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FYS

Terms in this set (24)

What is the false alarm rate associated with tornado warnings?
70% false alarm rate
What is the current lead time associated with tornadoes?
13 minutes
What is a supercell thunderstorm?
A thunderstorm, containing clockwise rotating winds with height. (instability comes from cold dry air over the top of warm moist air).
What is different about the wind direction in supercells relative to ordinary thunderstorms?
Thunderstorms do NOT have the rotating winds that supercells have.
Thunderstorm Ingredients
Atmospheric instability, Moisture, a mechanism that forces air upward.
In a situation, Parcel A is HOT, and Parcel B is cold.Which parcel is heavier in a given volume?
Parcel B is cold, which makes it heavier at a given volume. Remember: low density= hot and high density= cold.
What are two ways we can lower an initially water vapor-free air parcel's density if atmospheric pressure is kept constant?
Warm air, Increase the height, and also add H20 (g)
Three sources (where it comes from) and two sinks (how it is removed) of atmospheric water vapor.
3 sources: Ocean, Lakes, Streams, Evapotranspiration

Sinks: Precipitation, Photolysis
Three NECESSARY ingredients for clouds/precipitation here on Earth.
1. Aerosols up taking the water vapor
2. Water vapor (water is a gas form)
3. Some cooling or pressure lowering mechanism
Arrange the following in order of increasing energy state, starting with the lowest energy state. H2O ice, H2O liquid, H2O vapor
H2O Ice, H2O Liquid, H2O Vapor
Difference between weather and climate?
Weather-current state of climate right now
Climate-long term version of weather.
The EF scale is based on ...
The damage a tornado causes not the wind speed or strength.
What cell would we see if Earth had no rotation?
Hadley Cell
4 ways to transfer heat
conduction, convection, radiation, advection
Why do we focus on supercells?
No exact mechanism that creates a tornado. So we try to track supercells wind speed and wind shear to know when a tornado could form.
Jet stream
fast moving current of air
Subtropical Jet
Coriolis force
Polar Jet
Change in Temp. (horizontal temperature differential)
Higher velocity comes from...
STRONG changes in temp.
Cell names
Hadley, Ferrell, Polar
Weather and Climate are results of
Earth trying reach its energetic equilibrium
The Earth cannot distribute its energy evenly because,
-The earth is round uneven sunlight
-sun distributes different levels of energy to earth varying from year to year
-The brightness of earth's surface is ALBEDO
-The atmospheric and land composition in space and time vary.
Ingredients needed for earth to reach its energetic equilibrium:
Ingredients needed:
-an energetic differential on Earth
-the Earth to rotate
-HETEROGENOUS LAND/OCEAN coverage
The Earth is on a mission to reach its energetic equilibrium EVERYWHERE,
but it can never realize its full potential!!!!!!!
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