Ch 7

Question 1

Winds

Answer 1

generated by pressure differences that arise because of unequal heating of Earths surface

Question 2

Macroscale

Answer 2

planetary, weeks or longer, 1000-40000 km ex trade winds

synoptic/weather-map scale, days to week, 100-5000 km ex mid latitude cyclone, anticyclones, and hurricanes

Question 3

Mesoscale

Answer 3

minutes to hours, 1-100 km ex thunderstorms, tornadoes, and land-sea breeze

Question 4

Microscale

Answer 4

seconds to minutes; <1 km ex. turbulence, dust devils, and gusts

Question 5

Global winds

Answer 5

composite of all scales of motions

Question 6

Typhoon Vongfong

Answer 6

appears as a large whirling cloud; can easily see its counterclockwise rotation; moving north; made of many individual cumulonimbus clouds (thunderstorms) each of these clouds are made up of even smaller-scale turbulences

Question 7

Local Winds

Answer 7

mesoscale winds produced by a locally generated pressure gradient; many mesoscale circulations are the result of differential heating; if the heating/cooling is not uniform in the horizontal, the change in the thickness can result in horizontal pressure gradient which will drive the circulation

Question 8

Sea Breeze

Answer 8

during the daylight hours the air above the land heats and expands, creating an area of lower pressure, cooler and denser air over the water moves onto the land

Question 9

Land Breeze

Answer 9

at night the land cools more rapidly than the sea, generating offshore flow

Question 10

Mountain Breeze

Answer 10

at night, the mountain slopes cool the surrounding air more quickly than the air found lower in the atmosphere. This creates a high pressure as air becomes more densely packed. The resulting high pressure causes winds to blow down the mountain towards the valley floor.

Question 11

Valley Breeze

Answer 11

During the day, the surface of the mountain heats the air high up in the atmosphere, quicker than the valley floor cal. As the warmer air expands a low pressure is created near the top of the mountain. this attracts the air from the valley, creating a breeze that blows from the valley floor up towards the top of the mountain

Question 12

Chinook winds

Answer 12

Warm, dry winds sometimes move down the east slopes of the Rockies (snow eaters), and the alps (Foehn), such winds are often created when a strong pressure gradient develops in a mountainous region. Water is extracted from the air in the form of precipitation on the windward side. The air on the leeward side is warmer than the air on the windward side

Question 13

Santa Ana winds

Answer 13

noted for high speed, high temperature, and extreme dryness. These hot desiccating winds greatly increase the threat of fire in this already dry area

Question 14

Katabatic (fall) winds

Answer 14

in the winter, some adjacent to highlands may experience a local wind; these winds originate when cold air, situated over a highland area such as the ice sheet of Greenland or Antarctica, is set in motion; the initial temperatures are so low that the wind arrives in the lowlands still colder and more dense than the air it invades

Question 15

Country Breeze

Answer 15

circulation pattern is characterized by a light wind blowing from surrounding country side into the city; result of the urban heat island; clear calm nights; city buildings contain rock-like materials, tend to retain the heat accumulated during the day more than the less built up outlying areas

Question 16

Urban Heat Island

Answer 16

metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities

Question 17

Monsoons

Answer 17

greatest seasonal change in Earth’s global circulation; refers to a wind system that exhibits a pronounced seasonal reversal in direction;

Question 18

Winter Monsoons

Answer 18

winds that blow predominately off the continents and that produce a dry atmosphere

Question 19

Summer Monsoons

Answer 19

warm moisture-laden air blows from the sea toward the land; associated with abundant precipitation

Question 20

Asian Monsoon

Answer 20

winter–> land colder wind moves from land to ocean

summer wind moves from ocean–> land

Question 21

North American Monsoon

Answer 21

weaker one occurs over the deserts of AZ and Northern Mexico in summer. A heat low forms, and brings in moist air from the Gulf of California and the Gulf of Mexico; wind gulf–> AZ