Transcript Severe Weather - Red Hook Central Schools / Overview

Severe Weather
Thunderstorms
• Ingredients: rising air and plenty
of moisture
• All thunderstorms produce
lightning since lightning causes
thunder
• Lightning: enormous and very hot
spark of electricity
• Thunder: the explosive sound of
air expanding as it is heated by
lightning
• Severe Thunderstorms produce
strong winds, large hail, heavy
downpours and even tornadoes
• The Thunderstorm Recipe YouTube
What is Lightning?
• As water droplets and ice crystals
move around the inside of a
thunderstorm cloud’s strong
updrafts and downdrafts,
electrical charges are generated.
• HSW Lightning
DO NOT WRITE
• When the electrical charges become
very large, electricity is released in a
bolt of lightning
• Lightning bolts heat up the air to
about 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit,
which is 5x hotter than the surface of
the sun
Lightning
THUNDERSTORM SAFETY
Thunderstorm Safety
•Stay inside
•Have a flashlight ready
•Keep away from metal
•Do not use any
telephones/electrical
appliances
•Unplug appliances
•Stay away from water (pools,
baths, showers)
•If no shelter is available,
crouch down on both feet in a
low dry area
FYI
• If you begin to feel your hair stand on
end, this indicates lightning is about
to strike. You should drop to your
knees and bend forward placing your
hands on your knees and crouch
down. Do not lie flat on the ground,
this will only make you a larger
target.
Tornadoes
• Start as spinning columns of air
• Can be a few feet wide up to about a
mile wide
• Can travel at speeds of 25-45 mph
• Spinning winds can spin up to 300
mph
TORNADO SAFETY
• Tornado Safety: keep a battery-powered
radio handy, seek shelter in a basement or
deepest interior of a strong building, keep
clear of windows. If outside, get out of any
cars or vehicles and lie flat in a low-lying
area or ditch
How Tornadoes Work- news story
How Tornadoes Form - YouTube
Hurricanes
• Intense cyclones with swirling
winds up to 150 mph
• Usually 300 miles across
• Known as Typhoons in the Pacific
Ocean
• Form over warm oceans where
evaporating water makes the air quite
humid
• Warm air rises because it is less dense
than cold
• As the tropical air rises and condenses,
huge amounts of heat are released into the
air
• Why Do Hurricanes Form? - YouTube
Hurricane Safety
•Keep battery-powered radios
handy
•Board up windows
•Evacuation might be necessary
Blizzards
•A violent snowstorm with
winds blowing at a minimum
speed of 35 mph, visibility of
less than ¼ of a mile for 3
hours, low temperatures and
heavy blowing snow
Blizzard Safety
•Have battery operated
appliances- may lose power
•Warm clothing-may lose
heat
•Cooler to keep food cold
•Stock of bottled water
• Stock of non-perishable foods (foods
that won’t spoil)
• Can opener (usually need them for
the non-perishables!!!!)
• DO NOT USE STOVES FOR HEAT!may cause Carbon Monoxide
poisoning
•Charge phones, etc. in advance
of the storm
•Have extra batteries on hand
Thunder Snow - 2011 Blizzard – YouTube
Blizzard Belts East Coast – YouTube
The Great Blizzard of 1977 – YouTube
February 2010 Snow Storm - YouTube