Midterm #2 Content

Question 1

Streams merge into ______ and then into ______.

Answer 1

Tributaries; rivers

Question 2

What’s a drainage basin?

Answer 2

Area drained by a single stream or river
AKA watershed, river basin, or catchment
Surface drainage is called runoff

Question 3

What’s a floodplain?

Answer 3

The area around a river channel that could flood

Question 4

What are hurricanes and what direction is the wind rotating in each hemisphere?

Answer 4

Hurricanes are an area of center of low pressure with rotating winds.
COUNTER-clockwise in Northern Hemisphere
CLOCKWISE in Southern Hemisphere

Question 5

How are hurricanes (tropical cyclones) characterized?

Answer 5

By intensity; sustained wind speeds and lowest atmospheric temperature

Question 6

Differentiate between tropical and extratropical cyclones

Answer 6

Tropical: form over warm ocean water; they’re warm; high winds, heavy rain, surges, tornadoes; derive energy from warm ocean water and latent heat.
Extratropical: form over land or water in temperate regions; cool central cores; they’re cold; strong windstorms, heavy rain, snowstorms, blizzards; most don’t produce severe weather.

Question 7

Differentiate between conduction, convection, and radiation

Answer 7

Conduction: transfer through atomic or molecular interactions; two bodies in contact
Convection: transfer through mass movement of a fluid; hot air rises displaces cool air, which falls
Radiation: transfer through electromagnetic waves; emitted by a substance that possesses heat

Question 8

What happens when electromagnetic energy from the sun reaches earth? (3 options)

Answer 8

Redirected, transmitted, or absorbed

Question 9

Is pressure high or low at the equator?

Answer 9

Low

Question 10

What are the 3 conditions for a thunderstorm to occur?

Answer 10

1) Warm, humid air available in lower atmosphere
2) Steep, vertical temp gradient; rising air is warmer than the air above it
3) Updraft must force air up to the upper atmosphere

Question 11

What are the 3 stages of a thunderstorm?

Answer 11

1) Cumulus stage; growing clouds
2) Mature stage; heavy rain, lighting and thunder, hail
3) Dissipating stage; weakens, clouds go away

Question 12

What are the two types of lightning?

Answer 12

Cloud to ground
Cloud to cloud

Question 13

How are tornadoes defined?

Answer 13

Defined by vortex extending downward from the cloud and touching the groundW

Question 14

What is a funnel cloud?

Answer 14

When a tornado isn’t touching the ground

Question 15

What scale is used for tornadoes?

Answer 15

Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF); from 0-5, lowest to highest damage

Question 16

What are the 3 conditions for freezing rain?

Answer 16

1) Ample source of moisture
2) Warm air over layer of cold air
3) Objects on land close to or at freezing

Question 17

What scale is used for hurricanes?

Answer 17

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale; from 1-5, lowest to highest danger

Question 18

How are cyclones named?

Answer 18

Named once winds reach 63 km/h
Names are reused every 6 years
Names of big storms are retired (Katrina)
Named BY World Meteorological Organization

Question 19

What are the components of hurricane structure?

Answer 19

1) Rain bands; clouds that spiral inward around center
2) Eyewall; innermost bands of clouds
3) Eye; area of calm at center of hurricane

Question 20

How is the movement of hurricanes controlled?

Answer 20

Controlled by the Coriolis effect and steering winds

Question 21

What is the coriolis effect?

Answer 21

Circulating air is deflected toward the right in the North, and left in the South.

Question 22

How do humans interact with cyclones?

Answer 22

Global warming contributes to higher intensity and frequency of hurricanes
Urbanization in coastal areas makes us more likely to suffer from the damages of these disasters

Question 23

How are tropical cyclones classified?

Answer 23

As tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes with increasing wind speed.

Question 24

How many deaths occurred with Hurricane Katrina, and what level on the scale was it?

Answer 24

1800 deaths, category 5

Question 25

How many deaths occurred with Hurricane Rita, and what level on the scale was it?

Answer 25

120 deaths, category 5

Question 26

What areas did hurricanes Katrina and Rita most affect?

Answer 26

New Oreleans (Katrina); Cameron Parish (Rita)