Physical - Weather Flashcards
Precipitation
Any water coming from the sky (rain, sleet, hail, or snow)
Measured in mm
Cloud cover
Amount of the sky covered in clouds
Measured in oktas (eighths)
Wind direction
Direction from which the wind is blowing
Measured in degrees/compass points
Wind speed
How fast/strong the wind is blowing
Measured in knots, mph, kmph, and Beaufort scale
Visibility
How far you can see (haze, fog, mist, haar)
Measured in miles/km or description (good occasionally poor)
Temperature
How much heat is in the air
Measured in °C or °F
Pressure
How heavy the air is
Measured in millibars/hPa
What are the factors affecting UK temperatures?
- Latitude - the further north you are, the shallower the angle of the sunlight (meaning the light is less concentrated as it has more atmosphere to travel through)
- Aspect - in the northern hemisphere, southern facing slopes get moe sun than northern facing slopes
- Relief - temperature decreases by 1°C per 100m climbed (wind speed also increases)
- Distance from the sea - the closer you are to the sea, the lower the temperature range is because the sea warms and cools slower than the land
- Ocean currents - the gulf stream keeps the West Coast warmer
What are the factors affecting UK rainfall?
- Relief - as the air rises over the mountains, it cools and condenses, forming clouds
- Aspect - west facing slopes recieve more rainfall as they are facing the Atlantic
- Distance from sea - the further away from the sea, the drier the air as it has already dropped its rain (east is drier than west because of the prevailing wind)
What are the 5 different air masses?
- Tropical Maritime - from the south-west (warm and wet, hot summers, mild winters)
- Tropical Continental - from the south-east (warm and dry, hot summers, mild winters)
- Polar Maritime - from the north-west (cold and wet, mild summers, cold winters)
- Polar Continental - from the north-east (cold and dry, warm summers, cold winters)
- Arctic - from the north (cold, mild summers, cold winters)
Isobar
Lines indicating the same pressure on a synoptic chart (like contour lines)
Occluded front
Where the cold front meets the warm front
Cold front
Where the cold air undercuts the warm air
Warm front
Where the warm air rises over the cold air
Warm sector
A wedge of warm air during a depression
Cirrus clouds
Thin, wispy, high clouds
Stratus clouds
Blanket of boring grey clouds across the sky
Cumulus
Fluffy white clouds
Cumulonimbus
Tall, fluffy, dark grey clouds full of rain
Nimbostratus
Dark grey stratus clouds full of rain
What are the 5 stages of a passage of a depression?
- Warm front approaching: cool, high cirrus clouds, dry, increasing wind
- Under warm front: getting wamer, low, thick (nimbostratus) clouds, persistent precipitation, strong winds
- In the warm sector: warm, broken clouds, occasional showers, less wind
- Under cold front: getting colder, cumulonimbus clouds, heavy precipitation, very strong wind
- After passage of cold front: cold/cool, broken clouds, mostly dry, calm
Which direction does wind travel along an anticyclone?
Clockwise
Which direction does wind travel along a depression?
Anti-clockwise
What are the characteristics of an anticyclone in summer?
- High temperatures
- No precipitation
- Cool nights
- Dew/haar
What are the characteristics of an anticyclone in winter?
- Freezing temperatures
- No precipitation
- Frost
- Freezing nights
- Low sun
What are the precipitation symbols?
- Drizzle: a comma ,
- Shower: an upside down triangle
- Rain: a dot .
- Snow: a star
- Hail: a triangle
- Thunderstorm: a weird hangman thing (total internal reflection)
- Heavy rain: 3 dots
- Sleet: dot and star
- Mist: 2 lines
- Fog: 3 lines
What are the cloud cover symbols?
- 1 okta: line down middle
- 2 oktas: 1 quarter filled
- 3 oktas: 1 quarter filled and a line down the middle
- 4 oktas: half filled
- 5 oktas: half filled and line
- 6 oktas: 3 quarters filled
- 7 oktas: all filled bar middle bit
- Clear sky: empty circle
- Sky obscured: lamp
What are wind speed symbols?
- Calm: double circle
- 1-2 kts: stick
- 5kts: short notch on stick
- 10kts: long notch on stick
- 35 kts: 3 long notches 1 short notch on stick
- 50kts or more: triangle on stick
