EPS 200 (Stapleton)
Meteorology Odds and Ends
Name: ____________________________
Air Masses:
Types of air masses:
Maritime (m) = moist; Continental (c) = dry; Arctic (A) =very cold; Polar (P) = cold; Tropical (T) = warm
Where they form:
Maritime (m) = over water; Continental (c) =
over land; Arctic (A) = at the poles; Polar
(P) = close to the poles; Tropical (T) =
tropical regions – close to the equator
1.
What type of air mass is likely to be hot
and humid?
2.
What type of air mass is likely to be cold
(but not the coldest) and humid?
3.
What type of air mass is likely to be
super cold and dry?
4.
What type of air mass is likely to be hot
and dry?
Cyclones and Anticyclones:
5.
6.
7.
Use arrows to show air moves, relative to each
of the pressure centers shown on the right. One
set of letters is for practice. The other is for the
correct answer.
Label them “cyclone,” and “anticyclone.”
Explain what air does at the center of each pressure center.
a.
At the center of a cyclone…
b. At the center of an anticyclone…
8.
The picture below shows a “nor’easter.”
a.
Use the diagram to explain how a nor’easter gets its
name.
b. Explain why a nor’easter is accompanied by a lot of
precipitation.
Fronts:
A front is a boundary between two air masses of different temperature. A cold front occurs where a cold air mass
is pushing against a warm air mass. A warm front occurs where a warm air mass is pushing against a cold air
mass.
9.
10.
The two diagrams on the right feature
fronts. One is a cold front, and the other
is a warm front.
a. Correctly label each front
b. Use an arrow to show the front’s
direction of travel
c. Show where clouds will form and where
precipitation will fall.
Which type of front is often associated
with more violent precipitation?
Why?
11.
The diagram on the right shows a common weather occurrence
called a “mid latitude cyclone,” which forms around low pressure.
In the diagram…
a. Label the warm and cold fronts.
b. Show where there is “cold air,” “warm air,” and “cool air.”
12.
13.
c. Use arrows to show the direction of front movement
An occluded front is formed when a faster-moving cold front catches up to
a slower-moving warm front. A stationary front is a boundary between
warm and cold air where neither air mass is moving. Label the occluded
and stationary fronts on the right.
The diagram below shows three air masses.
a. Label each air mass “cold,” “warm,” or “cool.”
b. Label the warm front, cold front, and occluded front
c. Show were clouds and precipitation occur
The Water Cycle:
14.
A = _________________
B = _________________
C = _________________
D = _________________
Local Winds and Monsoons:
15.
Does land heat up and cool off
more quickly than oceans, or
vice versa?
16.
In the diagrams on the right,
label the continents and
oceans with their relative
temperatures (“hotter” or “cooler”).
Use letters to show whether the continent develops high (H) or low (L) pressure during each season.
Use arrows to show the winds that develop during each season.
During which season is the continent likely to experience monsoon rains? Explain.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
How does the temperature of a coastal climate compare to the temperature of an inland climate, during
the summer and during the winter? Why?
a.
During the Summer:
b.
During the Winter:
The pictures below shore the coastline during the day and at night.
a.
Use arrows to show the winds/air currents that develop at those two different times of day.
b.
Label areas of high and low air pressure in the diagrams.
The ITCZ:
22.
What is the ITCZ?
Layers of The Atmosphere:
23.
List the layers of Earth’s atmosphere,
beginning with the Earth’s surface.
24.
______________ This layer contains
the atmosphere’s main
concentration of ozone. This layer
warms up with height, so warm,
rising clouds cannot pass through it.
________________ Clouds,
“weather,” and 80% of the
atmosphere’s mass exist in this layer.
______________ This is the coldest
layer of the atmosphere, and the one
in which meteors burn up.
_______________ In this layer
temperatures may reach one
thousand degrees, but the air is so
rare that it would not feel hot.
25.
26.
27.
Clouds:
28.
Label the drawings with these cloud names
Cirrus Clouds: High, wispy clouds that are often the first to appear before an advancing
weather system
Stratus Clouds: Broad, flat, blanket-like, non-convective (not caused by air that rises
straight upward, due to heating) clouds. They are often occur with warm fronts.
Nimbus Clouds: Rain clouds. Nimbus clouds are taller than other similar clouds.
Cumulous Clouds: Fluffy clouds, often resulting from convective rising of air (due to
heating). The bottoms are often flat, representing the altitude where
condensation begins.
El Nino, La Nina:
29.
What is El Nino?
30.
What is La Nina?
Polar Jet Stream: fast moving (≈50-200mph), “snaking”
tunnel of air traveling eastward 4-8miles above the
Earth’s surface.
31.
Why do weather people like to talk about “the
Jet Stream?”
32.
The reason for the Jet Stream…
a. If you assume that air is distributed evenly throughout the Earth’s atmosphere, why are the Hadley cell,
Ferrel Cell, and Polar different heights?
b. Where is there more air pressure, at the top, middle, or bottom of the atmosphere?
c. Where is air pressure greater, at point B or point A? Why?
d. Will wind “try” to flow from A to B or from B to A?
e. Will that wind curve eastward or westward? Why?