Name: _____________________________________________________________________________ Period: __________________________
Storms Note Guide
1) Storms
a) A ________________ is a violent disturbance in the atmosphere.
b) 4 major types of storms:
i) ___________________________
ii) ___________________________
iii) ___________________________
iv) ___________________________
c) A _____________________________ is a scientist who studies weather and tries to predict it.
2) Thunderstorms
a) A _________________________ is a small storm often accompanied by heavy precipitation and frequent
____________________ and __________________________.
b) Form in large ______________________________ clouds (also called thunderheads) on hot, humid
afternoons.
c) ____________, ________________ air rises rapidly and the air _____________, forming dense thunderhead
clouds.
d) Heavy rain falls, sometimes along with _____________.
e) Within the thunderhead cloud there are strong _____________________ and ______________________.
f) _________________________ is a sudden spark, or electrical discharge.
g) Positive and negative charges jump between ______________ of a ____________________, or between
_______________ _______________, or between a __________________ and the _______________________.
h) Lightning heats the air to _________________________.
i) ______________________ is the sound of rapidly heated air expanding suddenly and explosively.
j) Light travels ___________________ than sound so you see lightning before you hear thunder.
k) Calculating lightning distances
i) Watch the sky for a flash of ________________________.
ii) Count the number of seconds until you hear ________________________.
iii) Divide the number of seconds by _________to calculate the distance the storm is away from your
location in ________________ (or divide by 3 for kilometers).
iv) Ex: If you counted 18 seconds from when you saw the lightning, the strike was 3.6 miles (6
kilometers) from your location.
l) Lightning Strikes in the U.S.
i) The map from the PowerPoint in class showed how often lightning strikes different parts of the
lower 48 states. _________________ ______________________ has the most intense concentration of cloudto-ground lightning because it has a lot of _______________, _________________ air. The Pacific
Northwest has almost no lightning.
m) Thunderstorm Safety
i) Go ___________________!
ii) Do not touch anything that can conduct ____________________-especially ______________ objects and
bodies of _________________.
iii) Crouch down in a _________ __________-avoid trees.
3) Tornadoes
a) A _________________ is a rapidly whirling, funnel-shaped cloud that reaches down from a storm cloud
to touch Earth’s surface.
b) Warm, moist air flows in at the bottom of a ______________________________ cloud and moves upward.
c) A ________ pressure area forms inside the cloud.
d) _____________ air rotates as it meets winds blowing in different directions at different altitudes.
e) ___________________ ___________is an area of the United States that has a high frequency of tornadoes
because _________, ___________ air moves south from Canada to meet ________, ____________air from the
Gulf of Mexico.
f) 5 states that cross Tornado Alley are:
i) _______________________________
ii) ______________________________
iii) ______________________________
iv) ______________________________
v) ______________________________
g) Tornadoes are ranked on the _______________ __________________by the amount of _________________ they
cause.
h) Tornado Safety
i) A ____________________ ______________ is an announcement that tornadoes are ________________ in your
area. Stay tuned to the radio or television news.
ii) A ___________________ _____________________ is an announcement that a tornado has been
__________________. Take shelter immediately.
iii) The safest place to be during a tornado is in a _______________ ________________ or the _______________
of a well-built building.
4) Hurricanes
a) A ____________________ is a tropical cyclone that has winds of ___________ km/h or higher.
b) Hurricanes form in the _____________________, _____________________, and ___________________ Oceans.
c) In the western Pacific Ocean, hurricanes are called ________________________.
d) A hurricane begins over warm ocean water as a __________-_____________________ area, or tropical
disturbance.
e) A hurricane draws its energy from the ___________, _______________ air at the ocean’s surface.
f) As the air rises and forms clouds, _____________ air is drawn into the system.
g) Inside the storm are band of very _____________ ________________and ____________________ __________________.
h) Winds spiral inward toward the area of ___________________ pressure at the ________________________.
i) Names
i) Hurricanes are given ________________ to help us identify them and track them as they move
across the ocean
j) Hurricanes last _______________than other storms, usually a week or more.
k) After a hurricane passes over ____________, it no longer has warm, moist air to draw energy from so
it loses strength.
l) A ______________ _______________is a “dome” of water that sweeps across the coast where a hurricane
lands.
m) For safety during a hurricane, people are told to ______________________.
n) Evacuate means to leave the area ____________________________.
5) Winter Storms
a) All year round, most precipitation begins in clouds as ______________.
b) A large amount of humid air that cools below OoC can produce a ________________ ______________.
c) ____________ _________________ _____________-areas east of the Great Lakes get a lot of snow. Why?
i) The __________ cools much more rapidly than the _______________ in the Great Lakes (or any lake).
ii) When a ____________, ________________ air mass from Central Canada moves southeast across one of
the Great Lakes, it picks up water vapor and heat from the lake.
iii) As soon as the air mass reaches the other side of the lake, the air rises and _____________again.
iv) The water vapor condenses and falls as _______________.
v) Cities such as _________________ and ______________________, New York are two of the snowiest cities
in the U.S. because they are located east of the Great Lakes.