Download Weather Outline Notes - Darlington Middle School

Weather Parents Outline Notes
Atmosphere:
There are five layers to the atmosphere
I.
The Troposphere is the lowest layer of the Atmosphere
a. This layer has the highest pressure.
b. This layer gets colder as the elevation increases.
c. This layer contains clouds, water vapor, carbon dioxide, and weather.
II.
The Stratosphere is the next layer of the Atmosphere
a. This layer gets warmer as the elevation increases.
b. This layer contains the O-Zone Layer
III.
The Mesosphere is the middle layer of the Atmosphere
a. This layer is the coldest layer of the Atmosphere
IV.
The Thermosphere is the next layer of the Atmosphere
a. This layer is the largest layer of the Atmosphere
b. This layer is the hottest layer of the Atmosphere
V.
The Exosphere is the outermost layer of the Atmosphere
a. This layer has the lowest pressure.
The abundance (amount) of gases in the atmosphere varies.
I.
Nitrogen is the most abundant gas with over 70%
II.
Oxygen is the second most abundant with over 20%
III.
Trace Gases, such as Argon, make up the rest of the gases.
a. Each Trace Gas makes up 1% or less of the Atmosphere.
Water Cycle:
There are four major stages to the water cycle
I.
Evaporation and Transpiration heat liquid water into water vapor
a. Evaporation uses large bodies of water to make water vapor
b. Transpiration uses plants to make water vapor
II.
Condensation turns water vapor into liquid water as it cools.
a. Condensation makes clouds
III.
Precipitation takes liquid water from clouds and uses gravity to drop it to Earth
a. Cold temperatures causes snow, hail, and sleet
b. Warm temperatures causes rain
IV.
Run-Off takes the precipitated water back towards to ocean
a. Surface Water travels along the surface
b. Ground Water soaks into the Earth and travels underground
Clouds:
Cloud Names tell you the shape and weather associated with the cloud type.
I.
Cumulus: Piled up or puffy
a. White clouds = good weather
b. Dark clouds = rain
II.
Stratus: Layered Sheets
a. Thick clouds = rain
III.
Cirrus: Feathery or wispy
a. High Clouds that mean warm, fair weather
IV.
Nimbus: Rain
V.
Alto= Medium elevation (2-6 km)
VI.
Names can be put together to tell more about the clouds and weather conditions
a. Cumulonimbus are thunderheads that are piled up, rain clouds.
Weather Tools:
I.
II.
Thermometer: tells the heat found in air in Celsius or Fahrenheit
Barometer: tells the air pressure in millibars
III.
Anemometer: tells the wind speed in mph or knots
IV.
Wind Vane or Wind Sock: tells the direction the wind is from
V.
Sling Psychrometer: tells the relative humidity in percentages
VI.
Rain Gauge: tells the amount of rainfall in inches or centimeters.
Heat Transfers:
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Dark Colored objects tend to absorb heat energy
Light Colored objects tend to reflect energy
All heat transfers from a hot object to a cold object
There are three ways heat can be transferred
o Conduction: heat transfers by touching
o Convection: hot liquids and gases go up, cold liquids and gases go down
o Radiation: heat transfers without touching
The Greenhouse Effect:
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Some of the Sun’s energy coming through Earth’s
atmosphere is reflected or absorbed by gases and/or
clouds in the atmosphere.
o The land heats up and releases its heat fairly
quickly
o Water needs to absorb lots of solar energy to
warm up.
 This property of water allows it to
warm more slowly but also to release
the heat energy more slowly.
 It is the water on Earth that helps to
regulate the temperature range of
Earth’s atmosphere.
Solar energy that is absorbed by Earth’s land and water surfaces is changed to heat that
reflects back into the atmosphere
When the heat is trapped, it is known as the greenhouse effect.
The Winds:
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Wind is the movement of air parallel to or along the ground.
Winds move from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure.
The Coriolis Effect
o Because of convection and the Earth’s rotation, the winds seem to curve
Global winds:
o The trade winds blow from east to west in the
tropical region
 It moves warm tropical air in that climate
zone.
o The prevailing westerly winds blow from west to
east in the temperate region.
 These winds move air affected by the four
seasons
o The polar winds blow northeast to west in the
polar region
 It moves cold polar air in that climate zone
from the poles toward the west.
Jet stream:
o A fast-moving ribbon of air that moves from west to east in the Northern
Hemisphere around Earth.
o It dips and bends and constantly changes positions.
 As these changes occur, air masses and
weather systems in its path are moved along
by the fast moving air.
o There are two jet streams.
 The polar jet stream can bring down cold polar
conditions
 The subtropical jet stream can bring warm
tropical conditions from the equator
The Climate Zones:
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There are three atmospheric convection areas in the northern hemisphere and three in
the southern hemisphere.
o the tropical region begins at the
equator and extends to the about
30 degrees north latitude
 It is very Hot
o the temperate region extends from
there to about 60 degrees north
latitude
 Its temperatures are based
on the four seasons
o the polar region extends from there
to the north pole, 90 degrees north
latitude.
 It is very Cold
The Ocean Currents:
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The surface currents of Earth’s oceans that
circulate warm and cold ocean waters in
convection patterns
o They also influence the weather and
climates of the landmasses nearby.
o The warm Gulf Stream current water
influences the eastern Atlantic shoreline
o The cold California current influences its
western Pacific shoreline.
The Breezes:
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The breezes occur due to convection zones created by
differing temperatures of water and land.
Sea Breezes occur during the day
o The air goes from sea to land
Land Breezes occur during the night
o The air goes from land to sea
Fronts and Air Masses:
Air masses
 Huge bodies of air that form over water or land in
tropical or polar regions.
 Temperature and humidity conditions within the air
masses affect weather conditions
Fronts
 As air masses move and collide with each other, fronts form at the boundaries between
them.
 Depending upon the air masses involved, a warm front, cold front,
stationary front, or occluded front can develop.
o When a warm air mass collides and rides over a cold air mass, the
resulting warm front may produce long periods of precipitation and
warmer temperatures.
o When a cold air mass collides and slides under a warm air mass, the
resulting cold front may produce thunderstorms and sometimes
tornadoes and cooler temperatures.
o When neither a cold air mass nor a warm air mass moves at a
frontal boundary, the resulting stationary front may produce long
period of precipitation.
o When a cold air mass pushes into a warm air mass that is behind a
cool air mass, the warm air mass is pushed up above the cooler air
masses. The resulting occluded front may produce long periods of
precipitation.
High/Low Pressure Systems:
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Warm air rising or cold air sinking combined with the spinning of Earth causes the air to
spin forming high and low pressure regions.
o High pressure systems
 fair weather
 winds circulating around the system in a clockwise direction
o Low pressure systems
 counterclockwise circulating winds
 rainy and/or stormy weather
Storms :
o Severe weather conditions called storms occur when pressure differences cause
rapid air movement.
o Conditions that bring one kind of storm can also cause other kinds of storms in
the same area.
 Thunderstorm is storm with thunder, lightning, heavy rains and strong
winds
 form within large cumulonimbus clouds
 form along a cold front
 Tornado is a rapidly whirling, funnel-shaped cloud that extends down
from a storm cloud
 the very low pressure and strong winds can cause great damage
 form where strong thunderstorms are also present.
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Hurricane is a low pressure tropical storm that forms over warm ocean
water
 winds form a spinning circular pattern around the center, or eye,
of the storm
 the lower the air pressure at the center, the faster the winds blow
toward the center of the storm.
Maps:
Weather maps
 help predict weather patterns by indicating:
o high or low pressure systems (isobars)
o movement of air masses and front
o or temperature ranges (isotherms).
 Station models from specific locations provide information that can
also be used to predict weather patterns.
o Information found on a station model can include cloud
precipitation (* - snow, ● – rain), or barometric pressure
(1002 mb).
85
1002
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Satellites
 Satellite images are used for seeing cloud patterns and movements.
o For example, hurricane clouds and movement can be observed using satellite
images.
Radar
 Radar images can be used to detect cloud cover, rainfall or storm location, intensity, and
movement