Transcript Storms - mrsarlosrockywebsite

Important Vocabulary:
• Prevailing Westerlies- typical west
wind at this latitude
• Trade winds- prevailing wind from
east below Florida's latitude
• Jet stream- high altitude, high
speed “river of air”
• Storm track- path of a storm
• Storm Surge- higher sea level where an L
sucks the ocean upwards
• Hurricane- a large organized storm with
heavy rain & winds
• Tornado- a small but strong windy storm
• Saffir/Simpson Scale- rating system for
hurricane strength
• Fujita Scale- system for rating a
tornado’s strength
The CYCLONE
• A Cyclone is any low pressure system
that has a counterclockwise rotation
– (In the Northern Hemisphere)
• There are many different TYPES of
cyclones:
– Tornado- a small, compact storm with strong
winds
– AKA: Twister or Willy-Willy (Australia)
• Hurricane- A large, organized storm
with strong winds and heavy rain
– AKA: Typhoon- in the Pacific
• Mid Latitude Low- a low pressure
system in the middle latitudes (we live
in the middle latitudes)
,
– Comma shaped
– AKA: Nor’ Easter (North Easter) or Alberta
Clipper (comes down from Alberta,
Canada and clips the Great Lakes &
Northeastern US)
Prevailing Winds
• Push weather around
• In NYS, the prevailing winds come from
the west
•  (therefore) our weather will usually
come from the west
– Which is why we look at Pennsylvania &
western NY when we are tracking most
storms!
The Mid Latitude Low
• This weather system starts when cool
and warm air masses meet
• Then a Low develops over the
interface
• The Low continues to spin, creating a
warm front and a cold front
• As the air masses mix, the fronts
overlap in the center creating an
occluded front
• In the end, the air mixes and the
system breaks down
Rain will fall in front of the warm front
and right on top of the cold front
Thunderstorms
• small area storms formed by the strong
upward movement of warm, moist air
• usually occurs ahead of a cold front as
the colder, denser air shoves the
warmer air upward
• This forms the cumulonimbus clouds
that produce thunderstorms
• These storms are accompanied by
heavy rain, thunder, lightning,
sometimes hail, and can also produce
tornadoes
• All thunderstorms produce lightning
• Lightning is the discharge of huge
amounts of static electricity (think of
walking across a carpet in your socks
and then touching something-ZAP)
• Lightning can travel from the cloud to
the ground, cloud to cloud, or even
from the ground to a cloud!
• Thunder is the result of the air quickly
expanding from the heat of the
lightning bolt (causes a sound wave)
• You cannot have lightning without
thunder!!
Supercell
Thunderstorm
formations – will form
SEVERE storms and
tornadoes! THIS IS ONE
BIG STORM SYSTEM!
Tornadoes
• form from very powerful thunderstorms
(cumulonimbus clouds)
• These are funnel shaped columns of
spiraling winds that extend down to
the ground from the base of a cloud
• The winds move into a tornado (low
pressure), and can reach a maximum
of 318 mph!
• The actual funnel is made by water
droplets (clouds) and dust
• Extremely localized low pressure center
• 99.9% in Northern Hemisphere spin ccw
• Tornadoes are especially dangerous
because it is so difficult to predict
where they will form
• Can be predicted a few minutes early
with Doppler radar
• Damage is usually along a narrow
path where the tornado traveled
• They usually last less then one hour
• Most fatalities are caused by flying
debris
• Tornadoes are rated on the Fujita scale
(F0 – F6)
• Fujita Scale is based on the width and
wind speed of the funnel
• An F6 is very rare, and can have wind
speeds up to 318 mph
For those of you who aren't familiar with tornadoes, and are
hearing news coverage of this, I put together a short glossary
to help you understand.
Fujita Scale: Scale used to measure wind speeds of a tornado
and their severity.
F1: Laughable little string of wind unless it comes through
your house, then enough to make your insurance company
drop you like a brick. People enjoy standing on their porches
to watch this kind.
F2: Strong enough to blow your car into your house, unless of
course you drive an Expedition and live in a mobile home,
then strong enough to blow your house into your car.
F3: Will pick your house and your
Expedition up and move you to the other
side of town.
F4: Usually ranging from 1/2 to a full mile
wide, this tornado can turn an Expedition
into a Pinto, then gift wrap it in a semi truck.
F5: The Mother of all Tornadoes, you might
as well stand on your front porch and watch
it, because it's probably going to be quite a
last sight.
NEW YORK TORNADOES!
Tornadoes will pick
up dust and debris
from the ground
when then “touch
down” – this
creates a wider
swirl at the bottom
of the tornado
Hurricanes
• huge tropical low pressure systems that get
their energy from the tremendous amount
of warm ocean water that is evaporated
and condenses inside the storm
• Massive storms: can be 300 miles + in
diameter
• Hurricanes MUST form over open warm
ocean water (WARM WATER = FUEL)
• Since this is where it gets its energy from,
hurricanes weaken as they pass over land
or colder water
• Since hurricanes are extreme low
pressure storms, the winds blow into
the storm, and it spins counterclockwise (to the left)
• The lowest air pressures on Earth have
been recorded inside hurricanes
• Hurricanes are associated with very
high winds and heavy rains
• Storm surge is the term used for the
water that a hurricane blows onto the
shore, causing severe flooding
Hurricane far off shore
Rough surf
hundreds of
miles away.
Storm Surge
Hey! Let’s
check out the
storm!
• Most fatalities are caused by drowning
in the storm surge (many foolish
people do not evacuate areas when
told to do so)!!
• A tropical storm is considered to be a
hurricane when its winds reach 74 mph
• Hurricanes are classified as Category 1
– Category 5 (strongest)
• All hurricanes are named in
alphabetical order, alternating male
and female names
Hurricane damage can range
from broken windows to
complete demolition of
buildings. Andrew was the
costliest hurricane to date for
the USA with a price tag of over
20 BILLION dollars!
Hurricane Tracks