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Weather and Climate Study Guide
1. What is the relationship between weather and climate?
Weather is a temporary condition of the atmosphere (temperature and precipitation)
Climate is the average conditions (temp. and precip.) over a long period of time.
2. Write what you know about warm water/air and cold water/air. Describe the movement and
arrangement molecules.
Warm air and water is less dense than cold air or water.
Warm molecules are spaced out, vibrate quickly. Cold molecules are packed closely together,
slow moving.
* warm air/water rises and cold air/water sinks
3. What are the four major air masses (two letter system) that affect the weather of the US?
Explain the characteristics as they relate to the source regions.
cT = continental tropical – dry, warm
cP= continental polar – dry, cold
*comes from Northern Canada and affects Michigan
mT= maritime tropical – wet, warm
mP= maritime polar – wet, cold
4. Name the four major fronts, explain how are they formed, what kind of weather they bring
(temperature /moisture).
Cold – cold air moves under warm and pushes it up. Thunderstorms, cold temps.
Warm – warm air moves over cold and replaces it. Rain and warm temps.
Occluded – warm air gets caught between two cold air masses. Lots of rain.
Stationary – two air masses meet but stay separate. Many days of cloudy wet weather.
5. Explain what causes wind.
Differences in air pressure caused by uneven heating of Earth’s surface. Warm air rises at
the equator and cold air sinks near the poles. Warm = low pressure, cold= high pressure
Air moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure.
6. Explain prevailing winds and how it affects a region’s climate.
Prevailing winds affect a region’s climate by controlling the amount of precipitation a region
receives. Wind blows over water, moist air, lots of precipitation. Wind blows over land it will
be dry.
7. How does latitude affect climate? Think: poles and equator, and anywhere in between.
The equator has the same temperatures year round due to the sun’s rays being at the same
angle. The equator stays warm. The farther away from the equator you are the colder it gets.
8. Oceans- think heat energy movement (currents), what it does to a region, circulation
(warm/cold), latitude
The ocean’s surface temperature will vary with the time of year and latitude. Warmer near the
equator and colder near the poles.
Large bodies of water can influence an area’s climate.
Oceans absorb and release heat slower than land. There are rarely extreme temperature changes to
an area that is close to an ocean. Oceans transport heat energy all over the Earth.
A cold current that sinks to the ocean floor is replaced by a warmer surface current (warm water
rises/cold water sinks).
9. What type of information is found on a weather map?
Barometric Pressure (low or high), wind speeds and directions, locations of fronts, temperature
10. Describe what happens to humidity as the temperature changes. (pg. 39)
As the temperature increases, the air’s ability to hold water also increases, therefore, humidity
increases.
11. Describe how is hail formed? (pg. 44)
Updrafts of air in the clouds carry raindrops high in the clouds, the raindrops freeze and hail
forms. As hail falls, water drops coat it. Another updraft of air can send the hail up again, and
another layer is added to the hail. It can be sent up into the clouds several times, eventually it
becomes too heavy and will fall to the ground.
12. What causes lightning?
Lightning is an electric discharge that occurs between a positively charged area and negatively
charged area.
13. Describe the reason for the season.
Seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis. Indirect sunlight hits the northern
hemisphere is winter and more direct sunlight hits the northern hemisphere in summer.
14. What does the geological record tell us about the Earth’s past?
The geological record tells us that Earth was once colder than it is today.