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31 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is a front? |
A narrow zone of different temperatures and humidity in air masses that can be cold, warm, or stationary. |
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What are the different types of air masses? |
Continental, maritime, polar, and tropical |
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What is a continental air mass? |
Dry air that forms over land |
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What is a maritime air mass? |
Humid air that forms over the ocean |
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What is a polar air mass? |
Cold air that forms at high latitudes |
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What is a tropical air mass? |
Warm air that forms at low altitudes |
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What are the 4 ways that air rises? |
Convective uplift, Orographic uplift, Frontal wedging, Convergence |
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What is convective uplift? |
The upward and downward motion caused by differences in air temperatures |
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What is orographic uplift? |
The action the occurs when air reaches a mountain range and goes up the mountain |
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What is frontal wedging? |
The action that happens when a warm air mass and a cold air mass meet and the colder air mass forces itself underneath the warmer air mass along a cold front |
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What is convergence? |
The action that occurs when winds coming from different directions meet up and have not where to go but up. |
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What is a jet stream? |
Fast flowing, narrow air currents moving from West to East. |
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What is condensation nuclei? |
The dust, pollen, and ash particles that attract water vapor |
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What are the 3 ways that meteorologists classify clouds? |
Cirrus, stratus, and cumulus clouds |
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What is the order of clouds from highest to lowest? |
Cirrus, cumulus, and stratus |
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How do thunderstorms form? |
By a convection of warm and humid air mass |
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Where do thunderstorms form? |
At cold fronts with low pressure or air rising along warm fronts |
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What is lightning? |
The electrical discharge from molecules between clouds or the clouds and the ground. |
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How do tornadoes form? |
Due to updrafts and extremely strong winds |
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Where do hurricanes form? |
Above tropical waters by low pressure systems, strong winds, and intense rain |
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How does heat flow? |
From cold to hot |
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How does deep ocean circulation happen? |
Density differences due to different temperatures and salinity level causes the colder/denser currents to move to the bottom and the warmer/less dense currents to move to the top. After a while, the warm currents become cold and sink to the bottom while the cold currents become warm and rise to the top. |
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What are thermoclines? |
The part of the ocean (200-1000 meters deep) that has extreme temperature differences. |
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What are pycnoclines? |
A portion of ocean that has extreme density differences |
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How does temperature and salinity affect the density of water? |
The colder and more salt in the water the denser it is; the warmer and less salt in the water the lighter |
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What's the difference between weather and climate? |
Weather is the certain precipitation, temperature, and humidity on a specific day while climate is the average weather in a certain area. |
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What factors affect weather? |
Precipitation, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and air pressure |
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What's the difference between a cold front and a warm front? |
Cold front is with cold air masses and warm front is with warm air masses |
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What does low pressure system mean? |
Low air pressure |
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What happens when a cold/warm front meets at a low pressure system? |
cold front = thunderstorms warm front = rain showers |
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How is thunder made? |
The friction of molecules between moving clouds |
