A | B |
Clouds (def) | High fogs, mist or haze, form when air above the surface cools below the dew point |
3 Main Cloud Types | Cirrus, Stratus, Cumulus |
Super Cooled Water (def) | Water that has cooled below 0 degrees Celcius with out freezing |
Cirrus Clouds (def) | Clouds are thin, feathery, very high & always made of ice crystals. These are easy to see when planes fly by & leave a jet trail |
Stratus Clouds (def) | Low sheets or layers of cloud formed from horizontal air movement |
Cumulus Clouds (def) | Clouds formed by vertically rising air currents piled in thick, puffy masses |
Meaning of the prefix Alto- | High |
Meaning of the prefix Cirro- | Highest |
Meaning of the prefix Nimbo- | Rain Cloud |
Cloud type most often seen | Cumulus/Stratocumulus Clouds |
Approximate difference in temperature between the air temperature & dew point temperature that will cause water to condense resulting in clouds & possibly precipitaion | A difference of 4 degrees or less |
Precipitation (def) | Falling water in any form from the air to the Earth's surface |
4 Examples of Precipitation | Rain, Snow, Sleet, Hail |
Rain (def) | Drops of water that reach the ground in liquid form |
Snow (def) | Precipitation of solid water, mainly in the form of branched hexagonal crystals or stars. |
# of inches of snow for every 1 inch of rain | 10 inches |
The higher the air rises, the (more)(less) moisture it can drop | More |
Windward (def) | Side of a mountain where rising air cools, water condenses and falls as rain |
Leeward (def) | Side of a mountain where air is compressing and the sinking air is dryer. |
2 Chemical agents that cause of Acid Rain | Sulfates (from volcanoes & fuel burning) and nitrates (from car exhaust and industrial processes)) |
Cloud seeding (def) | Process of artificially making rain by dropping pellets of dry ice or crystals of silver iodide on a cloud to be used as condensation nuclei for rain |
4 Dangers from Acid Rain | Changes pH of the soil, makes stone weater faster, kills plants & animals, & damages metals |
Temperature Inversion (def) | Upside-down temperature condition occurring when surface air is colder than the air above. |
What conditions favor the formation of temperature inversions? | Clear dry nights in the area of a valley or depression |
Ex of 2 places that experience pollution build up due to temperature inversions | Los Angeles, CA & Denver CO |
2 things that aid in destroying temperature inversions | Wind & sunlight |
What results from the uneven heating of the Earth's surface? | Winds |
Isobars that are close together signify areas were winds are (blowing faster) (blowing slower). | Blowing faster |
Winds blow from (high) (low) pressure ot (high) (low) pressure | From high pressure to low pressure |
Anemometer (def) | Instrument that measures wind speed |
Weather/Windvane (def) | Instrument that shows wind direction |
How are winds named? | For the direction the wind comes from |
What causes winds to curve to their right in the northern hemisphere? | Coriolis Effect |
As altitude increase, what does temperature do? | Decreases |
As altitude increases what does pressure do? | Decreases |
As temperature increase, what does pressure do? | Decreases |
Are temperture & pressure positively or negatively correlated? | Negatively (Inversely) |
Sea Breeze (def) | Cool breeze off of the ocean due to air on land heating up and rising away |
Land Breeze (def) | Warm breeze off of the land due to cool air sinking over the land at night |
Which direction does a Nor' easter blow? | Southwest |
Name the 4 types of fronts | Warm, Cold, Stationary, & Occluded |
Air Mass (def) | A large body of air that has the same properties as the surface over which it develops |
Name 4 types of air masses | Maritime Polar, Maritime Tropical, Continental Polar, Continental Tropical |
Front (def) | Boundary between two air masses; storms & precipitation occur here |
On a station model 126 represents a pressure of ______? | 1012.6 mb |
What does a fully darkened station model circle represent? | A completely overcast sky |
What does a flag (pennant) represent on a station model shaft? | 50 knots |
What does one long feather on a station model shaft represent? | 10 knots |
What does a short feather on a station model shaft represent? | 5 knots |
Which direction does the shaft of a station model point? | Into the wind |
Pressure gradient (def) | Rate of change in pressure |
Layer of the atmosphere where the jet stream is found | Upper Troposphere |
Thunderstorm (def) | Heavy rains, lightning, thunder & possibly hail. |
Lightning (def) | A visible electric discharge produced by thunderstorms |
3 Steps in the Formation of Lightning | 1. Rising & falling air creates friction, 2. Friction strips electrons off of water in the air & cloud becomes charged, 3. Charges build up & then travel towards an oppositely charged area. |
3 Ways lightning may move | From Cloud to Cloud; From Cloud to Ground; or from Ground to Cloud |
Thunder (def) | Loud sound resulting from the rapid heating of the air around a thunder bolt of lightning causing the air to expand & then quickly cool & contract creating a sound wave |
Tornado (def) | A vilolent, counterclockwise whirling wind that moves in a narrow path over land |
Direction Tornados usually move | From the southwest to the northeast |
Where in the atmosphere do tornados usually form? | Usually form along a front |
Shear winds (def) | winds at different heights blowing at different speeds in different directions |
Tornado Alley Examples | Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, & Missouri |
Hurricane (def) | The most powerful storm, a large counterclockwise swirling low pressure system that forms over tropical oceans |
Meteorologist (def) | Person who studies the weater |
Station Model (def) | Symbols used by (NWS) the National Weather Service to depict current weather in one particular area |
Station Model symbol that means rain | Dots |
Station Model symbol that means fog | 3 Horizonal lines like an = sign with an extra line |
Station Model symbol that means snow | Asterick * |
How many seconds pass between the time you see lightning and the time you hear thunder if you are approximately 1 mile away from the event? | 5 seconds |
Weather Watch (def) | A cautionary statement issued by the NWS indicating that atmospheric conditions are favorable for the development of a particular weather or hydrologic phenomenon. |
Weather Warning (def) | A cautionary statement issued by the NWS indicating that a specific hazardous weather or hydrologic event is imminent or actually occurring |
pH of Acid Rain | 4.6 or lower |
pH of "Normal" Rain | 5.6 |
El Nino (def) | Naturally occurring weather/climate phenomenon typically lasting 12 to 18 months, featuring a warming of surface ocean waters in the central & eastern tropical Pacific; cold water upwelling is suppressed drastically reducing marine productivity; heavy rainfall occurs in the eastern Pacific and little occurs in the western Pacific |
Salinity (def) | The measure of the dissolved solids in sea water |
Amount of dissolved solids typically found in 1000 parts of sea water | 35 parts per 1000, 3.5 parts per 100 |
Turbid (def) | Muddy |
Turbidity Currents (def) | Underwater landslides |
Cause of trans-Atlantic telegraph & telephone cables getting broken. | Turbidity Currents |
Well known example of metal deposits that form in place on the sea floor | Manganse nodules |
Metal that is obtained more easily from seawater than from land sources. | Mangnesium |