By
Katie
Alex
Christina
Emily
What is Weather?
• Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a
certain time. In the troposphere, the lowest
layer of the atmosphere, most weather takes
place.
What kinds a weather are out there?
There are many types of
weather out there, some
that are destructive,
chemical , some even
earth-bound. The kind of
weather is more based on
the time of year, for
instance winter would
have blizzards, sleet and
cold weather conditions,
while summer would
have rain, heat waves and
hurricanes (the more
heated the ocean the
more active the storm)
Winter Weather
•
Winter weather, better known to the
student body as time off school
because of the harsh, below zero,
conditions. Such conditions can range
from light snow, to extreme blizzard
storms. Sleet also occurs in this time
of year, and occurs because the water
in the atmosphere freezes before it
hits the ground. Some of the more
dangerous conditions like freezing
rain, which is just simply rain,
freezing on the ground can make
even walking a dangerous task. It also
can cause car accidents, people
falling, and most likely to the extent,
school closure. Most people see
Sleet and call it hail, but hail is ice
being picked up and dropped during
a lightning storm, not during a winter
blizzard.
Blizzards
• Blizzards are severe winter storms
characterized by snow or blowing snow with
winds of 40km/h at the least, and visibility at
reduced to less than one km. The wind-chill
(what the air would feel on your skin if
walking 4km/h) can be -25 or colder. The
blizzard is not classified a blizzard until it lasts
at least four hours, regardless, the conditions
above are dangerous and should not be
underestimated.
Blizzard safety precautions:
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Maintain a good supply of heating fuel and
food. If you are warned early enough, you
will have time to get these , and be sure to
include food that needs no preparation in
case of power failure.
Ensure your pets (or your farm animals if
necessary) are sheltered, ensure they have
food and water to last out a good storm.
DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. You could get lost
through the blinding snow and possibly die
of starvation or most likely hypothermia. If
you must go outside, dress warmly and tie a
rope to something stationary around your
house that you can use later to return to.
Have devices in case of power failure. A
backup generator, flashlights and portable
radios.
After the storm. When the blizzard clears,
avoid driving until roads are clear and avoid
overexertion, heart attacks from shovelling
snow are the leading cause of deaths during
winter. Soon check your neighbours to see
how they are doing.
Wind
• Wind is horizontal movement of air relative to the earth's
surface and is caused by variations in temperature and
pressure.
• The wind direction is the direction from which the air is
blowing( north winds blow to the south).
• A squall is a strong wind lasting generally a few minutes
then dying down.
• A draft is a small gusty air current that moves upward or
downward abruptly.
• A gust is a sudden, brief increase in wind speed that
generally last less than 20 seconds.
• Chinooks also called foehn winds meaning snow eater.
These winds are warm, dry and gusty and occur to the
leeward side (sheltered from where the wind is coming
from) of the mountain range.
Wind-Chill
• Wind-chill is how cold your skin feels while walking
4km/h. Wind-chill is not measured in degrees because
its not an actual air temperature. For example; if the
weather outside is -10 degrees Celsius, and the windchill is -20, -20 degrees Celsius is how cold you will feel.
It’s good for meteorologists to inform the public of how
to dress for cold weather, and helps keep people on
their toes. Wind-chill also causes water to freeze more
quickly. Frostbite becomes a factor in the lower windchills, and anything wet that you are coming to direct
contact with increases the effect of wind-chill.
Warmer climate weather
• Warmer climate weather can generate
multiple kinds of weather. Some of the
weather in these climates are only experience
by some places in the world and not all, so be
sure to check that your region is safe from any
of the following conditions.
Dangerous Weather
• In the summer, or a warmer climate, you can
experience some extreme, life threatening
weather, giving the location. These can be
Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Lightning storms, Hail,
rain, and flooding.
Hurricanes
• A hurricane is a massive storm stretching up
to 600 miles. Winds twirl inward and upward
at up to 75 to 200 mph. They move 10-20
miles per hour over the ocean and last up to a
week. Because of the warm water of the
ocean, a hurricane picks up the warm water
particles and generates energy. The wind
twirls counter clockwise, at incredible force in
the direction to the eye, or the center of the
storm.
Safety from Hurricanes
• Have a disaster plan.
• If indoors, board up windows and remove any
exterior objects that may blow away, causing
harm to you, in the storm.
• Know where the evacuation area is, contact a
service provider for directions.
• Have a survival kit.
• Stay away from low-lying and flood prone
areas, get to high ground a.s.a.p.
Tornadoes
• A tornado is a violent rotating column of air
extending from a thunderstorm to the ground.
• Some tornadoes can have winds up to 300mph.
• Tornadoes are extremely destructive, hurling
objects in all directions at maximum force.
• The path of a tornado is one mile high and up to
50 miles long.
• On average, 1000 tornadoes are reported yearly.
Safety around active Tornadoes
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If you are in a house with a basement
you should use it for a safe shelter.
Hide under a workbench, or a heavy
table.
Be sure not to shelter beneath a
heavy object on the floor above, they
could fall through the floor and
collapse upon you.
If you are made aware of a tornado
before hand, you should evacuate
your home and get as far away as
possible.
In an apartment, dorm, or home with
no basement, you should avoid
windows and stay on the bottom
floor and hide under stairs, a table,
bathtub or a table to protect you
from falling debris. Make sure to
crouch as low to the floor as possible
and cover your head.
Hail
• Hail is created when small water droplets are
caught in the updraft of a thunderstorm.
• These water droplets are lifted higher and
higher until they freeze and turn to ice. The
ice will soon be heavy enough to fall.
• Any small pieces of ice too light to fall will get
caught in the updraft again and grow into
larger pieces of ice, then fall to the ground.
Rain
• Rain forms from warm air. As warm air rises in
the sky it cools. All air, especially warm air,
contains water vapour. When enough of these
small bits of water gather together, we see
them as clouds. When clouds get large
enough, the water vapour droplets collide and
make larger droplets. When the drops get
heavy, they fall.
Floods
• A flood is when conditions force water to
overflow banks or barriers.
• This can be a result of days of heavy rainfall or
melting snow.
• A flash flood occurs when floodwaters rise rapidly
due to slow moving rain clouds and heavy rain
lasting for hours. They can not be predicted and
seemingly come out of nowhere.
• With a mere 2 meters of water, a car or even a
bus can be picked up and floated away and with 6
inches of water and a current, so can a person.
Safety from Floods
• Have a disaster plan and materials to use for survival
for several days.
• If you are in the flood and at home, go to the highest
floor, or the roof if mandatory.
• Never drive through a flood, you do not know the
depth of the water, or if the road was washed away.
• If a flowing steam of water is above your ankles, turn
around and go into the other direction.
• Given the opportunity evacuate your home to a safe
location with the necessary resources provided.
Thunder and lightning storms
• Lightning is a flash of electricity produced
from a thunderstorm. If you hear thunder you
are in danger of lightning.
• Lightning kills more people then hurricanes or
tornadoes, possibly because they are
underestimated. Lightning storms kill 75 to
100 people each year.
Lightning
• Lightning is formed inside a
thundercloud, which contains
many pieces of ice, that collide
into each other rapidly. The
collision causes an electric charge
and soon the entire cloud is
carrying a current.
• Positive electrons form at the top
of the cloud while the negative
form at the bottom.
• Since opposites attract, that
causes a positive charge to form
on the ground beneath the cloud.
• Any object sticking up, trees,
mountains even people will
contain a charge and could be
struck my lightning.
Lightning Safety
• Avoid outdoors, tall buildings or simply places
high up. Also avoid water, or areas where there is
a high concentration of people.
• If your outdoors get into a car and roll up the
windows, surprisingly cars are very safe during a
lightning storm.
• If your indoors, avoid the use of tap water, they
could contain electricity.
• Do not use electric devices plugged into an
outlet, because an electrical pole could be struck,
transferring the electrical force into you.
Bibliography
• http://www.weatherwizkids.com/
• http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/safety.
html
• http://merlin.alfred.edu/muller/FormerPhysW
orld/PhysWorld06/Project4/Images/scale.jpg