PAPER 1/ NATURAL HAZARDS/ Structure and Features of Tropical Storms Flashcards
In what areas of the world do tropical storms form?
Between 5 and 30 degrees latitude.
What forms between 5 and 30 degrees latitude?
Tropical storms.
In what conditions does warm air rise rapidly?
Low-pressure conditions.
How does warm air rise in low-pressure conditions?
Warm air rises rapidly in low-pressure conditions.
What is wind shear?
A wind direction and/or speed change over a horizontal or vertical distance.
What is a change in wind speed and/or direction over a horizontal or vertical distance?
Wind shear.
What type of wind-shear stops tropical storms from breaking up?
Low wind shear.
What does low wind shear mean for a tropical storm?
It will not break up.
What are the conditions required for a tropical storm?
50 metres of sea below the tropical storm, the Coriolis effect, 27 degrees C, and low wind shear.
What is in the middle of a tropical storm, and what are the conditions in this place?
The eye is in the middle of a tropical storm, and it has clear skies and no winds; it is calm.
What causes the air to rise upwards while spinning?
The Coriolis effect.
As the air rises, it cools and condenses in a tropical storm. What does this form?
Towering cumulonimbus clouds, which generate torrential rainfall.
What generates torrential rainfall in a tropical storm?
Towering cumulonimbus clouds in a tropical storm.
When is heat given off in a tropical storm?
When the air cools and powers the tropical storm.
What does the air cooling power, and what does it give off in a tropical storm?
The air cooling powers the tropical storm, giving off heat.
What sinks into the eye in a tropical storm?
Cool air.
Where does cool air go in a tropical storm?
It sinks into the eye.
What does cool air sinking into the eye of a tropical storm result in?
No clouds, and the eye being drier, clear and much calmer.
Why is the eye drier, clear and much calmer than the rest of the tropical storm?
As cool air is sinking into it.
How does a tropical storm travel?
Across the ocean by the prevailing wind.
What does the prevailing wind do to the tropical storm?
It pushes across the ocean’s surface.
When the tropical storm meets land, what happens?
It is no longer fuelled by the source of the moisture and heat from the ocean.
When is a tropical storm no longer fuelled by the source of the moisture and heat from the ocean?
When it meets land.
State and explain the conditions that may dissipate a tropical storm.
When it reaches land, the storm’s energy supply (evaporated water) is cut off.
Friction with the land slows it down and it weakens.
If the storm reaches warm sea after crossing the land, it may pick up strength again.
If a storm is pushed above 30 degrees latitude by prevailing wind, it could also go into cold waters and weaken.
