| A | B |
|---|
| What is the primary criterion/criteria for determining extreme weather? | Cost in damages/impact on people |
| 2. When were the first satellite images available? Which hurricane was photographed? | 1973/Ava cat 5 |
| definition/s of weather. | The state of the atmosphere at a given time/place, with respect to wind/temp/moisture |
| types of Cyclonic thunderstorms | cold front/warm front |
| five main air masses that impact North American weather systems | CP/CT/CA/MP/MT |
| 6. Most thunderstorms last how long? | 3 hours |
| 7. What is the accepted estimate of thunderstorms that occur annually on our planet? | 16,000,000 |
| 8. How many severe thunderstorms are there in the USA annually? | 10,000 |
| 9. How many thunderstorms are occurring at this moment on the Earth? | 1800 |
| 10. How many types of thunderstorm are there? | 3, Cyclonic, Orographic, Convectional |
| 13. Why does the sky look green/orange before a hail storm? | Because of refraction of light through the ice |
| four main types of lightning discussed | zig zag, ribbon, forked, spider |
| is the earth the only place where dust devils occur? Lightning? | no, no |
| Does lightning require water vapor? | yes, water molcules colliding inside clouds |
| what shape does a tornado take on radar? | Comma or hook |
| damage level of F0 | light damage |
| damage level of F1 | moderate damage |
| damage level of F2 | considerable damage |
| damage level of F3 | severe damage |
| damage level of F4 | devastating damage |
| damage level of F5 | incredicble damage |
| damage level of F6 | inconceivable damage |
| how do hailstones get bigger? | by recirculating in the anvil cloud |
| what was the size of the largest hail stone? | 18.75 inches |
| What shape are hail stones | usually round but can very and can be spikey |
| how wide is lightening? | 1 inch |
| how many lightning strikes are there on the planet each second? | 100/sec |
| what causes dirty lightning? | electric charges are produced when rock, ash or ice collide generating a static charge |
| what percent of US tornados reach F4/F5 status | 1-2% |
| how many people died in the waco tornado of 1953 | 114 |
| What causes differing types of precipitation like snow, sleet or rain? | check on this |
| What is the fire tetrahedron? | oxygen, heat and fuel |
| What causes fire in nature? | volcanoes/lightning |
| When is the greatest time for a wildfire to occur? | Usually summer with hot/dry conditions |
| When was smokey the bear rescued? | 1950 |
| What was the name of the fire (smokey the bear) | Capitan Gap |
| In which era was smokey the bear a PR rep | post WWII |
| When did smokey the bear die? | 1976 |
| Ignition | the probability that a firebrand will cause an actionable fire |
| Spread | the forward rate of spread of the headfire |
| Spotting | the behavior of sparks carried by the wind and start fires in new zones |
| Control | the probability that the area could be contained in the event of catastrophe |
| What is a blizzard | Snowstorm with sustained winds of >35 mph, lasting longer than 3 hrs, visibility under 1/4 mile |
| ground blizzard | high winds relocate already deposited snow cross between a dust/sand storm and a blizzard, Looks like clouds on a satellite image |
| whiteout | A dense blizzard, especially in polar regions A weather condition that occurs when the landscape of an area is obscured by uniform light diffusion, Usually only seen in the arctic tundra |
| 36. When was the worst year for blizzards in the USA? | 1888 |
| 37. Where to tropical cyclones occur? | warm equatorial waters |
| 38. Where do you find typhoons? | North west pacific ocean west of the international dateline |
| 38. Where do you find hurricanes? | north Atlantic Ocean, N/E Pacific Ocean (east of the dateline) and S. Pacific Ocean east of 160 degrees |
| 40. Where do you find cyclones (all storms that have “cyclone” in their name)? | S/W Pacific or Indian Ocean |
| 41. Where does a tropical cyclone obtain most of its power? | warm or shallow water with warm air |
| 42. What is the worst hurricane to ever, technically, hit part of North America? | Great Hurricane of 1780 |
| 43. What is the worst hurricane to ever hit the USA? | Galveston Hurricane of 1900 |
| 44. What is the worst natural disaster in the history of the USA? | Galveston Hurricane of 1900 |
| Hurricane Cat 1 | 4-5 feet |
| Hurricane Cat 2 | 6-8 feet |
| Hurricane Cat 3 | 9-12 feet |
| Hurricane Cat 4 | 13-18 feet |
| Hurricane Cat 5 | >18 feet |
| Another name for a sandstorm? | Haboob |
| Contributing factors of dust/sand storms | can precede T storms., several 1000ft high, 5-20 mph |
| Geographic regions of dust storms | The Sahara, Central/North-central Asia, Australia, North American Southwest |
| sand | small rocks, smooth, can be quartz |
| Dust | rough, 1/10th the size of sand, travels high in atmosphere |
| Dirt | like dust with nutrients. has gaps that absorbs water |
| 50. What is the best planet in our solar system for studying dust storms? | Mars |
| 51. What is the most powerful volcanic explosion in human history? | Krakatoa |
| 52. What was the Great White Hurricane? When was it? | 1888, Occured 2 mos after Childrens blizzard, 50" snow MA, CT, 40" NY and NJ 80 mph winds, 400 people died |
| 53. What was the Children’s Blizzard? When was it? | 1888, result of Krakatoa 5 years earlier, 235 froze to death by becoming lost in storm, (teachers kept kids in school - name) |
| 54. What is the largest volcano on Earth? | Yellowstone |
| 55. What is a Cape Verde hurricane? | Hurricanes that form near the Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of Africa, two of these types of hurricane per year, with the highest amount on record being five, extremely powerful cyclones that form into hurricanes before reaching the Caribbean |
| What are Easterly Waves? | westward traveling disturbances often serve as the “seedling” circulations for a large proportion of tropical cyclones over the North Atlantic Ocean, Prevailing winds tend to push the systems into the path of the trade winds where they grow and become organized cyclones, Many Cape Verde Hurricanes begin with Easterly Waves, Only about 60% of the Atlantic tropical storms and and minor hurricanes begin with Easterly Waves, |
| 57. How many major hurricanes originate from Easterly Waves? | 85% |
| 58. What do scientists know about the formation of major hurricanes and Easterly Waves? | not much |
| 59. Who was the first European to document a hurricane? | Chris Colombus |
| 60. How big is the average hurricane eye? | 20 miles |
| 61. How many hurricanes are there in a average season? | 6-8 |
| 62. What is the best planet in our Solar System for studying greenhouse gases and volcanic activity? | Venus |
| 63. What is the Dust Bowl also referred to as? | Black Blizzard |
| 64. What caused the Dust Bowl? | Over use of land |
| What is fire? | A chemical reaction that releases light and heat, The rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products |
| 65. When did a dust storm strike Waco? (the only year we talked about in lecture) | 1917 |
| What is the foundation of development | Fire |
| 68. Why is controlled burning/wildfire important for a healthy ecology? | Adds nutrients to soil, rids excessive dead undergrouwth, helps chaparral bio/eco systems thrive |
| 69. How did the US public traditionally view forest fires? | as wasteful |
| 70. Where is the largest volcano in the solar system? | Venus - Olympus Mons |
