Storms Review

for an air parcel to rise, it must be warmer (and therefore, less dense) than the air around it
once it starts to rise, it cools
- increases air parcels relative humidity
- absolute humidity stays the because that is just the total amount of water vapor in the air
when an air parcel reaches a relative humidity of 100%, it’s saturated with water
- this is called the dew point
once the air parcel cools lower than the dew point, the water will condense and precipitation will occur
this condensation causes energy to be released as latent heat
as an air parcel rises through the atmosphere, the relative humidity will increase

when two air masses (one cold and one warm) collide, a severe thunderstorm is produced
air-mass:
- key criteria required to form it:
- inflow of warm, moist air (like tropical climates or late afternoons in the summer)
- characteristics that differentiate it from other thunderstorm types:
- local thunderstorms and only last for a short amount of time
severe:
- key criteria required to form it:
- two air masses (a cold and warm front) collide to cause more intense updrafts of warm air and resulting downdrafts of cold air
- characteristics that differentiate it from other thunderstorm types:
- must have either:

1. high winds (>58 mph) 2. large hail (at least 1” diameter) 3. generate a tornado/tornadoes