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76 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Polar High (Thermally)
---------------- Subpolar Low (Dynamically) ------------------ Subtropical High (Dynamically) --------------- Equatorial Low (ITCZ) (Thermally) ---------------- Subtropical High (Dynamically) ---------------- Subpolar Low (Dynamically) --------------- Polar High (Thermally) |
Distribution of Pressure
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Polar Easterlies
------------------- Westerlies ---------------- NE Trade Winds ---------------- SE Trade Winds ------------------- Westerlies -------------------- Polar Easterlies |
Distribution of Global Winds
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-Visible Light Images
-Infrared Images -Water Vapor Images (Cold cloud tops, water vapor presence) |
How do satellites help identify clouds that are most likely to produce precipitation?
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Cirrus, altostratus, stratus, nimbostratus
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Cloud Sequence of Warm Front
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-Planet, Long time
-Regional Weather, Days -Single Storm, Hours -Specific Location, Seconds |
Time and Space Scales
-Global -Synoptic -Meso -Micro |
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Synoptic Weather Chart
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A map of weather events occurring over a large scale at a specific time.
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Numerical Weather Prediction
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Uses mathematical models of the atmosphere and oceans to predict the weather based on current weather conditions
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Polar Climate classification
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Koppen importance of 10 degree C summer isotherm
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2, ET (Tundra), EF (Perpetual Frost/Ice Cap)
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How many times of polar classification are there
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The rapid vertical movements within clouds during the violent, mature stages of a cumulonimbus cloud.
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What causes lightning?
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- Cold Fronts
- Air Mass Thunderstorms - Squall Line Thunderstorms associated with a Dryline front - Easterly Wave - Mesoscale Convective Complexes |
Five sources of a thunderstorm
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Cold fronts
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Source of thunderstorms associated with mid lat lows
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Air Mass Thunderstorms
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"Pop-up" thunderstorms occur with daytime heating of surface with unstable mT air mass
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Squall line Thunderstorms associated with Dryline front
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Source of thunderstorms associated to the boundary between cT and mT air; humid air is lighter and less dense than dry air
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Easterly wave
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Source of thunderstorms associated in the tradewind belts of the tropical oceans
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Mesoscale Convective Complexes
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Sources of thunderstorms associated with huge convection systems in the Great Plains; slow-moving complex of super-cell tstorms
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Air mass
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A large body of air, usually 1600km or more across, that is characterized by homogeneous physical properties at any given altitude
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Adiabatic Process
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The cooling or warming of air cause when air is allowed to expand or is compressed, not because heat is added or subtracted
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Anticyclone
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An area of high atmospheric pressure characterized by diverging and rotating winds and subsiding air aloft
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Cyclogenesis
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The process that creates or develops a new cyclone; also the process that produces an intensification of a preexisting cyclone
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Dew Point
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The temperature to which air has to be cooled in order to reach saturation
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El Nino
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The name given to the periodic warming of the ocean that occurs in the central and eastern Pacific. A major ______ episode can cause extreme weather in many parts of the world.
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Gyre
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Any large system of rotating ocean currents
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Hadley Cell
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The thermally driven circulation system of equato- rial and tropical latitudes consisting of two convection cells, one in each hemisphere. The existence of this circulation system was first proposed by George Hadley in 1735, as an explanation for the trade winds.
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Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
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The zone of general convergence between the Northern and Southern hemisphere trade winds
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Lake-Effect Snow
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Snow showers associated with a cP air mass to which moisture and heat are added from below as it traverses a large and relatively warm lake (such as one of the Great Lakes), rendering the air mass humid and unstable
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Lifting Condensation Level
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The height at which rising air that is cooling at the dry adiabatic rate becomes saturated and con- densation begins.
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Rossby Waves
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Upper-air waves in the middle and upper troposphere of the middle latitudes with wavelengths of from 4000 to 6000 km
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Supercell
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A type of thunderstorm that consists of a single, persistent, and very powerful cell (updraft and downdraft) and that often produces severe weather, including hail and tornadoes
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Tornado Watch
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A forecast issued for areas of about 65,000 square kilometers, indicating that conditions are such that tornadoes may develop; a tornado watch is intended to alert people to the possibility of tornadoes.
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Tornado warning
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Awarning issued when a tornado has actually been sighted in an area or is indicated by radar.
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Warm Front
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The discontinuity at the forward edge of an advancing warm air mass that displaces cooler air in its path
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Stationary Front
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A situation in which the surface position of a front does not move; the flow on either side of such a boundary is nearly parallel to the position of the front
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Occluded Front
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A front formed when a cold front overtakes a warm front
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La Nina
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An episode of strong trade winds and unusually low sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific.
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Dry Line Front
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A narrow zone in the atmosphere along which there is an abrupt change in moisture as when dry continental tropical air converges with humid maritime tropical air. The denser cT air acts to lift the less dense mT air producing clouds and storms
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Cold Front
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The discontinuity at the forward edge of an advancing cold air mass that is displacing warmer air in its path
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Monsoon
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The seasonal reversal of wind direction associated with large continents especially Asia. In winter, the wind blows from land to sea; in summer it blows from sea to land.
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-Drought severity depends upon the degree of moisture deficiency, its duration, and the size of the affected area.
-Drought is a temporary happening, whereas aridity describes regions where low rainfall is a permanent feature of the climate. |
Drought, ways to think about it.
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- Front develops
- Wave develops - Cyclonic circulation established - Occlusion begins - Occluded front developed -Cyclone dissipates |
Life cycle of cyclone
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Dry-Summer Subtropical Climate
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Another term for Mediterranean climate
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Devoid of trees; bogs and marshes are common, and plant life frequently consists of mosses, low shrubs, and flowering herbs
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Tundra vegetation is....
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Similar to the northern coniferous forest region
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Taiga climate vegetation is...
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Continental interior effect sometimes combined with rainshadow effect
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Cause of the existence of mid-lat deserts and steppes
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Warm, humid air rises in an unstable environment
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Primary req for the formation of a tstorm
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Tstorm updrafts, wind shear, and a mesocyclone
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Ingredients for a tornado
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TX, OK, Nebraska
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Tornado alley
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Uses the doppler effect to determine direction
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Doppler radar
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Storm Surge
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Most coastal damage of a hurricane caused by this..
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Geography of hurricane formation
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Between 5-20 N or S over oceans, except over S Atlantic and S.E. Pacific
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Easterly Wave
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Undulations or ripples in the trade winds
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June-Nov
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6 month Atlantic hurricane season
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Aug - Oct
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3 month heart of Atlantic hurricane season
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1. Over cold water
2. Over land 3. Large scale flow aloft is unfavorable |
3 causes of hindering of strengthening hurricane
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5
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How many levels does the Saffir-Simpson (Hurricane) scale have
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Tropical Rainforest Climate
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Af
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Tropical Monsoon Climate
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Am
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Tropical Wet and Dry or Savanna Climate
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Aw
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Desert Climate, Coldest Month has an average temp that is above 0C
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BWh
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Desert Climate, At least one month averages below 0C
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BWk
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Steppe Climate, Coldest month has an average temp that is above 0C
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BSh
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Steppe Climate, At least one month averages below 0C
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BSk
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Dry-Summer Subtropical or Mediterranean Climates
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Csa/Csb
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Humid Subtropical Climates
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Cfa, Cwa
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Maritime Temperate Climates or Oceanic Climates
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Cfb, Cfc, Cwb, Cwc
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Temperate Highland Subtropical Climate with Dry Winters
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Cwb, Cwc
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Maritime Subarctic Climates or Subpolar Oceanic Climates
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Cfc
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Hot Summer Continental Climates
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Dfa, Dwa, Dsa
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Warm Summer Continental or Hemiboreal Climates
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Dfb, Dwb, Dsb
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Continental Subarctic or Boreal Climates
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Dfc, Dwc, Dsc
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Continental Subarctic Climates with extremely severe winters
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Dfd, Dwd, Dsd
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Tundra Climate
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ET
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Ice Cap Climate
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EF
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Highlands Climate
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H
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Check it
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Draw A Hypothetical Continent's Climates
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Check it
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Draw A Hypothetical Continent's Precip
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