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Air, Weather & Climate

This document discusses various weather and climate concepts including: 1. It defines weather as the short term atmospheric conditions in a small area that can change rapidly, while climate describes long term patterns over 100+ years in a large area that changes slowly. 2. It describes the three main climate zones - polar, temperate, and tropical - and their characteristic temperatures, seasons, and precipitation. 3. It explains several factors that influence weather and climate including the sun, water cycle, atmosphere, and oceans. The sun provides energy that drives the water cycle and creates climate zones. 4. Specific weather phenomena like thunderstorms, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones are also summarized, along with safety guidelines

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Janeth Medina
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3K views58 pages

Air, Weather & Climate

This document discusses various weather and climate concepts including: 1. It defines weather as the short term atmospheric conditions in a small area that can change rapidly, while climate describes long term patterns over 100+ years in a large area that changes slowly. 2. It describes the three main climate zones - polar, temperate, and tropical - and their characteristic temperatures, seasons, and precipitation. 3. It explains several factors that influence weather and climate including the sun, water cycle, atmosphere, and oceans. The sun provides energy that drives the water cycle and creates climate zones. 4. Specific weather phenomena like thunderstorms, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones are also summarized, along with safety guidelines

Uploaded by

Janeth Medina
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Air, Weather & Climate

Weather
● Temporary behavior of atmosphere
(what’s going on at any certain time)

● Small geographic area

● Can change rapidly


Weather
• --The study of weather is
meteorology

• --Someone who studies weather is


called a meteorologist
Climate
● Long-term behavior of atmosphere
(100+ years)
● Large geographic area
● Very slow to change
POLAR
•90o -60o latitude
•Cool summers, cold year-round
•Dry
TEMPERATE
•60o-30o latitude
•True Seasons
•Variety of climate patterns
•Moderate precipitation (rain/snow)
TROPICAL
•30o - equator
•No winter, warm year-round
•High temp, rainfall, humidity
What Factors Affect Weather
& Climate?
1.The Sun
2.The Water Cycle
3.The Atmosphere
4.The Ocean
How Does the Sun
Affect Weather?
• It warms the atmosphere &
oceans
• It creates climate zones
• It keeps the water cycle
going
• It affects weather patterns
The Water Cycle
• All the water on the planet is recycled in
this manner!
Parts of the Cycle
• Evaporation—Water going
from a liquid to a gas (gains
energy from the sun)
Parts of the Cycle
• *Transpiration—evaporation of water
from/out of plants. Locate this on the
diagram!

transpiration
Parts of the Cycle
• Condensation—Water going from a gas to a
liquid (cools or loses energy)
• When this happens in the atmosphere,
CLOUDS form.
Parts of the Cycle
• Precipitation—when water falls out the
atmosphere. Forms when the water
droplets in clouds become too heavy to
stay up.
The Water Cycle
How does the atmosphere
affect weather?
• The atmosphere is a mixture of
gases that surrounds the Earth
• Has five different layers; each has
different properties
• We’ll label them in just a minute…
• Air Temperature and Pressure
change with altitude
• Weather occurs in the layer closest
to Earth (troposphere)
Write in the
labels!

Exosphere

Thermosphere

Ionosphere

Mesosphere
Ozone layer
Stratosphere
Troposphere
Air Masses
• = body of air with a certain
temperature and
moisture level
• Can be warm or cold
• Can contain a lot of
moisture or not a lot of
moisture
Fronts
• = places where
air masses
meet
• 4 Types: Warm,
Cold, Occluded,
Stationary
• Each kind can
bring different
kinds of weather
Occluded Front: Stationary Front:
Science Saurus 221/222
& Reading a Weather
Map Worksheet
How does Air Pressure
affect weather?
• How much the earth’s atmosphere is
pressing down on us
• Measured with a BAROMETER
• If it CHANGES, then new weather is on
the way:
• Falling Air Pressure = stormy weather
coming
• Rising Air Pressure = fair weather coming
• Steady Air Pressure = no change is
coming
Winds = created from
differences in air pressure

• Moves from areas of HIGH to LOW


pressure
• Greater the difference in pressure, the
FASTER the wind blows
• Measured with wind vanes and
anemometers or you can estimate with
the Beaufort Wind Scale
Beaufort Wind
Scale
Global Winds
• Thousands of kilometers long;
can cause weather to move in
different directions

• Jet stream, prevailing westerlies,


doldrums, horse latitudes, trade
winds
Global Winds
• Caused by the temperature
difference in different regions

• Hot Tropical Regions—causes air


to rise
• Cold polar Regions—causes air to
sink
Global Winds
• Also affected by Earth’s Spin

• Coriolis Effect = causes winds to


curve to the right in the N.
Hemisphere; to the left in the S.
Hemisphere
Relative Humidity

● Measure of the amount of


moisture in the air compared to
what the air could hold
● How “full” of water the air is
● Expressed as %
● 100% relative humidity =
saturated air
Relative Humidity
Controlled by temperature
1. Warm air holds more moisture than
cool air (more space for water vapor
between air molecules)
2. As air warms, relative humidity
decreases
3. As air cools, relative humidity
increases
Dew Point
● =Temperature at which the air is
saturated (100% relative humidity)

Several events can occur when the dew


point temp. is reached:
1. If dew point temp. is above
freezing:
a. water vapor condenses as liquid
b. dew will form on surfaces
Dew Point
c. cloud droplets will form in air

2. If dew point temp. is below freezing:


a. water vapor condenses as a solid
b. frost on surfaces
c. snow (or hail) in the air
How does the Ocean
affect weather?
• Ocean currents affect the temperature
of the land they pass by
• Cold ocean currents = cooling effect
• Warm ocean currents = warming effect
• Temperature changes affect pressure –
which then creates WINDS
• Winds blow this cooling or warming
effect over the land

http://earth.rice.edu/MTPE/hydro/hydrosphere/topics/Ocean_Atm_Circ_ElNino.mov
http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/
Thunderstorms
Requires a mature cumulonimbus
cloud

Signs
a.Sudden reversal of wind
direction
b.Noticeable increase in wind
speed
c.Sudden drop in temperature
Thunderstorms
Possible weather:
a. heavy rains (flash floods)
b. lightning (forest fires)
c. thunder (frightens animals)
d. hail (crop damage)
e. tornadoes
f. strong, gusty winds
Thunderstorm by Brainpop
Safety Rules
● Stay indoors
● Prepare for lightning, strong winds
● Listen on radio/TV for tornado
watch/warning
● Thunderstorms don’t last long
Lightning Storm
Cumulonimbus cloud becomes
electrically charged and ground below
has opposite charge
• Lightning stroke: flow of current thru air
(a poor conductor) from the – to the +
• Lightning can flow from cloud to ground,
cloud to cloud, and from ground to cloud
• Bright light is caused by glowing air
molecules heated by the current
• Lightning follows the path of least
resistance (easiest way to positive)
• Lightning rod offers lightning an easy,
safe path to the ground (+)
Thunder is the shock wave caused by
the explosive expansion of heated air
• Sound travels @ about 1100 ft/sec in
air
• 5,280 ft in one mile
• Distance from you to lightning =
number of seconds between seeing the
flash and hearing the thunder divided by
5.
(5,280 ft / 1100 ft/sec = 5 seconds)
Types of Lightning
Streak or bolt
a.Single or branched lines of light
b.Common in Puget Sound area
Sheet
a. shapeless flash over wide area
b. is cloud-to-cloud bolt hidden by the
clouds
c. common in Puget Sound area
Other types of lightning

a. heat, ribbon, beaded (types of bolt)


b. ball (only other shape lightning can
have)
● Safety
Stay indoorsrules for lightning storms
● Stay away from anything that conducts
electricity (stove, sink, telephone, TV)
● Get out of the water and off of small boats
● Stay away from open doors, windows,
fireplaces
● Stay in your car (very safe place to be)
● Don’t stand under lone trees or in open
places
● Avoid hilltops
● If your hair stands on end, or your skin
tingles, drop to the ground but try to keep as
little contact with the ground as possible
Tornado (a.k.a twister,
cyclone)
● Counterclockwise column of rotating air
extending from cumulonimbus cloud
● Per square foot, is the most destructive
atmospheric event
● Rated by wind speed (F1 to F5)
● “Tornado season” = April, May, June
● Tornadoes that form over water are
called “waterspouts”
• Behavior of a tornado is unpredictable
Typical tornado will:
1. Occur between 3-7 pm
2. Travel 4 miles
3. Be 300-400 m wide
4. Travel 25-40 mi/hour
5. Have wind speeds up to 300 mi/hr
6. Produce extremely low pressure
7. Be dark due to debris picked up
Safety Rules
● Rule #1: Take immediate action!
● Move away from tornado’s path

Tornado’s path

Move away at a right angle


• Lie flat in nearest ditch, etc.
• At home
a. open windows, doors
b. seek shelter in basement or under
heavy table in middle of house
Tropical Cyclone
Nicknames
1. Atlantic: hurricane
2. SE Asia, Japan: typhoon
3. Australia: willy-willy
4. Indian Ocean: cyclone
Tropical Cyclone
• Rated by wind speed (category 1 to 5)
• Starts and grows over warm ocean
water
• Composed of bands of thunderstorms
spiraling counterclockwise around a low
pressure center
Characteristics
● Several hundred miles wide
● Last many days (even weeks)
● Winds from 74-200 mi/hr
● Contains an “eye”
a.Small region of low pressure
b.Surrounded by highest winds
c.Calm, peaceful, sunny weather
d.Last for about 1 hour as hurricane passes
by
Safety Rules
● Prepare for high winds
● Prepare for flooding (greatest source of
damage)
a.Up to 20 in. of rain
b.Flooding by coastal water
● 3. Prepare for thunderstorms
● 4. Have on hand stored food, water,
blankets, candles, matches, radio, etc.
● 5. Seek shelter
Hurricanes Clip

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