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Intro To Weather And Climate > Exam 2 > Flashcards

Exam 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Clouds consist of

A

Liquid or solid water droplets suspended in the atmosphere

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2
Q

Cloud formation requires..

A

Condensation nucleii, most are between 2 and 10 micrometers.

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3
Q

Hygroscopic nucleii…

A

Are charged particles. They attract water

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4
Q

Cloud classification is based on..

A

Appearance
Altitude
Temperature
Composition

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5
Q

Cold clouds and warm clouds- temperature

A

Lower than 0 degrees Celsius are cold clouds

Above 0 degrees Celsius is a warm cloud.

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6
Q

Curriform clouds (appearance)

A

Wispy & fibrous

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7
Q

Stratiform clouds (appearance)

A

Thick and layered

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8
Q

Cumuliform clouds (appearance)

A

Heaped or puffy

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9
Q

Altocumulus lenticularis cloud

A

Most common down wind of mountain ranges. Looks like a flat oval in the sky.

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10
Q

Noctilucent clouds

A

In the upper mesopheric clouds when water freezes on meteoric particles. Kind of look like northern lights.

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11
Q

Fog is…

A

A cloud in contact with the ground. Condensation of atmospheric water vapor at low altitudes.

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12
Q

Types of fog..

A

Radiation
Advection
Steam
Upslope

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13
Q

Radiation fog..

A

Most common over saturated ground on clear nights

Ground radiates heat rapidly, cools overlying air to saturation point.

Also common in valleys due to cold air drainage.

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14
Q

Advection fog…

A

Surfaces can modify air traveling over the surface

Warm moist air moving over colder surface can cool to dew point and form fog.

Golden Gate Bridge/ San Fran Cisco is the most famous form of this.

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15
Q

Steam fog…

A

Cold dry air moves over water body.

Water body humidifies air until saturated.

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16
Q

Upslope fog…

A

Air moving upslope cools and condenses

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17
Q

Precipitation formation

A

It has to grow to form, and as it becomes heavy it will fall out.

A raindrop is 1 million times the volume of water of a typical cloud droplet.

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18
Q

The Bergeron Process

A

Typical of cold clouds in middle altitude.

Water is given up by water droplets and condenses onto the ice crystals (where relative humidity exceeds 100%)

The ice crystals will become heavy and fall out of the sky

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19
Q

Collision-Coalescence Process

A

Typical of warm clouds

Large hygroscopic condensation nucleii cause heavy water droplets to form. These droplets are running into each other and get broken up

Most efficient over tropical oceans

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20
Q

Forms of precipitation

A 
Rain 
Drizzle
Hail
Ice pellets 
Snow
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21
Q

Rain

A

0.5 to 6 mm in diameters. The size depends on coalescence

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22
Q

Drizzle

A

0.2-0.5 mm in diameters

Limited coalescence and size equals low terminal velocity.

This is the same as rain but smaller and falls slower.

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23
Q

Snow

A

Agglomerations of ice crystals that form flakes.

They get bigger the closer you get to the freezing point.

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24
Q

Ice Pellets ( sleet)

A

Irregularly shaped particles of ice 0.5 mm or less in diameter.

Snowflakes that partially or completely melt falling through warm air, then referee into ice in a cold layer before hitting the ground.

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25
Q

Hail

A

Lumps of ice that have concentric layering.

Requires a strong updraft and a lot of energy to create this.

World record- soccer ball size

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26
Q

Air pressure

A

Air exerts force on the surface of all objects it contacts.

The air molecules collide with a surface area in contact with air.

The force of these collisions per unit are is pressure

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27
Q

Air pressure can be thought of as

A

The weight of overlying air acting on a unit area.

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28
Q

Average air pressure at sea level.

A

760 mm

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29
Q

The world wide standard of measuring air pressure, metric scale.

A

Pascal
At sea level 101,325 pascals
1013.25 hectopascals
101.325 kilo pascals

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30
Q

How the US measure air pressure

A

Bars.

A bar is 29.53 inches of mercury

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31
Q

The standard used to measure air pressure on weather maps

A

Millibar. Meaning 1/1000 of a bar

32
Q

Global average of millibars at Sea level pressure.

A

1013 mb

33
Q

Usual worldwide range of pressures found at any given time through out.

A

970mb- 1040 mb
Lowest ever was 870 mb
Highest ever was 1083.8 mb

34
Q

As you go up in the atmosphere the pressure goes

A

Down.

35
Q

Cold air is more dense because…

A

There is less spacing between the molecules and they pack together.

36
Q

Warm air is less dense because…

A

There is more spacing between the particles and they are moving around.

37
Q

On a high humid day, the pressure is

A

Lower

38
Q

Low humidity has ——- pressure

A

Higher

39
Q

Horizontal pressures tell us

A

How hard the air is pushing down in different locations.

The air pressure will ALWAYS be higher in Wilmington than in Denver.

40
Q

The two ways that air pressure can be formed.

A

Thermal ( temperature) or Dynamic (airflow)

41
Q

Thermal high pressure

A

= cold surface and high air density

42
Q

Thermal low

A

= warm surface and low air density.

43
Q

Dynamic high

A

When air is being forced down towards the surface ( piling up)

44
Q

Dynamic low

A

When air is being forced upwards in the atmosphere ( decreasing the pile)

45
Q

Measuring wind

A

Winds are described by speed and direction

46
Q

Direction of wind

A

Wind is always named for the direction that the wind is coming FROM.

westerly wind is coming from the west.

47
Q

What wind is

A

Wind is the atmosphere trying to level itself out

Prevailing wind in North America are westerly winds coming FROM the west.

48
Q

Prevailing Winds

A

When winds often come from a predictable / reoccurring direction

49
Q

How wind is measured

A

Measured at the surface using a cup anemometer or aerovane.

50
Q

3 forces that govern the wind

A

1) pressure gradient force
2) Coriolis Effect
3) friction

51
Q

Isobars on a map

A

When isobars on a map are close together that means there are higher winds.

Air flows from high pressure to low pressure.

52
Q

Main force that effects the wind

A

Pressure gradient force

Flow is high to low and perpendicular to isobars.
Isobars tell you the speed of the wind.

53
Q

How to tell if a map is showing low pressure.

A

When the L is a number (988) and all the numbers around it are higher. This is what makes that the low pressure.

54
Q

Hw to tell if a map is showing a high pressure

A

The H on the map will be the highest number making it the high pressure.

55
Q

Number 2 impact on wind direction

A

Coriolis effect

56
Q

Coriolis Effect

A

An apparent deflection of a path related to the fact that the Earth is a curved surface.

57
Q

The rotational velocity of any one point on earth is directly related to

A

Latitude

58
Q

Coriolis effect in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

A

Northern Hemisphere-deflection to the right
Southern Hemisphere- deflection to the left.

The direction is all relevant to the object in motion.

59
Q

Coriolis gets stronger at

A

Higher locations

60
Q

Coriolis is weakest at

A

Low latitudes

61
Q

There is NO Coriolis at

A

The equator

62
Q

Friction

A

Is the resistance to movement

63
Q

Most friction occurs

A

At the surface, air running into trees, mountains, buildings, etc.

When we are in higher the atmosphere friction is not really a factor.

64
Q

At high altitudes the absence of friction means that only —— and ——- are impacting airflow.

A

Pressure gradient and Coriolis.

65
Q

When Coriolis is equal and opposite of pressure gradient force, this is called

A

Geostrophic winds which is high altitude, high elevation winds.

66
Q

In high altitudes winds are parallel to isobars on

A

Isomeric maps

67
Q

Cyclonic and Anticyclonic flows in the Northern Hemisphere

A

Cyclonic- counter clockwise

Anticyclonic- clockwise

68
Q

Cyclonic and Anticyclonic flows In the Southern Hemisphere

A

Southern Hemisphere
Cyclonic- clockwise
Anticyclonic- counter clockwise

69
Q

Geostrophic winds

A

Up in the atmosphere. Pressure gradient and Coriolis are factors. These winds flow parallel with isobars.

70
Q

At the surface, Friction decreases

A

The Coriolis impact

71
Q

Surface winds

A

Are the the lower atmosphere where friction plays a much bigger role by decreasing the Coriolis effect.

72
Q

Horizontal convergence

A

When the air flows towards a low pressure center and will ‘pile up’ at the surface.

This air has to go somewhere so we get air rising and then DIVERGING at high altitudes.

73
Q

When air goes up in the atmosphere it runs into the tropopause and

A

Spreads out

74
Q

Air flowing away from a high pressure center will cause air flow to subside from high altitudes in the atmosphere and

A

Spread out at the surface

75
Q

Converging airflow

A

The ‘removal’ of air particles at high altitudes that creates low pressure center aloft.

Intro To Weather And Climate (1 decks)

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