Week 7 Earth Science
Order by
35 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Air mass? | A large chunk of air usually 1000 miles or more in diameter |
| 4 designations used to describe air masses | Polar (P cold) tropical ( Twarm) continental (c dry) and maritime (m wet). |
| The first two such as polar and tropical are used to describe ____. Whereas the last two such as continental and maritime refer to _____. | Temperature (cP), moisture.(mT) |
| 5 main air masses affecting the continental US. See p 542 | Continental arctic (cA): Very cold and dry. Continental polar (cP) Cold and dry. Maritime polar (mP) Cool, humid. Maritime tropical (mT) warm, humid. Continental tropical (cT) Hot, dry. |
| Air masses can ____ as they move across the Earth. Interaction between the air masses and local geography and weather conditions can produce different _______ events. | change. Weather |
| Fronts? | Boundaries between air masses |
| Four types of fronts? | Warm, cold, stationary, and occluded |
| Stationary? | Boundary between cold and warm air masses with no movement |
| Occluded? | Moving cold air overtaking warm air moving in the same direction. |
| Middle latitude cyclones? | Low pressure areas with counterclockwise winds |
| 3 main severe weather types | Thunderstorms, Tornadoes and hurricanes |
| Thunderstorms? | Formed when warm humid air rises into an unstable atmosphere and produce thunder and lightning along with wind gusts, rain, or hail. |
| Tornadoes represent? How are they formed? | Small regions of extremely low pressure. When wind speed at the ground is slower than upper wind speed and updrafts are created |
| How is the strength of Tornadoes measured? | Fujita Scale |
| What does the Fujita Scale do? | Classifies wind, speed, and damages. |
| How can the possibility of a tornado be predicted? (5) =? | temperature, barometric pressure, wind speeds, directions, and radar echoes. Tornado watch |
| When are tornado warnings issued? | When a tornado has been seen |
| Hurricanes? | Cyclonic storms. Considered to be the largest and strongest storms. |
| Average of US hurricanes/yr? | 5 |
| How are hurricanes formed? | Over warm, late summer, ocean water |
| 2 other names for hurricanes in the Pacific region? | Typhoons or cyclones |
| How are hurricanes rated and on what scale? | based on pressure and wind readings on the Saffir Simpson scale. |
| When is the rating of hurricanes taking place? | during the progression of a tropical depression to a tropical storm to a hurricane. |
| Damage from a tornado vs a hurricane | Tornado: Wind damage. Hurricanes: High winds, large amounts of rainfall and flooding due to high ocean waves (storm surge) |
| Climate? | Average or long term weather |
| Climate system involves 5 areas? | atmo, hydro, geo, bio, and cryosphere ( region covered with ice or snow) |
| The most widely studied change in Earth's climate system currently? | Global warming |
| How are climates classified? | Koppen classification |
| 5 categories within the Koppen classification | A-humid tropical B-dry C-humid middle latitude with mild winters D-humid middle-latitude with severe winters and E-polar |
| What is the classification of AR? | Cfa= humid subtropical |
| Humid Tropical? | No winter climates. All months have an avg temp of 18 C |
| Dry? | Climates where evaporation exceeds precipitation there is always a h20 lack. |
| humid middle latitude with mild winters? | Mild winters. Avg temp of coldest month is below 18 C and above -3. |
| humid middle latitude with severe winters? | Severe winters. Avg temp of coldest month is below -3 C and warmest month avg exceeds 10 C |
| Polar? | No summer climate. Warmest month avg is below 10 C |
First Time Here?
Welcome to Quizlet, a fun, free place to study. Try these flashcards, find others to study, or make your own.