Geog Final

Front 1

What is a thunderstorm?

Back 1

Localized storm produced by cumulonimbus clouds always accompanied by lightning and thunder

Front 2

What is the life cycle of a t-storm?

Back 2

Cumulus stage: no rain
Mature stage: updraft warm air, downdraft cold air/heavy rain
Dissipating stage: falling rain (downdraft) chokes the updraft (fuel)/rain stops

Front 3

Characteristics of Single Cell t-storm

Back 3

-Commonly forms in warm mT air
-short lived and weak (<30 min)
-rarely produce severe weather

Front 4

Multicell

Back 4

-consists of a group of cells
-may be more intense (front&low pressure centers help)

Front 5

What are 2 examples of multicell t-storms and their characteristics?

Back 5

Squall-line: string of t-storms ahead of a cold front (linear)
-may be more intense than a single cell

Mesoscale: Self-sustaining large t-storm clusters
-typically severe weather and flood producers
-mostly in the summer

Front 6

Supercell

Back 6

-A large rotating t-storm
-May persist for many hours
-May produce hail, damaging winds, tornadoes

Front 7

What are characteristics of a severe thunderstorm?

Back 7

Any t-storm having 3/4 in hail, and/or wind gusts of > 50 knots (58 mi/hr)
-commonly form near cold fronts associated with wave cyclones in spring and early summer
-tilted updrafts (draw down cold dry air)

Front 8

Where do t-storms occur?

Back 8

-Mostly around Florida (Gulf Coast)
-Midwest have fewer t-storms but more severe

Front 9

About how many t-storms produced daily?

Back 9

40,000

Front 10

Each t-storm produces _______

Back 10

lightning

Front 11

What is the process of lightning formation?

Back 11

Stepped leader: creates a channel from cloud base to allow the charge to travel
Electron flow (return stroke;what we actually see): illumination occurs and heating

Front 12

What are the 4 types of lightning?

Back 12

Cloud-to-cloud: 80%
Cloud-to-ground: 20%
Ball lightning: luminous sphere that appears to float in the air or darts around for several seconds
Heat Lightning: distant lightning from t-storms (seen but not heard)

Front 13

How many people a year does lightning kill or injure?

Back 13

-85 ppl/yr killed in US
-300 ppl/yr injured

Front 14

What is the rotation of a tornado and its movement path?

Back 14

-Most rotate counterclockwise but some rotate clockwise; move from SW to NE

Front 15

What is the diameter, path length, and average wind speed of a tornado?

Back 15

Diameter: 300-2000 ft
Path length: 4 miles
Wind speed: 75-250 mph

Front 16

Hail formation, geographic areas affected

Back 16

-Hail needs an embryo to form
-Areas that get a lot of t-storms don't get as much hailstorms

Front 17

What is a tornado and how does it form?

Back 17

-Rapidly rotating winds that blow around a small area of intense low pressure
-formed by turning and then updraft that creates a rotating column

Front 18

Fatalities of tornadoes?

Back 18

-Kill about 100 ppl/yr
-45% of fatalities occur in mobile homes

Front 19

The US gets the most tornadoes than anywhere else in the world, found mostly in ______,______,_______, and ________

Back 19

Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska

Front 20

What is a mesocyclone?

Back 20

-Column of air that rotates in the cumulonimbus cloud inside the tornado

Front 21

What is the Fujita scale and what/how does it measure?

Back 21

Measures tornadoes on a scale from F0 (weakest) to F5 (strongest).
-Determined by degree of damage and type of structure

Front 22

Where is tropical weather on the map and its characteristics?

Back 22

-occurs between 0*-23.5* N and S
-characterized by seasonal differences in precip.

Front 23

What are easterly waves?

Back 23

Easterly waves are meanderings (waves) in the wind, which blows from the east (easterly). They originate over the Sahel region of North Africa, and form when an instability of the African Easterly Jet occurs. They begin appearing as early as April/May and continue until October/November.

Front 24

What is a hurricane?

Back 24

Intense storms of tropical origin with sustained winds exceeding 74 mph

Front 25

Where do hurricanes form?

Back 25

-Confined to tropics (warm water)
-N or S of the equator; not around equator or poles

Front 26

What are the conditions for the development of a hurricane?

Back 26

Surface: warm ocean temps of 80*F (June-Nov; 80% aug-oct)
Convergence: along ITCZ or eastern side of easterly waves
Forms: 5-20 degrees Latitude (needs Coriolis Force for rotation)
Aloft: divergent winds, weak winds (strong winds disrupt organization)

Front 27

What are the stages of development in a hurricane?

Back 27

1. Tropical disturbance
2. Topical depression
3. Tropical storm
4. Hurricane

Front 28

What is the structure of a hurricane?

Back 28

Eye (middle): descending air, clear conditions
Adjacent to the eye is "eye wall": highest winds, heaviest rain fall, all converge and then sink creating clear skies
Spiral Rain bands: t-storms on the outer edges of the hurricane; decrease rainfall

Front 29

What effect does the Bermuda high have on hurricanes?

Back 29

In the summer shifts closer to Bermuda, move west and then swoop to the NE

Front 30

What are some ways a hurricane will weaken?

Back 30

-Move over cooler waters
-Move onto land
-Move into area with unfavorable flow aloft

Front 31

What fuels a hurricane?

Back 31

Release of latent heat

Front 32

What scale measures a hurricane?

Back 32

Saffir-Simpson scale: 1-weakest to 5-strongest

Front 33

What are the destructive elements of a hurricane?

Back 33

-High wind speed (75-150 mph)
-Inland flooding ( responsible for more than half deaths associated with tropical storms)
-Storm surge (water higher than normal tide line)
-Tornadoes

Front 34

Since the Industrial Revolution, we have been adding gases to our atmosphere such as _______

Back 34

-Carbon dioxide
-Methane
-CFCs
-Nitrous Oxide

Front 35

Why have these gases increased?

Back 35

-Use of fossil fuels
-Driving cars, heating homes, powering businesses and factories
-Mostly electricity

Front 36

The Earth's temp has risen about _______ degrees Celsius in the past 100 years

Back 36

0.74

Front 37

The sea-level has risen _________ inches over the last 100 years

Back 37

4-8

Front 38

We predict temperatures to rise, estimating from _____ to _____ degrees C by 2100

Back 38

1.5, 4

Front 39

Abatement

Back 39

reduce emissions of radiatively active gases, Kyoto treaty

Front 40

Carbon tax

Back 40

pay a tax on carbon

Front 41

Cap and trade system

Back 41

issue permits for how much gas you emit

Front 42

Adaptation

Back 42

build sea walls around coastal cities, develop aquaducts to bring water to newly dry areas

Front 43

Geo-engineering

Back 43

engineer the Earth's atmospheres and oceans to reduce climate change