
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Term
| seasonal migration of ITCZ |
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Definition
-not a sharp boundary, not a line, it is a zone (several degrees wide, broad zone)
-shifts around (land vs water) land shifts it up and down
-why does it shift: (heating and cooling) tilt of the earth and revolution around the sun with the angle of incidence
-if it shifts toward the s.hem it is their summer and vise versa (reason for winter dry in s.hem is STHP, reason for winter wet in s. hem is the ITCZ, summer wet in N.hem cus of ITCZ's flows up) |
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Term
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Definition
| not in the southern hemisphere |
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Term
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Definition
| (colder than Dfd) tundra veg (no trees, have grasses etc) can be icecap and polar, summer has 24hours of daylight and is like mild MI winter, winter is only for a couple months, permafrost (permanently frozen) |
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Term
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Definition
(colder than Dfd) polar, icecap (no veg.)
less radical than ET, frozen all year round and doesn't get temperature changes |
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Term
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Definition
| 1/3 arid or semiarid, not a lot of food grown on that land |
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Term
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Definition
| hot summers, cold winters |
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Term
| Bwk (s.america) Bsk (mexico) |
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Definition
| hot summers, mild winters (don't really get to cold, 68 degrees) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Flagstaff, AZ has lower temperature and more precipitation than Phoenix, AZ because |
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Definition
| it has a higher elevation than Phoenix |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
dry not as regulated, they are not found on a specific latitude(Bs or Bw)-'w' is arid (desert) -'s' semiarid (steppe)
*third letter: h (tropical or sub-tropical) k (mid latitude) |
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