Download Severe Weather Notes

Notes: Severe Weather
Name: _________________________ Block: _______
1.Flash Floods:
Flash floods occur when rainfall or snowmelt exceeds
the lands __________________________________and/or the
carrying capacity of a river.
Flash floods can occur in desert landscapes, valleys,
coastal areas, and __________________________along rivers.
Floods ____________more people than any other disaster.
2. Thunderstorms:
Characterized by: Dark ____________________________ clouds that produce heavy rain, sounds of thunder,
flashes of lightning, strong winds, and sometimes hail. Thunderstorms often occur in the summer
when the air is________________________________________. Thunderstorms form along fronts because air is
_______________________________and ahead of fronts called __________________________. Supercells are large
single-cell thunderstorms with extremely _______________________the updrafts rotate to form tornadoes.
3. Tornadoes:
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that forms from a mesocyclone, when it touches the
ground it becomes a tornado. ________________________ on the center of a tornado is ______________________
and air is sucked into the funnel cloud.
A tornado is measured using the _____________
______________, it is based on wind speed.
A tornado can form in any state during any
time of year, but they are most common in
“tornado alley” during the spring and
summer months.
4. Hurricanes:
A hurricane starts out as a tropical
storm. It begins to gain strength
from__________________________________,
which evaporates and then
condenses to make storm clouds.
Winds help push warm, moist air
upwards and help the hurricane get
bigger as it rotates and moves. The
________________________________causes
a hurricane to rotate counterclockwise.
A hurricane in the South Pacific is
called a __________________________.
A hurricane’s
strength is measured
using the
___________________________
Scale, it is based on
wind speeds,
category 1-5.
5. Blizzards:
A true blizzard is more than just heavy snow, it must meet the following criteria:
1. The winds must exceed ______________ or 56 kmph.
2. The temperature must be below __________or -7°C.
3. The blowing snow must __________________________
by less than ¼ of a mile.
4. Conditions must persist for more than _____ hours.
Looking at the pie chart…..
What severe weather event has the
ability to significantly impact the most
people? ____________________________