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41 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Gradient wind balance forces
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Hurricanes- pgf =coriolis + centrifugal
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Cyclostrophic balance forces
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Tornadoes- pgf = centrifugal geo
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Geostrophic wind balance forces
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Pgf = coriolis
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Surface wind balance forces
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Pgf = coriolis + friction
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500 mb map
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Surface pressure map
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Thunderstorm scale
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Small
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Tornado scale
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Small
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Tropical cyclone scale
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Large scale
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Extratropical cyclone
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Large scale
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How are thunderstorms formed?
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•cool dry air with an environmental lapse rate similar to dry adiabatic above low level moisture air
• forced lifting |
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What time of year do thunderstorms form?
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Spring most common but all year round in tropics ITCZ and central US
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Thunderstorm disasters
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•Heavy rain
•hail •lightning •form tornadoes |
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How does a thunderstorm gain energy
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Condensation of water vapor during up drafts (cloud formation)
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How are tornadoes formed
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•horizontal vorticity bent into the vertical by updrafts
•column of spinning air is stretched (conservation of angular momentum) and wind speed increases |
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How are tornadoes formed
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•horizontal vorticity bent into the vertical by updrafts
•column of spinning air is stretched (conservation of angular momentum) and wind speed increases |
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What time of year do tornadoes form
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Spring in late afternoon
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How are tornadoes formed
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•horizontal vorticity bent into the vertical by updrafts
•column of spinning air is stretched (conservation of angular momentum) and wind speed increases |
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What time of year do tornadoes form
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Spring in late afternoon
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Tornado disasters
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Strong winds
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How are tornadoes formed
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•horizontal vorticity bent into the vertical by updrafts
•column of spinning air is stretched (conservation of angular momentum) and wind speed increases |
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What time of year do tornadoes form
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Spring in late afternoon
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Tornado disasters
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Strong winds
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Swirl ratio
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V/w = tangential wind/vertical velocity
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Formation of tropical cyclone
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•Initial conditions: Strong low-level vorticity, weak vertical wind shear, high relative humidity, warm SST, deep layer of warm water
• tropical disturbance forms over warm water (storm is powered by latent heat from condensation) Strong winds |
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What time of year do tropical cyclones occur
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Warm seasons when SST highest J-A-S
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Disasters of tropical cyclones
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Heavy rain, flooding, strong winds
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Properties of tropical cyclones
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No fronts, warm eye, forms over tropics, strongest winds near surface, 200-500 mi, lives about a week, weak shear environment, small horizontal T gradient, Gradient wind balance
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Properties of tropical cyclones
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No fronts, warm eye, forms over tropics, strongest winds near surface, 200-500 mi, lives about a week, weak shear environment, small horizontal T gradient, Gradient wind balance
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Extratropical cyclone formation
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Extratropical most common location
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Along fronts with significant vertical shear (land or ocean) outside of tropics
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Extratropical disasters
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Heavy rains, flooding cold temp, severe ones cause blizzards
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Extratropical properties
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Strong fronts, cold in eye, strongest winds above, forms outside tropics, 500-1000 mi
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Extratropical properties
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Strong fronts, cold in eye, strongest winds above, forms outside tropics, 500-1000 mi
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Energy source of extratropical
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Horizontal temp contrast
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Tropical energy source
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Energy fluxes from warm water
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3 stages of thunderstorm
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Early growth (Cumulus stage)
Mature stage Dissipating stage |
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Storm splitting
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Supercell formation- updrafts bend the horizontal overturning resulting from the vertical wind shear
(Cyclonic circulation survives) |
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Separating charge in cloud
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Hail and ice pellets collide with lighter ice crystals and because of the different surface charge characteristics, electrons prefer hail/ice pallets (-) and net positive charges are left on small ice crystals lofted up to cloud top
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Blizzards need
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An intense frontal cyclone
High surface winds Big t contrast between warm and cold air masses Copious snow on only n and NW sides of storm |
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Tropical cyclone stages
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