precipitation

Question 1

define precipitation

Answer 1

any liquid/frozen water that is formed in atmosphere and falls down back to earth
one of the main 3 steps in the water cycle - evaporation and condensation

Question 2

explain how precipitation occurs

Answer 2

forms in clouds when water vapour condenses to form large water droplets
come together and attach themselves to dust particles/ condensation nuclei to eventually form rain clouds
once saturated with liquid water, rainfall occurs and falls back down to earth

Question 3

how is snow/hail formed

Answer 3

when cloud is cooler ( located at higher altitude ) water droplets may freeze to form ice and falls as snow/hail

Question 4

list three types of rainfall

Answer 4

conventional
orographic
cyclonic/frontal

Question 5

explain conventional (4)

Answer 5

air is heated from surrounding warm temperature underground
on ground/land, expands and becomes less dense causing air to rise
if contains moisture which is in its gaseous state so condenses as it rises and cools
water vapour turns into water droplets attaching themselves to dust particles
form rain bearing clouds which when saturated results in conventional rainfall which can be sometimes accompanied by thunder and lightning

Question 6

what is inter tropical convergence zone

Answer 6

type of conventional rainfall which occurs in caribbean suppling large amounts of rainfall across region
places like guyana and brazil get 2 sets of rainfall because of this

Question 7

explain orographic relief (5)

Answer 7

most common in caribbean especially on islands with steep relief
prevailing winds like the north east trade winds bring in moist air from atlantic ocean
as air reaches mountains, forced to rise cools and condenses to form water vapour which comes together to form thick clouds
produce large amounts of rainfall over mountain especially on windward side
on leeward side air descends becomes warmer and drier and referred to as rain shadow

Question 8

explain cyclonic / frontal (6)

Answer 8

result from cold air mass meeting tropical warm air mass
cold air mass approaches warm tropical air mass it undercuts it and forces it to rise
cools and condenses to form rain clouds resulting in heavy thunder showers
most common in northern caribbean islands like jamaican cuba puerto rico
occurs mainly in north american winter season as cold air moves southwards from north american continent
winds referred to as northers