Meteorology - Exam 3 Combined

A ____ _____ is a flat tubular current of air, usually located near the tropopause

Jet Stream

Jet stream was discovered by _______ ____, whose regular weather balloon launches from Japan ended up flying out over the Pacific Ocean at a considerable rate.

Wasaburo Ooishi

Wasaburo Ooishi’s research identified strong-altitude westerly winds over _____

Japan

The jet stream blows from…

West to East

WWII ______ - ______ ________ _____ were launched in hopes to reach North America through the jet stream.

Fu-go balloon bombs

The US observed the jet stream by ________

Aircraft

Jet streams are _______ bands of strong winds with typical speeds of 100-200+ knots

Narrow

The minimum jet stream speed is ___ knots

60

In a jet stream, winds are strongest near the center ( _____ ____)

Jet core

Earth has a total of 4 jet streams with 2 ____ jet streams and 2 _________ jet streams

Polar, Subtropical

Jet streams can also be called the _________ jets

Tropopause

Jet streams hang out at the ____ _____.

Cell break

The weaker of the jet streams are the ________, due to altitude and a less steep gradient.

Subtropical

Jet streams are _______ rivers of air

Discontinuous

What is being shown by the RED line?

Zonal flow

What is being shown by the ORANGE line?

Meridional flow

T/F jet streams play only a small role in global heat transfer

False

The looping nature of the polar jet stream has an important role in the development of ___ - _____________ cyclonic storm

Mid-Latitude cyclonic

Jet streams are caused by the energy ________ that exists between high and low latitudes

Imbalance

Jet streams form when ____ air meets _____ air masses in the atmosphere

Warm, Cold

The greatest contrast in air temperature occurs along the _____ zone

Frontal

The jet stream is stronger in the _____

Winter

The jet stream follows the ___, as elevation increases seasonally

Sun

The subtropical jet stream sits between the _______ and ______ cell

Hadley, Ferrel

The polar jet stream sits between the _______ and ______ cell

Polar, Ferrel

A seasonal ____ jet forms above southeast Asia, India, and Africa

Baby

___________ of ocean water provides the atmosphere with surplus water that falls as precipitation.

Evaporation

Storms produce _____ that blows over oceans creating waves and currents

Winds

______ can modify the weather and climate of a region by bringing in vast quantities of warm or cold water.

Currents

_______ are surface currents that move water in the ocean

Gyres

Gyres move _______ in the northern hemisphere

Clockwise

Gyres move _________ in the southern hemisphere

Counter-clockwise

The boundary separating two masses of water with contrasting temperatures and densities is called an _______ ____.

Oceanic front

INCOMPLETE When oceanic fronts meet, a portion of the boundary current

INCOMPLETE Eddy

The _____ stream warms waters on the East coast

Gulf

The ________ current cools the water on the west coast

California

______ spiral results from wind blowing surface waters and moving water beneath with depth due to Coriolis force

Ekman

The net transport of surface water is called the _______ _______

Ekman transport

During __ ____ , surface water temps across much of the Eastern tropical Pacific rises by at least 0.5C for periods of a few months to a year or more.

El Nino

During El Nino, the trade winds reverse, sending warm water _______

Eastward

__ ____ features a strengthening of the trade winds

La Nina

Frequency of hurricanes _______ in the North Atlantic during El Nino

Increases

An ____ ____ is a widespread body of air with the same-ish temperature and same-ish humidity value

Air mass

2 things that characterize air masses

1. Temperature

2. Humidity

A ______ _____ is a region where air masses originate and acquire their homogenous traits

Source region

Midlatitudes are not source regions because there are frequent _______ , causing mixing in the air

Storms

For an air mass to form, its source region must be generally ______ and uniform ______

Flat, composition

2 warm source regions

1. Sahara desert

2. Tropical oceans

4 cold source regions

1. Arctic Ocean

2. Siberia

3. Northern Canada

4. Southern Ocean

Moisture distribution is distinguished as _______ ( c ) and __________ (m)

Continental, Maritime

Air masses are designated first as _______ (T), _____ (P), and __________ (A)

Tropical, Polar, Arctic or Antarctic

North American air masses:

1. Continental polar*

2. Continental arctic*

3. Continental tropical (summer only)

4. Maritime polar*

5. Maritime tropical

________ can act as a barrier of air masses

Mountains

Cold weather that impacts the US in winter is from the ________ ______ and ________ ______ air masses

Continental polar, continental arctic

The winter air masses usually bring ______ weather

Calm

Lake effect snow mainly impacts which bodies of water?

Great Lakes

When an air mass moves over a large _____ __ _____, its properties can change.

Body of water

________ _____ (mP) air mass moves inland where coastal mountains force it to rise, condense, and drop rain

Maritime Polar

Maritime Tropical (mT) air masses can sometimes cause an atmospheric condition called _________ ________

Pineapple Express

The Pineapple express is one example of the feature known as _______ _______ (AR)

Atmospheric river

_______ are transition zones between two air masses of different densities.

Fronts

_______ fronts are associated with cold dense air with a frontal zone that can extend up to 5km

Polar

_______ fronts are associated with very cold denser air but with a frontal zone that ay only extend to 1 to 2km

Arctic

What front is shown?

Cold

What front is shown?

Warm

What front is shown?

Stationary

What front is shown?

Occluded

In a stationary front, cold air is on the ______ side and warm air is on the ______

Right, left

In an occluded front, 2 types are possible. A ____ type and a ______ type

1. Cold type

2. Warm type

Occurs when a fast-moving cold front overtakes a slower-moving warm front, lifting the warm air mass completely off the ground

Cold Occlusion

Occurs when the air ahead of a slow-moving warm front is colder and denser than the air behind a catching-up cold front

Warm Occlusion

_________ are boundaries where there are steep horizontal changes in moisture-separate moist from dry air

Drylines

______- ______ fronts form when the tropopause dips downward amd folds under the polar jet stream.

Upper-Air Fronts

What service is responsible for making the weather maps?

National Weather Service (NWS)

There are ___ NWS Weather Forecast Offices

112

The ________ ______ __ _________ ______ (NCEP) collects weather data from all over the world.

National Centers for Environmental Prediction

The NCEP is composed of _ distinct centers

9

The _______ ____________ ______ (WPC) mostly handfles everyday weather like fronts and temperatures.

Weather prediction center

The ________ _______ _____ (SPC) handles severe thunderstorms and fire-weather outlooks.

Storm Prediction center

The ________ ________ ______ (OPC) offers detailed weather analyses across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans.

Ocean Prediction Center

The _________ ________ _______ (WMO) is responsible for the international exchange of weather data. They are also a part of the United Nations (UN)

World Meteorological Organization

The _______ ________ _______ ______ (ASOSs) report basic weather elements

Automated Surface Observation Systems

The _________ _______ _______ ______ (CWOP) is a private-public partnership where citizens can collect weather data

Citizen Weather Observer Program

What is being shown?

Station Plot

How do we read pressure on a station plot?

We add a “10” to the front and a decimal point before the last digit.

Ex: 107 = 1010.7

How do we read wind on a station plot?

Each line represents a number and we add them. Direction is determined by whichever way the arrow points.

Conditions aloft are read by launching _______ _____, which is done TWICE a day by each of the 112 weather stations.

Weather balloons

Weather balloons are launched twice daily at midnight and noon ________ _____ time.

Greenwich Mean

2 types of weather maps

1. Surface maps

2. Upper-air maps

What type of weather map is shown here?

Surface Map

What type of weather map is shown here?

Upper-Level Map

Surface map data is read from stations close to the ground, commonly located at every ________

Airport

In the northern hemisphere, HIGH pressure rotates ________

Clockwise

In the northern hemisphere, LOW pressure rotates _________ ________

Counter-clockwise

Pressure is represented on a surface map by _________

Isobars

_______ are defined as a local storm produced by a cumulonimbus cloud and MUST HAVE thuder and lightning

Thunderstorm

Severe thunderstorm ingredients (SLIM)

1. Shear

2. Lift

3. Instability

4. Moisture

_______ is the rate at which wind velocity changes from point to point

Shear

3 types of shear

1. Speed shear (only speed changes)

2. Directional shear (only direction changes)

3. Combination (both change)

Speed shear is very important for severe thunderstorm development as it tilts the ________ (rapidly rising air that forms clouds)

Updraft