Chapter 20 Weather Patterns and Severe Storms
Air Masses
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What is an air mass? (pg 559)
Describe what happens as an air mass moves over an area. (pg 559)
How are air masses classified? (pg 560)
Which air masses influence much of the weather in North America? Explain. (pg 561)
Why do continental tropical air masses have little effect on weather in North America? (pg 563)
Explain which type of air mass could offer relief from a scorching summer to the Midwestern
United States. Justify your answer. (pg 560)
7. How can continental polar air be responsible for lake-effect snowstorms in the Great Lakes
region? (pg 560)
Fronts
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What happens when two air masses meet? (pg 564)
How is a warm front formed? (pg 565)
How is a cold front formed? (pg 566)
What is a stationary front? (pg 566)
What are the stages in the formation of an occluded front? (pg 567)
What is a middle-latitude cyclone? What causes a middle-latitude cyclone to sustain itself? (pg
568)
7. Include the steps of the growth of a middle-latitude cyclone. (pg569)
Severe Storms
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What is a thunderstorm and what causes a thunderstorm to form?
What is a tornado and how does it form?
What is a hurricane and how does it form?
What kind of front is associated with the formation of tornadoes?
Explain why a hurricane quickly loses its strength as the storm moves onto land.