Question | Answer |
Low | A region of lower pressure near the ground |
High | A region of higher pressure |
How are lows formed? | A higher-than-normal heat concentration will produce convection currents of warm air, creating a low near the ground because of the lower heat concentrations of air |
How are highs formed? | Lower-than-normal heat concentrations will produce currents of sinking air, creating a high as the sinking air "piles up" near the ground |
If allowed, air will always flow from a(n) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ (a high) toward ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ (a low). | a region of higher pressure, a region of lower pressure. |
Winds blow toward regions of ___ ___ and away from regions of ___ ___. | low pressure, high pressure |
Unequal heating at the equator and poles produces ___ ___ on a global scale. | convection currents |
Convection cell | A complete loop of circulating air |
The Hadley cell | The convection cell that exists between the equator and latitude 30° |
Polar cell | A convection cell that is on latitude 60° |
Ferrell cell | Convection cell that exists from latitude 60° to latitude 30° (different from the others) |
Coriolis effect | The way in which the earth's rotation causes a change in the course of the winds |
Inertia | The tendency for matter to stay at rest if at rest or continue moving if in motion; the first factor of the Coriolis effect |
Inertia makes an object tend to keep the ___ ___ of motion with which it started out. | same condition |
The second factor of the Coriolis effect is that objects on the earth's rotating surface travel at different speeds depending on ___ ___ ___ ___ ____ ___. | their distance from the earth's axis |
The further a place is from the earth's axis the ___ ___ ___. | faster it turns |
The combined effect of the two factors cause the apparent ___ in the earth's winds as they move north and south. | shift |
Cyclone | A circulating spiral around a low |
In the Northern Hemisphere a cyclone rotates ___. | counterclockwise |
In the Northern Hemisphere an anticyclone rotates ___. | clockwise |
Anticyclone | A wind system around a high |
Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) | The surface from the Northern and Southern hemispheres converge and rise at this region of low pressure. |
Light breezes blow in the ITCZ, but there are are frequent ___, or periods of wind. | calms |
In the days of sailing vessels the ITCZ was known as the ___, because sailing ships were often left their. | doldrums (from a word meaning "inactive" or "dull") |
The regions around the ITCZ usually have a(n) ___ ___. | tropical climate |
Horse latitudes | Regions of high pressure and gentle winds at about 30° north and south latitude |
Most of the world's ___ are located in or near the horse latitudes. | deserts |
Trade winds | blow from the horse latitudes toward the equator |
In the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds blow from the northeast toward the southwest and are known as the ___ ___ ___. | northeast trade winds |
Winds are named from the direction from which they come rater than for the direction in which they are going. | :)<3:) |
South of the equator, the trade winds blow from the southeast toward the northwest and are called the ___ ___ ___. | southeast trade winds |
Polar easterlies | The winds in the Northern and Southern hemisphere |
In the Northern Hemisphere, the polar easterlies are referred to as ___ ____. | polar northeasterlies |
In the Southern Hemisphere, the polar easterlies are referred to as ___ ____. | polar southeasterlies |
Prevailing westerlies | Winds that blow toward the poles, therefore "outrunning" the earth's surface so that they come out of the southwest or northwest |
In the Northern Hemisphere, polar easterlies blow from the southwest and are called___ | southwesterlies |
In the Southern Hemisphere, polar easterlies blow from the northwest and are called___ | northwesterlies |
Jet streams | High altitude winds that blow in different directions |
Subtropical jet stream | occurs near latitude 30° (between the tropics and the subtropics) |
Polar front jet stream | Occurs around 50° and 60° latitude |
Rossby waves | Upper troposphere waves |
Monsoon effect | The seasonal change in wind direction |
Monsoons | Winds that reverse their direction from season to season (also called monsoon winds) |
___, especially in the India-Pakistan area has the most pronounced monsoons. | Asia |
Cooler air from over the water blows inland during the afternoon, producing a gentle ___ ___. | sea breeze (or lake breeze if the body of water in a lake) |
Land breeze | A cool, gentle wind that blows from the land to the sea |
Forest breeze | A cool breeze that occurs at the forest's edge |
Anabatic winds | Upslope movements of air |
Katabatic winds | Downslope winds |
Fall wind | Occurs when dense, cold air flows from higher to lower elevations due to gravity's pull increasing its speed while moving over the slope's edge and down the slope |
One well-known fall wind which occurs in southern France | Mistral |
Foehns | Warm, dry winds that travel down mountain slopes |
Chinooks | what Foehns on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains are known as |
A well-known wind similar to the foehn | Santa Ana |