Download Outline - Test Three

OUTLINE FOR FINAL Meteo 3 Petters
The large majority of questions on this test will focus on concepts emphasized in lecture
and reinforced in your lab assignments AFTER the past test…you will need to know
material covered in the first test as it pertains to the material on this outline. For
example, knowing about stability profiles conducive for severe thunderstorm formation
(which we discussed after the last test) requires you to know about stability (which we
discussed before the second test). However, EVERYTHING we’ve covered is fair game.
I will expect that you know how to do conversions within the metric system (kilometers
to meters, minutes to seconds, etc). DO NOT SPEND TIME REMEMBERING
ALGEBRAIC FORMULAS or CONSTANTS and MORE OBCURE CONVERSIONS
(how many furlongs are in a mile). You will always have books and the internet for this
information.
Chapter 9 – Thunderstorms (HW on this now, more emphasized than previous test)
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Tropopause; relation of tropopause, stability and the development of overshooting
tops and ‘anvil cloud’ in thunderstorms
Role of thunderstorms in transport of energy, water and electricity
Hazards of thunderstorms
What lightning is, why it occurs
Lightning safety
What thunder is, why it occurs
Mechanisms for thunderstorm formation
Air mass thunderstorm life-cycle (in terms of updrafts/downdrafts)
Chapter 11 – Hurricanes
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Where tropical cyclones form and what’s necessary for them to form
Positive feedback loop for tropical cyclones to intensify
Classification of tropical cyclones (TD, TS, HC)
Wind speed and wind direction in locales in a hurricane
Saffir-Simpson Scale of hurricane intensity
Centrifugal force and its role in eyewall formation
Hazards in a hurricane (e.g. storm surge, winds, tornadoes)
What causes tropical cyclones to weaken and die out
Tropical Storm/Hurricane watches/warnings
Chapter 12/13 – Mid-latitude Cyclones
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Relationship of strengthening of high and low pressure centers to convergence
and divergence
Advection and vorticity
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Relationship between location in an upper-level wave and
convergence/divergence
Origin and evolution of a mid-latitude cyclone (relationship with upper-level
divergence and warm air advection)
Conveyer belts as movers of air in a mid-latitude cyclone
Location of fronts in these systems, weather anticipated in different regions due to
these fronts (think back to Chapter 3)
What can lead to the comma shape of these storms
Chapter 14 – Severe Weather
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Ingredients for severe weather
Role of vertical wind shear in severe thunderstorm development
Capping inversions, relationship to vertical profile of air masses and lapse rates
Squall lines, derechos
Severe thunderstorm/tornado watches warnings
Chapter 15 – Tornadoes
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Typical large-scale set-up for tornado outbreaks (where air masses come from to
give vertical profiles of air masses for severe weather)
Why mesocylcones rotate
Areas where and times when tornadoes are frequent in the US
Steps of tornado formation (good depictions of these steps in Grenci/Nese text)
Direction of rotation and force balance in tornadoes
Fujita scale of tornado intensity
Tornado safety (not the joke part)
Chapter 16 – Winter Weather
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Different forms of winter weather precipitation, difference in vertical temperature
profiles to see them
Forecasting winter precipitation type (1000-500mb thickness, 850mb temp)
Lake Effect snow (simple description)
Nor’easters
Wind Chill