Weather Vs. Climate

Weather: The conditions of a certain place about a certain time. Usually focuses on the here and now.

Climate: Averages, temperatures, large areas of land, long periods of time. More historical.

The Sun

Solar Radiation: Electromagnetic Energy emitted by the sun. The energy that comes from the sun warms 99.97% of the surface of the earth. (with the remainder from the core of the earth)

The sun undergoes “solar cycles” these are time periods of ~11 years

As the sun hits the earth, every location on the earth has the same amount of daylight per year. However due to the tilt of the earth, not every area gets the same amount of solar radiation. (This effect also causes the seasonal changes)

The earth will undergo a slight wobble, where the orientation changes to a different “north star” as well as a change in the tilt as well.

The Atmosphere

The atmosphere is made up of three distinct layers

Serves to block/reflect most of the solar radiation

Troposphere

Lowest layer of the atmosphere, contains most of the living life on earth.

Stratosphere

Middle layer, contains the ozone layer, which serves to absorb most of the UV-C and UV-B rays

The Ozone Layer

The O₃ that is found here is able to absorb or scatter the dangerous UV rays that come into the atmosphere.

Mesosphere

Highest layer, least protected against radiation

Albedo

Reflectivity of the earth, the more light that is reflected, the higher the albedo

Helps to control the heat of the planet

Higher in areas where there is less soil/plants

Winds and Surface Fronts

As the surface of the earth warms, this convection causes air to rise into the atmosphere, where it then will push “fronts” as this warm air rises, it tends to condense, which then forms the clouds that we can see.

As the earth rotates, it also causes the wind forces to curve, which leads to the corialis effect

During the seasonal variations in temperatues, there are shifts in the areas of pressure, which is what causes the weather to change during the year.

Coasts Vs. Inland Climate

The coastal areas tend to have more stable, stabilized climate

As you travel more inland, the weather tends to have higher variation in weather, seasonal temperatures. The extremes are also much more pronounced.

The primary reason for this is that there is less surface cooling over water, so the water holds onto that heat rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.

Rainshadow Effect

As winds push up a mountain, the mountains tend to block much of the rain from getting to the leeward side. This then causes one side of the mountain to be moist, while the other is arid. There is no precipitation left for the leeward side due to the precipitation falling on the windward side.

Oscilations: El Nino, La Nina

There tend to be patterns within the patterns, one of those is El Nino, which is where the upwelling off the south american coast is reduced, raising the temperature of the water in that area. These oscillations are tracked based on the the Sea Surface Temps (SST’s)

Water Currents

There are many currents that pass through the oceans to help carry the water around the oceans. The most famous of which is the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt

The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt

Slow moving current that pushes water around the entire planet, takes about 1000 years for water to make a full loop.

Contains a warm and a cool belt

Traverses the entire planet

Upwelling

Process of deep, cold ocean water rising to the surface along the coast

As the surface wins push the warm water away from the shore, a vacuum forms which pulls the deep water up

This helps to keep the surface temperature cool, which helps to control the weather and keep it more stable during surface heating events

Tidal Currents

The moon will control the rising and falling of the ocean water, which leads to high tide and low tide.

Augmented by the gravitational attractions of the earth and the moon

The moon will pull the water towards itself, creating high and low tides

The Water Cycle

The Vocabulary

Evaporation: Liquid → Gas
Condensation Gas → Liquid
Sublimation Solid → Gas
Deposition Gas → Solid
Freezing Liquid → Solid
Melting Solid → Liquid

Precipitation: Water stored in the clouds that moves to the surface
Runoff: Water moving along the surface
Infiltration: Water moves into the soil/rock
Percolation: Water moves even deeper into the rock

Water in Cedar City

Most of the water comes from coal creek, as the result of runoff from the winter snowmelt

Cloud Seeding: Program that began in the 1950’s, involves sending silver iodide into the clouds, promoting condensation which leads to more precipitation. Results in 5-15% more snowfall per storm.