Download Homework #1: Fundamental Concepts

Homework Questions #3:
Due: Friday, March 8
1. A surface _______________ pressure system is a cyclone and a surface __________________
pressure system is an anticyclone. (see note packet 2, V A and B, p. 13)
2. Winds flow _______________________ around a cyclone and _________________________
around an anticyclone in the Northern Hemisphere. (see note packet 2, V A and B, p. 13)
3. Extreme extratropical cyclones (ECs) will develop along and follow the __________________
in midlatitudes during the _______________________ season(s) which is where and when the
____________________________ contrast in the atmosphere is the strongest.
4. Blizzards and ice storms (extreme ECs) are most common along the ____________________
Coast of ___________________________________________ .
5. Why are blizzards and ice storms most common in this region?
6. Fronts are boundaries between air of different density. The boundary between cold air to the
north and warm air to the south in midlatitudes along which the jet stream and ECs form is
called the ______________________ front.
7. As an EC develops, the counterclockwise circulation around the surface low generates
smaller-scale fronts, mainly _______________________ fronts extending to the west of the
low and _____________________ fronts extending to the east of the low.
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8. A cold front is represented on a surface weather map as a _____________________________
and a warm front is represented as a _____________________________________________.
9. Cold front’s have a _____________________ slope which causes the precipitation to fall in a
___________________________ band.
10. Precipitation caused by a cold front is most frequently in the form of __________________.
11. Why is the preciptiation assocciated with a cold front usually in this form?
12. Compared to cold fronts, warm fronts have a ______________________ slope and they
move at a _________________ speed which is why the precipitation associated with a warm
front tends to cover a _________________ area and be of lighter intensity than a cold front.
13. With a winter EC, as one moves from north to south relative to a warm front the
precipitation transitions from _________________________ to ______________________
to ________________________________ to ____________________________.
14. Occluded fronts develop late in the EC life cycle when the faster moving _______________
_________________ catches up to the _____________________________.
15. Dry lines act like cold fronts and lift air as they move east because __________________ air
is heavier than ____________________ air.
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16. What type of extreme weather is associated with dry lines?
17. Where are dry lines most common?
18. In a blizzard heavy snow combines with ____________________ to create reduced visibility.
___________________ is the other common dangerous blizzard component.
19. An East Coast blizzard is usually associated with an ________________________ jet stream
wave pattern.
20. Strong divergence at the tropopause results because this type of jet stream wave pattern
is associated with what two jet stream features?
21. A ____________________ jet streak configuration, which results is superimposition of
multiple (three) divergence areas is frequently present. (see case study, B 2 on p.9 of notes)
22. Why does a blizzard have such strong winds?
23. Why does an EC located just off the East Coast and in the upper Great Plains (U.S.) have
stronger winds than similar ECs in other locations?
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24. Blizzard conditions occur just to the __________________________ of the track of the
surface low pressure system (storm track).
25. _______________________________ lifting results in mountain and upslope blizzards in
the western U.S.
26. The main cause of lake-effect blizzards is that the lake water (at the surface) is much
warmer that the atmosphere aloft (steep environmental lapse rate), resulting in accelerated
upward motion. This is called ____________________________________________.
27. Heavy snow combines with ________________________________ to cause power outages
during a blizzard.
28. Can coastal flooding be a significant impact of a blizzard along the East Coast?
29. Why is an East Coast blizzard likely to have a greater impact in the southern states that are
affected, even if there is a greater snowfall accumulation to the north? (see impacts during
superstorm, IV C, on p. 10)
30. Which of the following is not a common cause of blizzard fatalities: hypothermia (freezing
to death), traffic accidents, heart attacks during snow removal, suffocation in a giant snow
pile, drowning at sea?
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31. Name three positive blizzard impacts.
32. A large outbreak of _________________________________ over the Gulf of Mexico caused
a massive release of _____________________________ into the atmosphere that resulted in
rapid development of the 1993 “Superstorm” in its early stages along the Gulf Coast.
33. _____________________________ is the type of precipitation that occurs during ice storms.
34. This type of precipitation occurs in situations where a layer of ________________________
overrides a thin layer of ________________________ near earth’s surface.
35. Ice storms occur just to the north of _______________ and _____________________ fronts.
36. The critical atmospheric feature in causing an ice storm is ___________________________
________________________ which provides a continual supply of cold air near the surface.
37. In contrast to blizzards, the ECs associated with ice storms are much __________________.
As a result, the winds during ice storms are ___________________.
38. The main impact of ice storms are__________________________ which are caused by
__________________________ of the ice on power lines and trees.
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39. What about the geographical location of Montreal resulted in it being so hard hit by the 1998
ice storm?
40. What about the weather for the weeks following the storm worsened the impact?
41. The north-south (meridional) temperature contrast will (has) ____________________ with
global warming. This will tend to ___________________ the jet stream which should result
in a ______________________ in the frequency and intensity of Extreme ECs.
42. In what manner has the EC storm track shifted, and is likely to continue to shift with further
global warming, over the past several decades?
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