MTOER 206: TEST 3
38 Cards in this Set
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
|
Pressure Gradients
|
Measure the change in pressure with distance
|
|
What do pressure gradients tells us?
|
Which direction the wind is going to go
|
|
Hydrostatic Equilibrium
|
Means no vertical wind
|
|
What causes the wind to blow parallel to isobars?
|
Coriolis Force
|
|
What is the Coriolis Force?
|
Apparent force that turns moving objects relative to a fixed point
|
|
Northern hemisphere turns wind ____, and the Southern hemisphere turns wind _____.
|
NoRthern - Right
Southern - Left
|
|
Geostropic Flow
|
-Occurs when the Pressure Gradient Force is equal to the Coriolis Force
-Idealized upper tropospheric condition
|
|
When the Pressure Gradient Force and Coriolis Force are equal:
|
-Wind is parallel to isobars
-There is no change in wind speeds or directions
-Geostrophic Flow
|
|
What causes turns in surface wind?
|
Friction
|
|
Anti-Cyclone
|
-High pressure area
-Clockwise
|
|
Cyclone
|
-Low Pressure
-Counterclockwise
|
|
Trough
|
Lowest point of a wave
|
|
Ridges
|
Highest point of a wave
|
|
Why is a Three Cell Model important?
|
-Shows how heat moves through the atmosphere
-The low and high pressure tells us where the wind is going to go
-Cell 1 describes how general circulation works
|
|
____ is where the strongest pressure gradient occurs
|
Jet Stream
|
|
The polar front is the _____ between warm and cold air with a jet stream above it.
|
Dividing Line
|
|
Ocean currents are mainly caused by:
|
Wind
|
|
Upwelling:
Downwelling:
|
Up: displaced water
Down: sinking water
|
|
Monsoons
|
-Switch in the wind directions between seasons
|
|
Mountains cause ___ wind patterns
|
Mesoscale
|
|
Foehn
|
-Warm, dry wind
-Synoptic scale
-Air warms as it descends
|
|
Chinook
|
-Low pressure
-Blows over rocky mountains
|
|
Santa Anna
|
High pressure winds over the great basin
|
|
Katabatic
|
Plateau cooling wind changes density
|
|
Sea Breeze
|
Air warms and rises over land during the daytime
|
|
Land Breeze
|
Air cools over land and moves to the sea
|
|
Ocean Oscillations
|
Temperate and pressure changes over time
|
|
El Nino
|
-Warmer over the eastern Pacific ocean
-Opposite of the normal Walker Circulation
|
|
La Nina
|
-Cooler over the eastern Pacific Ocean
|
|
How can fronts be identified?
|
-temperature
-dew point
-pressure
-clouds
-precipitation
-wind direction
|
|
Extratropical Cyclones
|
-Synoptic low pressure systems
-Form at the boundary of warm and cold air masses and move with the jet stream aloft
|
|
Stages of Extratropical Cyclone
|
1: cyclogensis (kink)
-starts spinning in the upper atmosphere
2: maturity
3: occlusion
|
|
What do tropical storms and hurricanes need to form?
|
-Initial Disturbance
-Rotation from the Coriolis Force
-Warm Water
-Low wind shear
-Outflow-> high pressure aloft
|
|
Biggest threat from tropical storms?
|
Flooding
|
|
Stages of Tropical Cyclones
|
1. Tropical Circulation
2. Tropical Wave
3. Tropical Depression
4. Tropical Storm
5. Hurricane
|
|
Saffir-Simpson Scale
|
Tropical Storm = 39 mph
Hurricane (cat 1) -74 mph
|
|
Which side of the hurricane is wind and storm surge the strongest?
|
Right side
|
|
Tornadoes are most likely to form in which quadrant?
|
Right front
|
MTEOR 206: TEST 2