Name Rebecca Gallanter Learning Unit 6 Extreme Weather Review Questions This assignment is designed to assess your understanding of Unit 6 and includes some of the Questions for Review at the end of Chapters 10 15 and 14 from your text plus a few additional questions Each question can be answered in one to two sentences Please limit yourself to a maximum of three sentences Access the assignment complete it with ANSWERS IN A DIFFERENT COLOR FONT as a separate file and send it back for evaluation and grading through the assignment tab by or before the due date 1 What causes the Earth s seasons such as winter and summer The tilt of the Earth s axis as it orbits around the sun for the year is what causes earth to experience seasons 2 How do greenhouse gases warm the Earth s atmosphere The greenhouse gases trap heat in the Earth s atmosphere just like a farmer s greenhouse s glass walls does to the plants inside it then lets the sun to shine in but stops most heat from getting out 3 An area of low atmospheric pressure is characterized by what kind of weather Low atmospheric pressure is characterized by rising warmer and humid air and cloudy skies and is associated with precipitation 4 What is the equation for calculating relative humidity and how to changes in water vapor content and temperature effect relative humidity The basic equation is the saturation vapor pressure maximum amount of moisture air can hold To change the water vapor content adding water will increase relative humidity and subtracting water will decrease relative humidity 5 What processes force air aloft The processes of stable air and unstable air force air aloft With stable air when an air parcel is forced aloft it cools faster than the surrounding environment If the lifting forced ceased the parcel would have the density to sink With unstable air the air parcel that are forced aloft cools slower than the surrounding environment If the lifting force stops the parcel will continue to rise because it is warmer and more buoyant than its surroundings 6 What is the main distinction between a cold front and a warm front storms found at both warm fronts and cold fronts Why are A warm front is when a warm air masses advances rapidly and a cold front is when cold air masses advance rapidly Both types of fronts are found in storms because there needs to be lift where the cold front pushes under the warm front in order for the storm to occure 7 What causes adiabatic lapse rate and what effect does the adiabatic lapse rate have on a rising parcel of air The adiabatic lapse rate is the way temperature changes with altitude in rising or falling air The that occur without the addition or subtraction of heat from an external source are what effect it Because air pressure decreases with increasing altitude rising air expands and sinking air is compressed 8 Why do clouds have a fairly well defined base at a particular altitude They have that base due to the Lifting condensation level the rising parcel reaches saturation temperature and cloud form 9 What causes the Coriolis force and what effect does it have on free moving objects including wind in the northern hemisphere The coriolis force deflects all free moving objects to the right of their path in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere and because of that it increases with wind speed and is strongest at the poles and weakens equator ward 10 Which way does the air rotate or circulate around a low pressure area In the northern hemisphere low pressure rotates counter clockwise and in the southern hemisphere low pressure rotates clockwise 11 Why do you see lightening before you hear thunder How far away is lightning if you hear the thunder 3 seconds after you see the flash of lightening The thunder and lightning happens at the same time but light travels faster than sound so that is why the lightning is seen first If you count 3 seconds thunderstorm is about 1 5 kilometers away 12 What causes the loud boom that we hear as thunder When the lightning heats the surrounding air to about 30 000 degrees Celsius it expands at supersonic speeds creating the boom we know as thunder 13 What can you feel that is a sign that you are at high risk of being struck by lightning What should you do to avoid being killed by lightening if caught out in the open with no place to take cover When the difference in the charge become great enough to overcome air resistance a sudden and visible violent electrical discharge occurs in the form of a lightning stroke If caught outside in the open during a storm then you should seek cover in a uniform area of trees or brush and if nothing is available then you should get low and cover your head with your arms 14 What process permits hailstones to grow to a large size If the updraft is strong enough the ice crystals can rise and fall many times That then causes the hailstones to get many new coats of water which then freezes making the hailstones get bigger and bigger in size 15 When is tornado season in the central United States Tornado season in the central United States is primarily April through June 16 What is a wall cloud and what is it s significance In tornados the rotational cell sags below the cloud base to form a distinctive slowly rotating wall cloud Strong tornadoes form within and then descend from the wall cloud 17 In what direction do most mid continent tornadoes travel along the ground and how fast do tornadoes move along the ground Most tornadoes travel northeast They can move across the ground at speeds up to 60 mph and have max wind speeds of more than 300 mph 18 What is the greatest danger what causes the most deaths from a tornado Extreme winds and flying debris cause almost all of the destruction and cause the most deaths from a tornado 19 What is used to classify the severity of tornadoes and what is the severity based on The Fujita Scale measures the severity of a tornado and is categorized based on wind speed estimated from the damage 20 How do weather forecasters watching weather radar identify an area that is likely to form tornadoes When the forcasters view the weather radar screens and see the counter clockwise rotation the mesocyclone gives the supercell a characteristic hook echo which can often be an indication of a type of spin cell and then lead to a tornado 21 If you do not have a tornado shelter where in a home is the safest place to be If you do not have a basement where in the home is the safest
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