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Atmosphere Movement
Chapter 11
Question | Answer |
---|---|
A large body of air covering hundreds or thousands of square km. and has relativbely same temp, pressure and humidity. | Air Mass |
Region with relatively uniform temp. and humidity over which air masses form. | Source Region |
An air mass that is warmer than the surface over which it moves. | Warm Air Mass |
An air mass that is colder than the surtface over which it moves. | Cold Air Mass |
A zone of contact between two dissimilar air masses where neither is advancing. Usually no weather change for several change. | Stationary Front |
The advancing surface of a warm air mass as it pushes against and over a colder air mass. | Warm Front |
The advancing surface of a warm air mass as it moves under a warmer air mass. | Cold Front |
A line of violent thunderstorms that sometimes accompanies an advancing cold front | Squall Line |
A front formed when a cool air mass and a rapidly moving cold air mass traps a warm air mass between them. The warm air mass is lifted, losing all contact with the ground. | Occulted Front |
A regional wind system That reverses periodically, alternately bringing wet and dry seasons. | Monsoon |
The horizontal force exerted on a mass of air that has a higher pressure on one side than on the other. | Pressure Gradient Force |
A high-altitude wind that is controlled by the relative influence of the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis Effect | Geostrophic Winds |
A weather system centered on a low-pressure area surrounded by a wind circulation pattern spiraling counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. A hurricane in the Southwestern Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. | Cyclone |
An area of relatively higher atmospheric pressure. It typically contains a clockwise-rotating wind system in the Northern Hemisphere. | Anti-Cyclone |
A high-speed meandering wind current, usually flowing from west to east at altitudes of 15 to 25 km. Its speed often exceeds 400 km/h (250 mi/h) | Jet Stream |
A breeze that blows onshore from the ocean, usually during the daytime | Sea Breeze |
A breeze that blows from shore to sea, usually at night | Land Breeze |
A breeze that blows up the mountainside from the valley when air high on the mountain heats and rises. Usually occurs later in the day | Valley Breeze |
A breeze that flows down the mountain into the valley at night that is caused by cooling air at higher elevations | Mountain Breeze |
Consistant winds extending from the subtropical highs toward the equator, turned by the Coriolis Effect into easterlies. They were formally used by sailing ships to go from Europe to North and South America | Trade Winds |
Winds blowing consistently from southwest to northeast between 30˚and 60˚ north and south latitudes | Prevailing Westerlies |
Winds blowing consistently from northeast to southwest from the northern polar region, bringing cold, dry air to the northern parts of North America, Asia, and Europe | Polar Easterlies |
A permanent low-pressure belt of usually windless air near the equator caused by the vertical rising of warm air | Doldrums |
Bands of nearly permanent high pressure at approx. 30˚ north or south latitude caused by descending cold air. They were so named b/c sailing ships that drifted for weeks in these areas were forced to dump their cargoes of livestock when water ran short | Horse Latitudes |
The prevailing low-pressure belt at approx. 60˚ north or south latitude. In the Northern Hemisphere the prevailing westerlies rise above the polar easterlies, lifting air in this zone | Subpolar Low |
An area of high atmospheric pressure at either pole caused by subsiding cold air | Polar High |
A rainstorm that includes lightning and thunder. | Thunderstorm |
A towering cumulonimbus cloud that builds rapidly to high altitudes (approaching 25,000 ft) and usually brings heavy rain, lightning, thunder, and sometimes hail. | Thunderhead |
An electrical discharge that occurs either between clouds or between a cloud and the ground. | Lightning |
Prior to a lightning stroke, a zigzag column of highly ionized air that establishes the channel for subsequent lightning discharges and return strokes. | Stepped Leader |
A lightning discharge from the ground up to a cloud along the ionized path taken by the original strike from the cloud to the ground | Return Stroke |
Lightning consisting of branches connecting to the main stroke | Forked Lightning |
A violent, narrow, rotating, funnel-shaped local windstorm containing the highest wind speeds measured, extending down from a cumulonimbus cloud | Tornado |
A tornado that occurs at sea | Waterspout |
In the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific oceans, a strong, large-area cyclonic storm with wind speeds exceeding 75 mi/h. Also called a typhoon or cyclone in other parts of the world. | Hurricane |
What hurricanes are called in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions | Typhoon |
A weather system centered on a low-pressure area surrounded by a wind circulation pattern spiraling counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. A hurricane in the Southwestern Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. | Cyclone (hurricane) |
The circular center of low pressure in a hurricane that is characterized by few clouds, relative calm, and vertical air movement | Eye |
A larger-than-normal surface waves that proceed outward from a slow-moving hurricane | Storm Swell |
A large increase in sea level along the shore in front of and below a hurricane as high winds pile water up against the land, often causing catastrophic flooding and erosion. Difference measured sea level and tide caused by sun and moon at time of measure | Storm Surge |
A metal rod attached to the highest point of a building that prevents damage to the building from a lightning strike by conducting the electrical discharge through cables to the ground. | Lightning Rod |