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SJSU METR 112 - Extreme Weater Presentation-Mullens

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Slide 1Slide 2Slide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13Slide 14Slide 15Slide 16Slide 17Slide 18Slide 19Slide 20Slide 21Slide 22Slide 23Slide 24Slide 25Slide 26Slide 27Slide 28Slide 29Slide 30Slide 31Slide 32Slide 33Slide 34Slide 35Slide 36Slide 37Slide 38Slide 39Slide 40Slide 41Slide 42Slide 43Slide 44Slide 45Slide 46Slide 47Slide 48Slide 49Slide 50Slide 51Slide 52Slide 53Slide 54Slide 55Slide 56Slide 57Slide 58Slide 59Slide 60Slide 61Slide 62Slide 63Slide 64Slide 65Slide 66Slide 67Slide 68Slide 69Slide 70Slide 71Slide 72Slide 73Terrence MullensSan Jose State UniversityDepartment of MeteorologyWeather: Can be described as the CURRENT state of the atmosphere at a given location.Changes occur by the minute.Examples: Current Temperature, wind speed, etc.Climate: Can be described as the state of the atmosphere over a given time.Examples: Average Temperature, Annual Rainfall, etc.Meteorology studies Weather, Climatology studies ClimateState Variable:Simply a variable describing the state of the atmosphere.Examples: Temperature, Humidity, Wind Speed, Rain-rate/Total RainfallUsed in both Meteorology and Climatology▪Meteorology: Current Temperature, Current Humidity▪Climatology: Average Temperature, Average HumidityA good definition of extreme weather:Weather that involves an exceptionally high/low state variable. (Such as a heat wave, or downpour)A weather event that is an extreme of the climatological history.In more laymen’s terms: Extreme Weather events are rare weather events that cause damage or involve some kind of major inclimate state. These events are short term…May involve long periods of extreme weather events or periods of above occurrence of extreme weather events (like Tornado outbreaks or Hurricane Seasons)Longer-term events that involve a major departure from the average state variable.Droughts: Long Periods of very little rainfallDeluges: The oppositeHeat Waves: Long Periods of hot weather.ExamplesTornados HurricanesSevere ThunderstormsBlizzardsDroughtHeat WavesOr… any pattern that is extremely above or below average.Weather Events“Short Term”Climate Events“Long Term”We’ll come back to the Weather vs. Climate events laterTypically, long periods of below-average occurrences of extreme weather wouldn’t be considered “extreme” because they do not involve higher levels of damage/destruction or harm. These are considered a relief! Our Earth has an uneven distribution of heat and moisture both vertically and horizontally.A Fundamental Principle: When things are unbalanced, they will attempt to achieve balance. Therefore, heat and moisture are constantly moving around in our atmosphere in a feeble attempt to reach an equilibrium. Much more complicated than this…Take Home Message: WEATHER IS CAUSED BY UNEVEN HEATING OF THE EARTHWe will return to this when asking “How does climate change affect extreme weather?”This distribution of heating/energy feeds extreme weather.Form as warm, moist air rises and then cools and condenses, creating Cumulus clouds.Not extreme in themselvesHappen all the time (though not here in San Jose… otherwise we wouldn’t make such a big deal about them)Provide much of the summer rainfall in the US•As the air condenses, it gives off “Latent Heat,” causing air to continue to rise. •The cumulus cloud becomes a “Cumulus Congestus” cloud: A towering Cumulus•As the cloud grows, the top begins to freeze and spread out. Cloud droplets grow larger. Eventually, the cloud becomes a Cumulonimbus cloud… Where thunderstorms come fromEventually, the weight of the droplets becomes too large to be supported by the updrafts, and rain begins to fall. Additionally, cooler air from the upper troposphere begins to “entrain” the cloud, creating a downdraft of rain and a “Gust Front”Eventually, the cool air cuts off the warm, moist updraft, choking out the stormThese ARE extreme weather!Caused when there is more fuel, combined with some kind of vertical wind shear (changes in wind speed with height), which promotes updrafts!Keeps precipitation downwind of the storm. This allows for the updrafts, which are the fuel to the storm, to survive, strengthening the storm.These storms produce hail, high winds, substantial lightening, and TORNADOS!!!! Also produce some really awesome clouds (Wall Clouds, Mammatus, etc)Caused by an uneven distribution of charged particles. Typically + at the top and – at the bottom of the cloud. + Charges at the surface complete the current.The Updrafts of a severe thunderstorm are so strong, that rain droplets are pushed up into the top of the cloud, freeze and fall to the ground… only to be picked back up by the updraft, and frozen again, adding another layer.Eventually, the hail gets too heavy, and falls to the ground.Golf Ball sized hail! Imagine getting hit by that!But…SOFTBALL SIZED HAIL!!!!!!!!Golf ball size will hurt… Softball size can destroy!!!!!Strong, rotating column of wind around a low-pressure area that reaches the ground.If the column does not reach the ground, it is called a Funnel CloudDiameters can range from 300-2000 ftWind speeds can exceed 200 mph!Typically last only a few minutes, and travel several miles… but not always.Highest frequency is in the United StatesTypically occur in the United States in Mid-late Spring (April – June), but can occur any timeCreated by Dr. Theodore Fujita in the late 1960’s, and was updated in 2007 as the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Rates tornadoes based off of damage caused.The Scale goes from EF0, to EF5The original scale went from F0 to F6Typically, the stronger tornados are less frequent.Tornado Alley:Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and South DakotaTypically, tornado occurrences are not isolated, but instead are a part of a tornado outbreak.A tornado outbreak is when multiple tornados occur over a given region, usually due to a storm system. Most of the death and destruction due to tornados occurs during a tornado outbreak.One of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in history, and was the largest outbreak in history.336 confirmed tornados (11 EF4’s and 4 EF5’s)346 confirmed deaths.Alabama was particularly hit hard.April 14-16, 2011: From the Midwest to the Carolina


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