Transcript NATURE OF STORMS - Paramus Public Schools

How Does Mother Nature
Show Her Fury?
What is Meteorology?
• Study of the atmosphere that focuses on
weather processes and forecasting
ATMOSPHERIC LAYERS
• TROPOSPHERE:
weather occurs here;
birds and planes fly here
• STRATOSPHERE:
contains Ozone
• MESOSPHERE: Radio
waves travel up to here
• THERMOSPHERE:
– Ionosphere: aurora
borealis
– Exosphere: satellites
What Causes the Weather?
• Global movement of matter is
driven by the properties of
water and energy
• Heat Transfer:
– Radiation
– Conduction
– Convection
• Convection is the primary
mechanism of energy transfer
in the atmosphere, oceans and
asthenosphere
What Causes Climate and
Seasons?
• The shape of the planet and the tilt
• Milankovitch Cycles: Like a top the Earth wobbles and
the length of the elliptical orbit changes every 100,000
years as well as the tilt, causing different latitudes to
receive more or less sunlight
Cloud Types
Convection Cells
• Ferrel Cells: Exist from
30-60 degrees latitude
N/S (Westerlies)
• Polar Cells: Cold, very
dry dense air (Polar
Easterlies)
• Jet Streams: Extremely
fast moving winds found
at boundaries of
convection cells
What is the Coriolis Effect?
Can you identify the weather fronts?
How Does Mother Nature Show Her Fury?
• Thunderstorms
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Floods
Hail
Wind
Lightning
Tornadoes
• Hurricane/Typhoon/Cyclone
• Dust Storms
• Blizzards
WHAT IS A TORNADO?
WHAT CAUSES A TORNADO?
MOST TORNADOES ARE SPAWNED BY GIANT
THUNDERSTORMS KNOWN AS “SUPERCELLS”
WHERE DO TORNADOES IN THE US
OCCUR?
MOST TORNADOES IN THE US OCCUR IN CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN STATES FROM THE ROCKIES TO
THE APPALACHIAN MTNS, KNOWN AS “TORNADO
ALLEY”
TORNADO FACTS
• AVERAGE # OF
TORNADOES PER
YEAR
• STATE WITH HIGHEST
# OF TORNADOES
• TOP 5 TORNADO
STATES
• STATES WITH
LOWEST # OF
TORNADOES
• 816
• TEXAS (AVG. 125)
• TEXAS(125),
OKLAHOMA(52),
KANSAS(48),
FLORIDA(46),
NEBRASKA(38)
• ALASKA, RI, HAWAII,
VERMONT, OREGON
How are Tornadoes Measured?
HURRICANE SEASON!
• WHEN DOES HURRICANE SEASON BEGIN?
• FROM JUNE TO NOVEMBER WITH SEPTEMBER BEING THE
MOST ACTIVE
• WHEN DOES A TROPICAL STORM BECOME
A HURRICANE?
• WHEN ITS WIND SPEED EXCEEDS 75 MPH
• MOST POWERFUL ATLANTIC HURRICANE ON RECORD IS
HURRICANE ALLEN IN 1980, WHICH REACHED 190 MPH
How Does Lightning Form?
• Lightning occurs when
there is a charge
separation in the cloud.
• As a thunderstorm grows,
electrical charges build up
within the cloud, with
positive charges at the top,
and negative charges at
the bottom.
• Oppositely charged
particles gather at the
ground below the cloud.
WHICH STORM IS MORE DANGEROUS?
• SOME FACTORS TO CONSIDER ARE:
– INTENSITY OF STORM (SCALES)
– LOCATION OF STORM
– HOW A STORM ORIGINATES &
PROGRESSES
– DAMAGE IT CAUSES