U6 Weather Flashcards
What will increase if you remove vegetation from a hill?
runoff
What will decrease if you remove vegetation from a hill?
infiltration
Does evaporation require energy or release energy?
requires
Maritime air masses will be more __________ than continental air masses
humid
leeward side
the side of the mountain where the wind is going down; will have desert-like conditions (hot and dry)
windward side
the side of the mountain where the wind blows in from the sea and rises over the mountain causing it to rain; it will be humid/wet/cooler on this side
relative humidity
the actual amount of water vapor in the air/the amount of water vapor the air can hold
Air will move from areas of _______________ pressure to areas of ______________ pressure.
high to low
water table
the top part of the zone of saturation in groundwater
What location on a coastal mountain range are you most likely to find cloud cover and precipitation?
On the windward side near the top
El Nino
a cyclic weather event where the surface water of the Pacific on the west coast becomes warmer than normal and may cause NYC and the rest of the east coast to experience warmer, drier winters
Hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate __________________ and the wind moves _________________.
counterclockwise (because of the Coriolis effect) and inward (the eye of the hurricane is low pressure)
High windspeed on a weather map can be indicated by ____________________.
having isobars that are close together because that means there is a greater difference in air pressure in a smaller area so the air particles will move faster from high pressure to low pressure
Storms in the US typically move in what direction?
northeast
What can people do to best prepare for a tsunami?
plan evacuation routes to higher ground
If you see 010 on a weather map representing air pressure, what would be the actual air pressure experienced at this station?
1001.0 mb (if the 3 numbers are less than 500 put a 10 at the front and then a decimal before the last number)
If you see 955 on a weather map representing air pressure, what would be the actual air pressure experienced at this station?
995.5 mb (if the 3 numbers are more than 500 put a 10 at the front and then a decimal before the last number)
runoff
water running off the land surface
transpiration
water created from plants and trees enters the atmosphere
condensation
when water vapor cools, the particles slow down and get closer together turning it into a liquid
precipitation
when a cloud becomes full of water and the water droplets get too heavy they fall to the ground (snow, rain)
groundwater
water seeps into the ground and may become part of the water table
water table
the top surface of ground water
barometer
measures air pressure (barometric pressure)
wind vane
points to the wind direction
cold front
cold air mass overpowers a warm air mass; can be violent
warm front
a warm air mass overpowers a cold air mass (gentle/average rain)
occluded front
a cold air mass catches up from behind to a warm air mass that is part of a warm front; this will “wedge” the warm air mass upwards between the two cold air masses and become a very violent storm
freezing rain
precipitation that falls as rain and then freezes when it comes into contact with an object
hail
when water droplets are supercooled due to an updraft in a storm (occluded or cold front) and forms balls of ice that will fall
sleet
when rain falls but is then frozen in the cold air and falls as little pellets of ice
sling psychrometer
measures humidity using a wet and dry bulb
air pressure
the amount of air particles in an area (high pressure=high density of particles)
porosity
the amount of space between sediments
permeability
the ability to move through something
anemometer
measures wind speed
precipitation gauge
measures the amount of precipitation
gradient
change in field value over a given distance (field value may be elevation, temperature, air pressure, etc); same as slope; this equation is on the first page of the ESRT
isolines
a line showing that every value on that line is the same Ex: same elevation (contour lines), same air pressure (isobars), same temperatures (isotherms) etc.
