Weather Flashcards
What’s the symbol for mist?
It’s two lines, One line on top with another being under. _
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What’s the symbol for fog?
It’s three lines, each line under each other -
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What’s the symbol for thunder?
It’s an arrow thats zig zagging downwards like an lightning for example
What’s the symbol for drizzle?
It’s like a dot with a flick and the end it kind of looks with a comma for example it looks like this ; but combined together
What’s the symbol for rain?
It’s just a dot like a full stop .
What’s the symbol for heavy rain?
It’s three dots one on top with two underneath creating a triangle of three dots .
. .
What’s the symbol for snow?
It’s a shape of a snowflake or star just ONE
What’s the symbol of heavy snow?
It’s three shapes of snowflakes/star one on top with two under it for example like the heavy rain symbol it’s just the same
What’s the symbol of hail?
It’s a triangle that’s black or shaded in
What’s the symbol for shower?
It’s an upside triangle THATS not black or shaded in
Where is temperature shown in a station circle?
Temperature is shown at the top left of the circle
What do these symbols represent?
These symbols represent the temperature, wind speed, wind direction, cloud cover and precipitation e.g Rain, snow, fog
Where is precipitation shown in the station circle?
Precipitation is shown by a symbol at the bottom left of the circle
How is wind direction shown on the station circle?
Wind direction is shown by a line reading into the station circle so if the wind is coming from the east a line outside the circle is created thats showing us that it’s coming from the east into the circle
What does a circle round the circle station mean?
This shows that there was no wind/ there isn’t any wind which means it’s calm
Where do you add wind speed?
You add the wind speed on the line from where the wind direction is coming from depending on what knot it is which is the wind speed unit
What are barbs?
The barbs are the line of the wind speed that needs to point to the direction the wind is coming from
What’s does mph mean?
Miles per hour (units for speed)
What 1knot in mph?
1.15mph (miles per hour)
What is cloud cover?
Cloud cover is shown by the amount of shading inside the station circle.
What is cloud cover measured in?
Cloud cover is measured in oktas eights of the sky
What is weather?
Weather is day to day conditions in the atmosphere weather can change rapidly and there may be many types of weather experienced in a single day the weather could be described as warm,cold,windy,dry,snowy and wet etc.
What is temperature?
Temperature is the degree of hotness or coldness of the atmosphere on some chosen scale. It is commonly measured in Celsius or Fahrenheit.
What is wind speed?
Wind speed describes how fast the air is moving past a certain point.
What is wind direction?
The true direction from which the wind is blowing at a given location
What’s clear sky on a station circle?
It’s nothing it’s just a blank circle
What’s 1okta on a station circle?
It’s just a line coming down from the middle straight down
What’s 2oktas?
It’s a quarter of a circle shaded in leaving the rest blank
What’s 3oktas?
A line coming straight down from the middle like 1okta with a quarter of it shaded in
What’s 4oktas?
Its when half the circle is shaded in
What’s 5oktas?
It’s when half the circle is shaded in with a line coming across from left to right for example like 1okta but instead of straight down it’s across
What’s 6oktas?
It’s three quarters that’s shaded in, leaving a quarter blank
What’s 7oktas?
Its when both sides of the circle are shaded in leaving a space/gap between them in the middle
What’s 8oktas?
It’s when the circle is shaded in fully
Obscure on a station circle?
It’s when there’s a X or a cross
What’s a synoptic chart?
A synoptic chart is a map that summarises the atmospheres conditions over a wide area at a given time
What’s the main weather element on a synoptic chart?
On a synoptic chart the main weather element is air pressure
What are isobar lines?
Isobar lines, which join up areas of equal air pressure are drawn on a synoptic chart
The patter these lines make show areas of low or high pressure
What does it mean by isobars?
Isobars drawn close together on a map illustrate high winds, the wider the isobar the lighter the winds
What happens the closer the isobars are?
The closer the isobars the faster the wind
What does fronts mean?
Fronts mean rain there’s warm, cold and occluded front they all mean different things
What does it mean by warm fronts?
Warm fronts are a long period of steady rain
Whats warm fronts?
Warm fronts is a long period of steady rain
Whats cold/occluded fronts?
Cold/occluded fronts are a shorter spell of heavy rain
What happens between the warm and cold fronts?
The temperature between the warm and cold fronts is higher than outside them - this hotter area is called the warm sector
Where do depressions move?
Usually depressions move west to east over Britain
What affects temperature and precipitation in the uk?
There are 4 main ways in which the temperature and precipitation throughout the Uk are affected:
Latitude, aspect, relief, distance from the sea
What is latitude?
Latitude is places closer to the equator that are usually warmer
The further latitude is south the area is?
The further south the area is, the less atmosphere the suns rays have to pass through to reach the earth. This means that less heat is lost to clouds and gases in the atmosphere
The further latitude north you go the area is?
The further north you go, the more curved the earth becomes. This means that the sun has to heat up a larger surface area. This means the heat is less concentrated in the north than the south
What is aspect?
Aspect - this means the direction the land is facing. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Therefore the sun shines at it’s strongest when it is shining from the south (around midday). This means that southerly facing places will get much more sun than those places facing north.
Why do north facing areas remain cooler?
The sun never shines directly from the north and so North facing areas remain cooler.
What winds are southerly places sheltered from?
The winds from the north (Arctic) are usually the coldest. Southerly places are usually sheltered from these winds.
Why do west facing places receive more wetter weather?
Land which faces the Atlantic Ocean (west facing) receive more of the wetter weather as the air has picked up moisture from the ocean. East facing areas are sheltered from this rain.
What is relief?
Relief – This is the height and shape of the land. In general, the higher you go, the colder it gets (temperature decreases by 1 degrees Celsius for every 100 metres in height.) So if the temperature is around 18 degrees Celsius at the bottom of a 1000 metre mountain, the temperature at the top will be around 8 degrees Celsius
What do higher areas get than lower areas?
Higher areas get more rain than lower areas. This is due to RELEIF RAINFALL.
What is relief rainfall?
Relief rainfall means rain caused by the land varying in height. Relief rainfalls is formed when the air cools as it rises over relief features in the landscape such as hills or mountains. As the air rises, it cools, condenses and forms rain.
Why does east get less rain than west?
Most of the rain from the Atlantic Ocean is dropped on the west of the UK. As the winds move east, they carry less moisture, and therefore the east gets much less rain than the west.
What is distance from the sea?
Distance from the sea – In winter, the west of the UK is usually warmer than the east.
Why is the west of the Uk during winter warmer than the east?
This is due to:
• The North Atlantic Drift (a warm water current) keeps the temperatures of the west warmer than they should be as the heat from the sea heats up the land.
• South West winds bring warmer air from the Atlantic Ocean.
What is an air mass?
An air mass is a large body of air with similar temperature and/or humidity
Where do air masses form?
Air masses form in stable “source regions” such as in the sun tropics or near to the poles
What weather does Tropical bring?
It brings Warm/hot weather
What weather does arctic bring?
It brings Cold,icy weather
What weather does maritime bring?
It brings Moist air which brings wet weather
What weather does continental bring?
It brings dry air which brings dry weather
Where does tropical maritime air masses come from?
Tm (tropical maritime) air masses come from the south west and originates over the Caribbean. They bring mild, damp, cloudy weather.
Where does tropical continental air masses come from?
Tc (tropical continental) air masses come from the south and originate over dry Northern Africa. This air will be dry as it has had no opportunity to pick up moisture from the ocean. They bring hot,dry weather and summer heatwaves
Where does polar maritime air masses come from?
Pm (polar maritime) air masses come from the north-west and originate over the North Atlantic therefore picking up moisture as it moves towards the UK. They bring cool,moist conditions
Where does polar continental air masses come from?
Pc (polar continental) air masses come from the east and originate over Scandinavia and Russia. They bring clear dry conditions - cold in winter, warm in summer
What do warm fronts bring?
Warm fronts bring warm air behind them
What do cold fronts bring?
Cold fronts bring cold air behind them
