final exam Flashcards

Question

tornadoes

Answer 1

violently rotating column of air in contact with ground surface usually produces a visible vortex of spinning clouds and debris diameter: a few m to hundreds of km time: a few moments to tens of minutes formation: updraft from thunderstorm strong wind aloft supercell development supercell mutation Measurement: Fujita tornado scale --> measuring wind speed

Answer 2

NA experiences the most tornadoes worldwide US has the most tornadoes Canada has the 2nd most tornadoes Peak months for tornadoes: May & June Tornadoes in Canada: - 80 tornadoes/year

Answer 3

form only in the northern hemisphere most developed in the winter and cold weather cold, dense air displaces moist and warm air in its path, producing lifting, cooling, and condensation

Answer 4

cold, stable air clear skies high pressure anti-cyclonic wind flow

Answer 5

occur over oceans in the Northern hemisphere an area covered by an mP air mass experiences: cool temps moist air unstable condition year round mT gulf/Atlantic unstable active from late spring to early fall mT Pacific: stable to conditionally unstable lower in moisture and energy than the mT Gulf/Atlantic

Answer 6

as air mass migrate from source regions, their temperature and moisture characteristics slowly take on those of the land over which they pass ex. Lake-effect snow melts of the Great Lakes

Answer 7

1. convergent lifting - air flows from high to low pressure - low pressure centre: air converges, ascends, cools and condensation occurs 2. convectional lifting - air aboie a warm surface heats up - warm air rises - warmer surfaces result from local heating (ex. UHI, forest) 3. Orographic lifting - air is forced to ascend upslope as it is pushed against a mountain 4. Frontal lifting - front: leading edge of an advancing air mass line of conflict between 2 air masses

Answer 8

a front between warm and cold air masses that is moving very slowly or not at all

Answer 9

- cold dense advancing air masses forces warm air upward | - warms air lifting abruptly and cools adiabatically

Answer 10

``` - a few days before a cold front passes, high cirrus clouds are often observed along the leading edge of a cold front: - winds shift -temp decreases -low pressure develops -cumulonimbus clouds form -precipitation occurs ```

Answer 11

sudden episode of high winds and thunderstorms in an area slightly ahead of an advancing cold front

Answer 12

northerly winds in N.H. temp drops high pressure develops clear skies

Answer 13

warm air carried by the jet stream from Hawaii and the pacific to the pacific coast of N.A

Answer 14

irregular concentrated bands of westerly wind stronger in winter 300 km/hr

Answer 15

warming advancing air masses pushes air into a wedge shape and slides up and over it warm air lifts gently and cools adiabatically

Answer 16

a composite of two fronts formed when cold front overtakes a warm front

Answer 17

initially a stationary boundary separates warm and cool air masses

Answer 18

a disturbance triggers a wave to form within the front cold and warm air masses conflict air converges at surface air diverges aloft

Answer 19

cyclones draw warm air from the south cyclone draw cold air from the north and west cyclone matures

Answer 20

cold front wedges under warm front forming an occluded front

Answer 21

occlusion increases lifting mechanism weakens as supply of warm moist air gets cut off cyclonic system dissipates

Answer 22

cyclonic circulation originating in tropics tropical cyclones are names according to they location 80 tropical cyclones occur annually 45 per year are powerful enough to be classified as hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones also classified according to wind speed

Answer 23

hurricanes- both America typhoons - china, Japan, philippines cyclones/ tropical cyclones- Australia, India, Indonesia, Africa

Answer 24

tropical cyclones: - homogeneous air masses - high moisture - warm * leads to more powerful storms*

Answer 25

eyewall: dense wall of rain bands created as winds rush towards the centre and turn upward

Answer 26

made landfall on march 14, 2019-03-28 1.7 million people living in cyclone path in Mozambique cyclone formed in Mozambique

Answer 27

land and sea breezes | mountain and valley breezes

Answer 28

top: high temp (lower pressure) bottom: low temp (high pressure)

Answer 29

top: lower temp (higher pressure) bottom: high temp (lower pressure)

Answer 30

``` frictional drag of wind Coriolis force density differences land configuration astronomical forces ```

Answer 31

oceanic circulation system

Answer 32

currents remain near the equator due to weak Coriolis force water accumulates on eastern side of continents near the equator (western intensification) accumulated water spills northward or southward (ex. Gulf Stream & Kuroshito)

Answer 33

cool, nutrients - rich water is brought upward | occurs when water is swept away from a coast

Answer 34

excess water travels downward | occurs when water has accumulated as with the equatorial current

Answer 35

deep currents resulting from differences in salinity and temperature Freshening: decrease in salt content of ocean water resulting fro freeze-thaw processes fresh water is less dense than saltwater climate change can threaten global ocean circulation patterns

Answer 36

large scale ocean- atmosphere climate interaction | warmer SST in centraal and eastern Pacific affects temp & precipitation on a global scale

Answer 37

formed from fused sheets of ice crystals | milky, veil - like appearance

Answer 38

while tufts with mackerel appearance | occur in lines or groups

Answer 39

a cloud layer on the ground air temp and DPT @ ground level are nearly equal near ground, air is saturated for affects visibility

Answer 40

``` radiation rime ice- crystal advection evaporation ```

Answer 41

``` a surface cools --> air above the surface cools air above surface reaches DPT occurs: over moist ground on clear nights does not occur over water ```

Answer 42

``` similar process to radiation fog super-cooled water droplets often turn into frost occurs: cold weather air temp @ surface is below freezing air is moist clear skies ```

Answer 43

air becomes full of ice crystals that forms by sublimation reduces visibility substantially occurs: low temp

Answer 44

occurs when: warm moist air moves over cool oceans--> air cools to DPT --> advection fog warm moist air moves to higher elevations --> adiabatic cooling to DPT --> upslope fog cool dense air moves down into a valley -->valley fog

Answer 45

involves advection and evaporation cold air over warm water boy water evaporates from water body moisture content of overlying air increases

Answer 46

WEATHER: SHORT-TERM, DAY TO DAY CONDITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE CLIMATE: LONG TERM AVERAGE (E.G. OVER decades) of weather conditions and extremes in a region

Answer 47

``` temp air pressure relative humidity wind speed and direction seasonal factors such as insolation ```

Answer 48

distinctive bodies of air with homogenous temp, humidity, and stability air masses initially reflects the characteristics of their source region interaction of air masses produce weather patterns

Answer 49

moisture | temp of their sources regions

Answer 50

- ''m'' for maritime (wet) | - ''c'' for continental (dry)

Answer 51

``` ''A'' for arctic ''p'' for polar ''t'' for tropical ''E'' for equatorial ''AA'' for Antarctic ```

Answer 52

frigid & dry descend and diverge clockwise or counter clockwise antarctic high is stronger than Arctic high

Answer 53

cool and moist | weaker in summer, stronger in winter

Answer 54

dry and hot westerlies and trade winds stronger in summer, weaker in winter

Answer 55

intertropical convergence zone energy surplus warm, low-density, low pressure air converging and rising air creating clouds

Answer 56

prevailing surface winds flowing from subtropics to higher latitude stronger in the winter

Answer 57

higher altitude irregular concentrated bands of westerly winds stronger in winter 300 km/ hour

Answer 58

temperature at which a given mass of air becomes saturated and net condensation begins to form water droplets

Answer 59

maximum amount of moisture possible at that specific temperature

Answer 60

Winds in an anticyclone blow just the opposite. Vertical air movements are associated with both cyclones and anticyclones. In cyclones, air close to the ground is forced inward toward the center of the cyclone, where pressure is lowest. It then begins to rise upward, expanding and cooling in the process.

Answer 61

At the ground level, however, the movement of the air toward the equator in the lower troposphere deviates toward the west, producing a wind from the east. The winds that flow to the west (from the east, easterly wind) at the ground level in the Hadley cell are called the Trade Winds.

Answer 62

gravitational force pressure gradient force Coriolis force friction force

Answer 63

Exerts virtually uniform pressure on atmosphere at Earth’s surface •Responsible for atmospheric pressure

Answer 64

* The pressure gradient results in a net force that is directed from high to low pressure and this force is called the pressure gradient force. * The pressure gradient force is responsible for triggering the initial movement of air

Answer 65

* Coriolis Force is an effect of Earth’s rotation * Deflects a moving object to the right of its moving direction in the Northern Hemisphere * Deflects a moving object to the left of its moving direction the Southern Hemisphere

Answer 66

* Friction force drags on wind at surface * Decreases with height above surface * Friction effects extend to ~ 500 m

Answer 67

land and sea breezes | mountain and valley breezes

Answer 68

the process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants.

Answer 69

is the process by which moisture is carried through plants from roots to small pores on the underside of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere.

Answer 70

Amount of water that could evaporate and transpire given unlimited soil moisture

Answer 71

Evapotranspiration that occurs given a limited amount of soil water

Answer 72

* Winds that converge at the equatorial low * Can arise form Northeast (in N.H.) or Southeast (in S.H.) * Most consistent winds on Earth

Answer 73

is a global scale tropical atmospheric circulation that features air rising near the Equator, flowing poleward at a height of 10 to 15 kilometers above the earth's surface, descending in the subtropics, and then returning equatorward near the surface.

Answer 74

Cirrus, Cirruscumulus and cirrusstratus

Answer 75

towards the centre, counterclockwise

Answer 76

change in statistical property of the atmosphere ex. temperature

Answer 77

occluded front

final exam Flashcards

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