Storm Hazards

Question 1

What are the 3 types of fronts on a weather map?

Answer 1

Cold front
Warm front
Occluded front

(Isobars and air pressure can also be seen)

Question 2

What are three names for tropical storms?

Answer 2

Hurricanes
Cyclones
Typhoons

Question 3

What is the model that shows the Hadley, Ferrell and polar cells?

Answer 3

The Tricellular Model

Question 4

When do hurricanes occur?

Answer 4

June-October
AND
August-October

Question 5

When do cyclones occur?

Answer 5

October-March

Question 6

When do typhoons occur?

Answer 6

May-December

Question 7

What conditions are needed for a storm to form?

Answer 7

• warm, deep ocean water
• low pressure (depression)
• high winds
• warm air generating heavy clouds

Question 8

How do we measure tropical storms?

Answer 8

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane scale

Question 9

How many categories does the Saffir-Simpson scale have?

Answer 9

5

Question 10

What are the primary impacts of a storm?

Answer 10

• heavy rainfall (>100mm/day)
• high winds (>120km/h)
• storage surge (tidal surge)

Question 11

What are the secondary impacts of a storm?

Answer 11

• flooding
• landslides/mudslides
• damage to buildings, roads and bridges
• loss of power/communication cables
• crop failure
• flying debris
• wildfires
• injury and death
• loss of revenue to the area

Question 12

What does the National Hurricane Centre and Joint Typhoon Warning System do?

Answer 12

• provide coverage for Atlantic and Pacific oceans
• use geospatial and orbiting satellites to gather data
• information on storm structure, rain, wind speed and direction is gathered
• run numerical models through supercomputers on a daily basis to allow prediction of storm tracks

Question 13

What is the UK Public Emergency Warning System?

Answer 13

• became active on 23rd April 2023
• will provide advanced warning of floods, wildfires and more, as well as terror attacks
• sends a siren alert to your mobile phone
• is difficult to opt out of

Question 14

What are the social impacts of storms?

Answer 14

• death
• disease
• increase in Cholera cases
• increase in stress
• homelessness
• PTSD
• breaking up of communities
• damage to properties
• looting
• increase in insurance premiums - people may not take out insurance
• loss of jobs

Question 15

What are the economic impacts of storms?

Answer 15

• cost of repair
• loss of crops
• loss of business
• increase in oil prices
• increase insurance prices
• loss of exports

Question 16

What are the environmental impacts of a storm?

Answer 16

• damage to ecosystems
• silting up of waterways
• mudslides
• loss of habitat
• flooding

Question 17

How is a tropical storm formed?

Answer 17

• warm air rises rapidly, drawing more air and large volumes of moisture from the ocean, causing strong winds

• the rising air will cool and condense to form tall cumulonimbus clouds -this released latent heat, which is released without a change in temperature, which powers. There will be low winds present that allow the tropical storm clouds to rise high without being torn apart.

• the winds start to spin upwards due to the Coriolis effect - the effect of the earths axis

• eye is formed by cool air shrinking, creating a zone of high pressure, leading to calm and drier conditions.