FINALIZED MIDTERM II STUDY GUIDE
METO 1010 INTRODUCTION TO METEOROLOGY SPRING 2011
READ THIS FIRST: This is the finalized study guide. The outline below is not meant to be fully comprehensive. It lists the
major topics that we discussed in class, but it does not completely cover everything involved with every topic. You
should use this as a guide to your notes, and to what to look at in the text.
CHANGES FROM THE PRELIMINARY STUDY GUIDE: The only changes are some information and a few questions on the
earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
WHAT THE EXAM WILL COVER: The midterm will cover chapters 6, 7, and 8.
WHEN THE EXAM WILL TAKE PLACE: The exam will take place Wednesday April 6. For EdNet students, the exam will
be available in class during regular class time 1:00 – 1:50. On campus students must take the exam at the CTC on 4/6.
YOU MUST TAKE THE EXAM ON THE SPECIFIED DATE UNLESS YOU HAVE MADE OTHER
ARRANGEMENTS WITH PROF. BUNDS. There will not be a lecture on 4/6.
INSURANCE: As noted on the syllabus, you must complete all the recommended questions from the textbook (for chapters
6-8 as well as the questions attached to this study guide and hand them in by Wednesday 4/6. You can turn your work
in to me, the College of Science and Health main office (a secretary will put it in my mailbox) or your facilitator.
Normally someone is in the office until 4 pm but not always. It is up to you to ensure that your insurance is submitted
on the 6th, so its best not to wait until late in the day. For more information, see the course syllabus.
Outline of what we have covered:
1. Air Pressure and Winds, Chapter 6
a. Air pressure
i) Cause of air pressure - weight of air above
ii) Behavior of air pressure - acts in all directions
iii) Change in air pressure with altitude
iv) Measurement of air pressure
(1) mercury barometer
(2) aneroid barometer
(3) barograph
v) Reporting of air pressure
(1) millibars, inches
(2) isobars - be able to sketch isobars given pressure at several or more locations
(3) adjustment for elevation - 'sea level equivalent' this is important
vi) Typical air pressures - normal, high, low (highest ever recorded = 1084; highest in U.S. 1064; standard sea level
pressure = 1013.2 mb [know this!], lowest ever recorded (as a sea level equivalent) 870mb in Typhoon Tip 1979).
vii) influences of temperature and humidity on air pressure
b. Winds
i) cause (horizontal differences in air pressure)
ii) influences or controls on winds:
(1) air pressure gradient (know what this is!) (including 'vertical gradients')
(a) this is the force that makes wind blow.
(b) larger gradient, faster wind blows
(c) larger gradients are visible as more closely spaced isobars on a weather map
(d) pushes wind in the direction of the gradient, which is perpendicular to the isobars (but coriolis force and
friction deviate the wind from this direction)
(e) vertical gradients exist when air is not exactly in balance with gravity (in balance with gravity is called
'hydrostatic equilibrium'). Vertical gradients cause air to rise or sink.
(2) coriolis force
(a) very very important to understanding wind
(b) results from rotation of the earth
(c) in N. Hemisphere, deflects wind (and other free-floating objects) to the right. Deflection is to the left in S.
Hemisphere. Understand this, be able to draw it and interpret it from pictures. Curve is to the right when
seen as if you were following the air mass.
(d) Stronger at higher latitudes, virtually no effect exactly on the equator.
(e) Bends winds so they blow nearly (or completely) parallel to isobars!
(f) significantly effects paths of projectiles like missiles and artillery, slightly deflects a home-run baseball,
but does not cause water to rotate counter-clockwise when you flush the toilet.
(3) friction
(a) Effect of wind blowing over topography (hills, mountains etc.), flora (plants, trees, etc.), even buildings.
(b) slows the wind; wind near ground moves more slowly than air higher up
METO 1010, Introduction to Meteorology, Midterm 3 Study Guide, Prof. Bunds, UVU
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(c)
2.
keeps wind near ground from blowing completely parallel to isobars - surface winds generally move
slightly across isobars towards low pressure areas
(4) you need to understand each of these and be able to relate them to the speed and direction in which wind
blows.
iii) Geostrophic winds - high level air flow
(1) at high elevations (generally above 10,000 to 20,000 feet, depending on mountains), winds are not
significantly affected by friction
(2) pressure gradient pushes wind perpendicular to isobars but coriolis bends winds; a balance is reached and
winds blow parallel to isobars.
(3) in N. Hemisphere, winds blow in the direction with lower pressure to the left, higher to the right. Opposite is
true in S. Hemisphere
(a) This is more-or-less true of surface winds also - stand with your back to the wind and the low pressure will
be to your left.
iv) Cyclonic and anti-cyclonic flow around Low and High pressure centers
(1) Understand the terms
(2) Be able to sketch isobars and wind flow around highs and lows
(3) Understand why the cyclonic and anti-cyclonic flow develops (i.e., relation to pressure gradients and coriolis
force).
(4) Know flow is opposite in Australia.
v) Surface winds
(1) friction is a factor
(2) friction slows winds
(3) friction prevents winds from blowing parallel to isobars - instead, they tend to make a 10 to 20o angle to
isobars, cutting across them towards lower pressure areas.
vi) Relationships of horizontal winds and vertical air movement (be able to explain the following ideas)
(1) horizontal convergence at surface can cause air to rise
(2) divergence aloft can create surface lows and upward vertical movement of air
(3) Mountains
(a) direct orographic effects - air blows horizontally into mountains, must rise to flow over them
(b) divergence on downwind sides of mountains
vii) Concept of 'prevailing winds'
viii) Measurement of wind
(1) cup anemometer
(2) aerovane
ix) Given isobars, you should be able to sketch wind directions and estimate where stronger winds will occur (and
of course, you should be able to sketch isobars from air pressure measurements at specific places)
Air circulation (Ch. 7)
a. Scale: microscale, mesoscale, macroscale. Understand what these are, there sizes and durations (time), and
examples of each.
b. Mesoscale winds that we discussed. Know what they are and what causes them
i) Land and sea breezes
ii) mountain and valley breezes
iii) Chinook winds (called Foehn winds in Europe)
iv) Katabatic winds
c. Global circulation
i) Simple one cell model (i.e., figure 7-6 in your text).
(1) be able to draw and explain the rational for this. Also be able to explain why its wrong
ii) Three – cell model. This is the good one that pretty much works.
(1) be able to draw it in side view and the surface winds that it explains
(2) be able to name and list the characteristics of the various surface winds and boundaries between them:
(a) NE and SE tradewinds
(b) Prevailing westerlies, north and south
(c) Polar easterlies, north and south
(d) equatorial low (doldrums), horse latitudes, polar front
(e) Be able to explain and describe how and why the patterns of this model change with the seasons
(boundaries and wind belts move north and south in winter and summer).
iii) Monsoons
(1) winter and summer, dry and wet
(2) driven by extra cooling and heating of continent vs ocean
(3) strongest in Asia because it’s the biggest land mass on Earth
METO 1010, Introduction to Meteorology, Midterm 3 Study Guide, Prof. Bunds, UVU
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3.
(4) summer monsoon sucks moist air in from oceans, can cause huge amounts of rainfall over coastal areas in
June – September (up to 25 meters of rain!!!).
(5) North American monsoon
(a) much less strong than Asian, but significant nonetheless
(b) affects Arizona, and sometimes Utah
(c) strongest in late summer (why not strongest at the solstice?)
iv) Polar Jet stream
(1) Upper troposphere
(2) along the polar front
(3) Strong pressure gradient at polar front in upper atmosphere – pressure aloft over cold air from north is lower
than pressure aloft over warmer air in midlatitudes. Creates a strong pressure gradient that pushes air to the
north, then coriolis force bends it to the right and the jet stream blows west to east parallel to the isobars/equal
pressure surface contours.
(4) Can travel at speeds up to 500 kmh (300 mph), but 75 to 125 mph speeds are more common (in the winter).
It is slower in the summer.
(5) The Jet Stream (Polar Jet Stream, technically) is very powerful and important – as discussed in the chapter on
weather patterns and fronts, mid-latitude cyclones typically initiate as waves in the polar front and the polar jet.
v) El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
(1) Usual conditions
(a) Southeast tradewinds drive southern equatorial ocean current from east to west;
(b) High pressure exists near 30oS, coast of S. America, drives tradewinds.
(c) carries cool eastern boundary current (Peru current) waters to west.
(d) Water warms as it flows along the equator; water is warm at equator in western pacific (but cold in eastern
pacific)
(e) Peru current, westward Eq. Current creates upwelling along S. American coast (productive fisheries based
on phytoplankton, anchovies).
(2) ENSO conditions
(a) High pressure fails; Tradewinds fail – can even reverse; Southern equatorial current fails; water along the
equator and off Peru warms by solar heating, and warm water in western pacific even migrates to east
(b) Waters along S. American coast warm markedly – up to 9oC!!
(c) Upwelling shuts off, fisheries crater.
(d) Eastward water flow usually starts in fall, reaches eastern pacific midwinter
(3) Recent large ENSO events were 1982 – 1983 and1997 – 1998 (1/1/82 to 12/23/83 & 1/1/97 to 3/10/98
roughly). 82-83 was strongest on record.
(4) La Nina is the opposite
(a) Strong SE Tradewinds
(b) Generally reverse local effects
Air Masses (Ch. 8)
a. An air mass is a large body of air with consistent properties throughout it. Most important properties are temperature
and humidity. They are several hundred or more miles across and miles thick (high). It is implicit in the definition
that air outside or beyond an air mass has different characteristics.
b. Source regions and classification of air masses.
i) Air masses are primarily classified based on their temperature and humidity, which result from their source
region. A source region is a place where air masses form.
ii) Air masses are classified based on temperature using the following nomenclature
(1) arctic (A) for very, very cold air masses that originate in the Arctic, near the north pole
(2) polar (P) for very, cold air masses that originate at high latitudes
(3) tropical (T) for warmer air masses that originate south of the U.S.
iii) Air masses are classified based on humidity using the following nomenclature
(1) marine (m) for humid air masses that form over the ocean
(2) continental (c) for dryer air masses that form over land or over the arctic ocean when it is covered with ice
(so the air doesn’t evaporate much water and is relatively dry).
iv) Familiarize yourself with figure 8-3. Its pretty easy when you use some common sense and combine the ideas
of temperature, humidity and source region.
c. Lake Effect snow
i) enhanced snowfall downwind from large lakes
ii) especially important east of the Great Lakes
iii) Happens downwind from the Great Salt Lake, most often southeast of the lake (storm winds often blow from
the northwest)
METO 1010, Introduction to Meteorology, Midterm 3 Study Guide, Prof. Bunds, UVU
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4.
iv) Caused when cold, unstable air blows over warm lake, water evaporates from water into air, increasing its
humidity and therefore the amount of snow it produces (when it hits the mountains west or southwest of the Great
Salt Lake).
EARTHQUAKE
a. See the powerpoint on the front page of Prof. Bunds’ website (research.uvu.edu/bunds). The powerpoint contains
some technical information that you don’t need to know, and it covers the basics that we covered in class – magnitude,
location, cause of the tsunami, characteristics of tsunamis (wavelength, speed, etc.) and more.
STUDY QUESTIONS & INSURANCE
If you want to turn these in forinsurance, please be sure to neatly answer them in complete sentences on separate
sheets of paper and staple everything together (you can do the last question on the study guide). Note that if you score
below C- on the exam you can receive points equivalent to a C- by doing these questions AND the suggested problems
from the back of the appropriate chapters AND turning them all in before the end of the testing period. The suggested
chapter and web problems are listed on the course syllabus.
Required Chapter Questions for insurance (see syllabus for more information):
Ch. 6: RQ: 1, 3, 5-8, 10, 12-16, 18
Ch. 7: RQ: 1, 2, 5-8, 10, 12-21
Ch. 8: RQ: 1-7, 9-13, 15; P: 1 (photocopy), 2, 3, 4
Required study guide questions for insurance:
1. What is standard sea level air pressure?
2. What are the highest and lowest air pressures ever recorded?
3. Is it easy to notice changes in air pressure (while staying at a constant elevation)? In what ways is air pressure
important?
4. Explain what a cup anemometer and an aerovane are.
5. Explain how and why air pressure varies with altitude.
6. Orem is at 4500 feet elevation, where air pressure is much less than sealevel, yet meteorologists refer to the pressure
here as close to 1013 mb or 30 inches - why and how do they do that?
7. What is 'hydrostatic equilibrium?' Explain.
8. Explain what isobars are.
9. Explain what an equal potential surface and isoheights are.
10. Explain what a pressure gradient is, and how it relates to the strength of wind.
11. Where on earth is the coriolis force most and least strong?
12. Which direction does the coriolis force bend winds in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres?
13. Sketch a high pressure center and the winds around it.
14. Sketch a low pressure center and the winds around it.
15. What are anti-cyclonic and cyclonic flow? How do they relate to high and low pressure centers and to stormy and fair
weather?
16. Explain what geostrophic winds are (be sure to describe where they occur, why they occur, how they move in relation
to air pressure variations (i.e., isobars)).
17. What are 'troughs' and 'ridges'? Draw a sketch that illustrates your answer.
18. Explain how upper level winds can support surface level low pressure areas and upward flow of air.
19. What is the prevailing wind direction in Utah?
20. Where in the atmosphere is friction important to winds?
21. In what ways does friction affect winds?
22. Draw the global air circulation model that we drew in class and is shown in your textbook. Include the convection
cells that drive the surface prevailing winds, the major wind belts, and the major climate belts that exist along the
boundaries between the wind belts (i.e., ITCZ, horse latitudes, etc.).
23. Explain what microscale air circulation is, and give an every-day example of it. In your explanation, be sure to include
both its size and duration.
24. Explain what mesoscale air circulation is, and give an every-day example of it. In your explanation, be sure to include
both its size and duration.
25. Explain what macroscale air circulation is, and give an every-day example of it. In your explanation, be sure to include
both its size and duration.
26. Explain what a sea breeze is, using words and a sketch. Be sure to show what it is and why it happens (including the
time of day).
27. Explain what a valley breeze is, and how one forms (including the time of day).
28. Describe what a Chinook wind is, and give an example of it is common. What does the word Chinook mean?
29. What is a katabatic wind? Are they hazardous?
METO 1010, Introduction to Meteorology, Midterm 3 Study Guide, Prof. Bunds, UVU
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30. Carefully draw a 3 cell model for global air circulation like we did in lecture. Use an entire sheet of paper. Draw both
the vertical air movements and the surface winds.
31. Label all the surface winds and the boundary zones (doldrums, etc.) on your drawing of the global air circulation
model. Also label areas that usually have relatively high and low pressure.
32. What is the origin of the name Horse Latitudes for the region at about 30oN? What is typical weather for the Horse
latitudes?
33. What is typical weather at the equator?
34. What is typical weather at the polar front? Where is the polar front?
35. Explain how your model of global air circulation changes with the seasons, and explain why it would change.
36. Are you familiar with all of Earth’s major wind and climate belts, as shown on the drawing you made to answer
question 12?
37. Thoroughly explain monsoons. In your explanation, you should include both winter and summer monsoons, the
weather with each type, the cause(s) of the monsoons, and where and when in the world they happen.
38. Where does the Polar Jet form relative to your global air circulation model?
39. Which direction does the polar jet typically blow?
40. How fast does the polar jet typically blow?
41. Air pressure gradients drive winds. What is the origin of the air pressure gradient that drives the Polar Jet? In which
direction does the jet blow relative to the gradient?
42. How high is the Jet, typically?
43. Is the Jet stronger in winter or summer? Why?
44. At what latitude would you expect to find the Jet in the winter? In the summer?
45. What are the major atmospheric (and oceanographic changes) (e.g., pressure, air movement, temperature (including sea
surface temperatures, fisheries) along the tropical Pacific that cause and result from ENSO? [Great additional ENSO
info is available at http://www.noaa.gov].
46. How does ENSO relate to the global air circulation model? If the winds and air pressures were always as you drew
them, would there be an ENSO? How do they change when there is an ENSO?
47. Explain the effects of ENSO (both the La Nina and El Nino components) on the U.S. Use a sketch to aid your answer.
48. Define what an air mass is.
49. Explain how air masses are named and labeled (i.e., mT, cP, etc.).
50. Draw a sketch of North America. On your sketch, draw the source regions and paths of the common air masses of the
region – show where they form and how the move over the U.S. Be sure to label all the air masses with the appropriate
names.
51. What air masses are most important to Utah’s weather?
52. Explain air mass modification.
53. Explain, using words and a sketch, what lake effect snow is, and how it is created. Where is lake effect snow common
(name at least two places in the U.S.)? Be sure to include effects of humidity, temperature, and stability on air to create
lake effect snow.
54. What two air masses sometimes collide over the central and SE (southeast) U.S. to produce ‘drylines?’
55. Where did a great earthquake occur last month? Earthquakes over about magnitude 8 are generally considered to be
great earthquakes.
56. Give the following for tsunamis in the open ocean: speed, wavelength, amplitude and period. What is the period of a
wave?
57. Draw a sketch that shows how a great earthquake at a convergent plate boundary can cause a tsunami. (We did this in
class; if you missed that, you can look on the powerpoint described above).
58. Explain why a nuclear power plant continues to produce heat after it is ‘shut down.’ (Again, we discussed this in class,
and it is covered in the powerpoint on the earthquake).
METO 1010, Introduction to Meteorology, Midterm 3 Study Guide, Prof. Bunds, UVU
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