Weather Systems Flashcards
What is important in weather systems?
Pressure!
What is Barometric pressure?
it can aid in weather prediction.
reads high pressure versus low pressure, and frontal systems
What does High Pressure indicate?
High pressure usually indicates fair weather (stable weather, nice weather)
What does low pressure indicate in weather?
low pressure generally brings storms
What are frontal systems?
where warm and cold regions collide with each other
What happens as air heats up?
air expands, causes high pressure
What happens as air cools?
creates low pressure.
What are the effects of Ocean Currents?
the Artic current comes down the west coast, bringing cold water down, why California water is cold.
In Flordia, west coast water is water BUT they experience hurricanes (Hurricane Sandy)
warm water causes warm air. as hot air rises, it leaves space, creating low pressure. the surrounding higher air wants to create balance so it flows back in and causes the winds of the hurricane.
What are Hurricanes?
air is rushing in the low pressure region, call it “the eye”. It’s actually not spinning, but the earth is spinning underneath it. We see a cyclonic action thats matching the spin of the earth.
More isolated bodies have what kind of tides?
More isolated bodies have more EXTREME tides. (The more difficult it is for water to enter and exit a region, the more extreme the tides tend to be.) very very low or high (think of the little beaches in hawaii that are enclosed, like blow hole.
Unlike tides, waves are what?
not created by the pull of gravity (don’t confuse tides with waves)
How are waves created?
by wind, which stirs the ocean’s surface over great distances. The wind is pushing on water particles to move. Builds up more and more. As they get closer to land, they have less room to move. So they build higher and higher, and thats why you see crashing at the coast.
