Thunderstorms, Hurricanes, Tornados

Transcription

1 Thunderstorms, Hurricanes, Tornados Vocabulary Surface Winds typical west wind at this latitude prevailing wind from east below Florida's latitude high altitude, high speed river of air path of a storm What is a thunderstorm? A with, and strong 1

2 How do thunderstorms occur? air rises rapidly. Air over. A moves through. What are the 3 stages of a thunderstorm? warm moist air rises & condenses as a cloud. forms a cloudtorrential rain & hail warm air stops rising & the storm dies. All produce lightning Lightning is the of huge amounts of (think of walking across a carpet in your socks and then touching somethingzap) Lightning can travel from the to the, cloud to cloud, or even from the to a! is the result of the air quickly from the heat of the lightning bolt (causes a sound wave) You cannot have lightning without thunder, or visa versa What is lightning? When clouds, then it heats the How does lightning occur? charges & charges the cloud positive charge on ground a spark forms between charges 8090% of lightning is in the cloud only 10 20% reaches the ground

3 What do you do in a lightning storm? Stay away from water, metal objects, and tall objects (trees) Get small Go inside a building, car, because the lightning is carried to the ground by the exterior of the car/building. Supercell Thunderstorm formations will form SEVERE storms and tornadoes! THIS IS ONE BIG STORM SYSTEM! The Cyclone A Cyclone is any system that has a rotation (In the Northern Hemisphere) Types of Cyclones: Tornado a small, compact storm with strong winds Types of Cyclones Hurricane A large, organized storm with strong winds and heavy rain AKA Typhoon in the Pacific Types of Cyclones a low pressure system in the middle latitudes We live in the middle latitudes (3050 degrees North & South) Comma shaped, 3

4 Hurricanes Massive storms with a size that can be more than. Feed on water Biggest danger is storm surge in coastal areas Parts of a Hurricane: Hurricane eye: at the center skies & winds pressure readings. Where and when do hurricanes form? regionstropical oceans waters 27oC/80oF, air & winds. The hurricane season: to Hurricane stages/development Low Pressure Clouds and rain Hurricane stages/development Hurricane stages/development Circular storm center pressure drop in centerwinds 2034 knots Stronger center More pressure dropwinds 3564 knotsresembles hurricane 4

5 Hurricane stages/development The eye develops Winds above 64 knots Rough surf hundreds of miles away. Hurricane far off shore Storm Surge Hey!!L Let s check out the storm! Hurricane Tracks Tornadoes The, most and storms It is a whirling, low pressure cyclone 5

6 Tornadoes form from (cumulonimbus clouds) These are shaped columns of that extend down to the ground from the base of a cloud The winds move into a tornado ( ), and can reach a maximum of mph! Spin (like a hurricane) The actual funnel is made by (clouds) and Tornadoes are especially because it is so to where they will form Damage is usually along a where the tornado traveled They usually last Most are caused by flying Tornadoes are rated on the Fujita scale (F0 F6) An F6 is very rare, and can have wind speeds up to 318 mph How does a tornado form? A that meets highaltitude winds The cause clouds to develop a funnel Wind speeds can get up to 400 km/hr For those of you who aren't familiar with tornadoes, here is a short glossary to help you understand. Fujita Scale: Scale used to measure wind speeds of a tornado and their severity. F1: Laughable little string of wind unless it comes through your house, then enough to make your insurance company drop you like a brick. People enjoy standing on their porches to watch this kind. F2: Strong enough to blow your car into your house, unless of course you drive an Expedition and live in a mobile home, then strong enough to blow your house into your car. F3: Will pick your house and your Expedition up and move you to the other side of town. F4: Usually ranging from 1/2 to a full mile wide, this tornado can turn an Expedition into a Pinto, then gift wrap it in a semi truck. F5: The Mother of all Tornadoes, you might as well stand on your front porch and watch it, because it's probably going to be quite a last sight. 6

7 TORNADOES! Tornadoes will pick up dust and debris from the ground when then touch down this creates a wider swirl at the bottom of the tornado 7

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