Earth Science, Tarbuck Chap 19

Question 1

What are air masses

Answer 1

large bodies of air that have uniform temperature and moisture across a given altitude

Question 2

How are air masses categorized

Answer 2

Polar(high latitude, cold), Arctic(high latitude, cold), tropical(low latitude, warm), continental(origin above continent, dry) and maritime(origin above Water, humid)

Question 3

What are lake effect snows

Answer 3

When cP air masses move over across a lake in winter months, the warmth and moisture of a lake causes clouds to develop

Question 4

where do cP air masses form that affect America

Answer 4

Canada, air masses move southward

Question 5

Where do mT air masses form that affect America

Answer 5

Gulf of Mexico, move Northward

Question 6

maritime tropical air masses have what effect on america

Answer 6

produces most of the precipitation in America

Question 7

Air mass that least affects American weather

Answer 7

Continental Tropical

Question 8

What is a Nor’ Easter

Answer 8

Storm along East Coast of America originating from North East, most often England. Occurs in winter and is caused by Cyclone pulling in maritime polar air as it travels across the atlantic

Question 9

What are fronts

Answer 9

boundary surfaces that
separate air masses of different densities

Question 10

What is Overrunning

Answer 10

Warm air masses rise above cold ones in fronts

Question 11

What is a warm front

Answer 11

surface position of a front moves so that warm air
occupies territory formerly covered by cooler air,

Question 12

Warm fronts bring what

Answer 12

Precipitation

Question 13

When warm fronts approach, what clouds form

Answer 13

Cirrus -> Cirrostratus -> stratus -> nimbostratus ->

Question 14

What precipitation does warm fronts bring

Answer 14

Light-moderate precipitation over extended periods

Question 15

What temperature difference does warm fronts bring

Answer 15

Gradual increase in temperature

Question 16

What is a cold front

Answer 16

When dense cold air is actively advancing into a region
occupied by warmer air

Question 17

Cold front weather is usually what

Answer 17

violent

Question 18

As cold fronts approach, what clouds form

Answer 18

dark band of ominous clouds

Question 19

Precipitation formed in cold fronts

Answer 19

Violent storms but for small durations

Question 20

What is a stationary front

Answer 20

flow on both sides of a front is neither toward the cold air mass nor toward the warm air mass but almost parallel to the line of the front

Question 21

What is an occluded front

Answer 21

forms when a warm air mass gets caught between two cold air masses

Question 22

Primary Weather producers in Mid-latitude

Answer 22

Mid-latitude cyclones

Question 23

What are Mid-Latitude Cyclones

Answer 23

large centers of low pressure that generally travel from west to east. Forms when contrasting air masses, typically cold polar air mass and a warm tropical air mass,

Question 24

Weather in mid-latitude cyclones

Answer 24

Abundent precipitation

Question 25

Shape of Mid-latitude Cyclone

Answer 25

Comma shaped

Question 26

What are tornados

Answer 26

narrow, violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. The tornado has very low pressure compared to surrounding air, which causes the insurgence of air

Question 27

Stronger tornadoes oftenly contain what

Answer 27

Smaller vortices within the large one, called suction vortices

Question 28

What are supercells

Answer 28

Huge thunderstorms

Question 29

What is needed to create a thunderstorm

Answer 29

Moisture, instability, and lifting mechanism

Question 30

What is wind shear

Answer 30

a wind direction and/or speed change over a vertical or horizontal distance

Question 31

What is a mesocyclone

Answer 31

a vertical cylinder of rotating air, typically about 3 to 10 kilometers (2 to 6 miles) across, that develops in the updraft of a severe thunderstorm.

Question 32

How do mesocyclones form

Answer 32

Speed wind shear(Wind gets faster as elevation increases due to less friction) causes wind to produce a rolling motion. If updraft causes this rotating air to be aligned nearly vertical, a mesocyclone forms, producing a wall cloud.

Question 33

How are Tornadoes and mesocyclones related

Answer 33

Mesocyclones generate a wall cloud( a large, rotating, localized cloud that forms beneath a thunderstorm base) where a funnel cloud emerges. If the funnel clouds touches the ground, a tornado is formed

Question 34

Why do mid-latitude cyclones form around Central America

Answer 34

no significant natural barrier separating the center of the country from the arctic or the Gulf of Mexico

Question 35

Where do the air masses that form mid-latitude cyclones usually originate in america

Answer 35

polar air from Canada and maritime tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico

Question 36

The greater the contrast between the two air masses, the greater the

Answer 36

Intensity of the storm

Question 37

Most commonly used guide to tornado intensity

Answer 37

Enhanced Fujita intensity scale

Question 38

How does the enhanced fujita intensity scale work

Answer 38

by assessing the worst damage produced by a storm, taking account of structural integrity of buildings

Question 39

What are hurricanes

Answer 39

are intense centers of low pressure what form over tropical oceans and are characterized by intense thunderstorm activity

Question 40

Difference between Mid-latitude cyclones and Hurricanes

Answer 40

Hurricanes do not have contrasting air masses and fronts

Question 41

What energy maintains the hurricane

Answer 41

huge quantity of latent heat liberated during the formation of the storm’s cumulonimbus towers

Question 42

How is the pressure gradient from the outer to the inner edge of a hurricane

Answer 42

Steep, inner edge of hurricane is very low pressure

Question 43

What is the eye wall in a hurricane

Answer 43

doughnut-shaped wall of intense convective activity surrounding the center of the storm

Question 44

Where does the heaviest rainfall and the highest wind speed occur in a hurricane

Answer 44

Eye wall

Question 45

What is at the center of a hurricane

Answer 45

Hurricane eye, where wind and rain subsides

Question 46

When do most hurricanes form

Answer 46

Summer, where water temperatures are above 80 F

Question 47

Where do most hurricanes form

Answer 47

5-20 degree latitude

Question 48

Why do hurricanes not form from the equator to 5 degrees latitude

Answer 48

Coriolis effect is too weak to initiate rotary motion

Question 49

How do hurricanes decay

Answer 49

Move onto land, Move into areas without warm, moist air, or move into location where flow aloft is not favorable

Question 50

What is the Main Hurricane scale we use

Answer 50

Saffir-Simpson Scale