Weather & Climate By: Daniel Torrico, Andrew Ramirez, Adrian Beltran

The difference between climate and weather Climate is the temperature and precipitation over a long period of time. Weather is minute by minute heat, air pressure, winds, and moisture.

Tropical Climate Zone The tropical climate zone is located around the equator. The tropical climate zone is a wet, steamy, and hot place. It is perfect for plants and animals. The sun rays hit directly on the tropical climate zone.

Temperate Climate Zone The weather in temperate climates is not usually too wild. The whole year it is never too hot or too cold. Many plants and animals thrive in the temperate zone.

Desert Climate Zone The desert climate zone barely receives any rain. Desert rain can evaporate before it hits the ground. The average rainfall is 10 inches over the year. Deserts receive full sunlight because there are not enough clouds to filter the suns rays. Deserts can be EXTREMELY cold at night. Very little life thrives in the desert.

Polar Climate Zone The polar climate zone is the coldest place on earth. The polar regions don’t get that much sun because the tilt of the Earth’s axis. The temperature is really cold and the land is dark for six months straight! Precipitation is rare during winter.

El Niño El Niño is a natural shift in the Pacific Ocean current. It occurs every three to seven years. During an El Niño year warm seawater spreads toward the equator. The earth receives more rain during an El Niño.

La Niña La Nina is the opposite of El Niño. La Niña causes the jet stream to curve and snake around dramatically. La Niña occurs irregularly, every few years. Normally, there is less rain, but sometimes La Niña causes heavy rains and mudslides.

Weather out of this world! A CME is an unusually-large release of plasma from the solar corona. They often follow solar flares and are always present during a solar filament eruption. There are 3 types of space weather storms: geomagnetic storms, caused by CME’s and high speeds from coronal holes; Solar radiation storms associated with both flares and CME’s, that can be a danger to the health of astronauts and people flying at high altitudes, and also cause problems with satellites and radio system; and radio blackouts, caused by solar flares, resulting in communication and GPS outages

Extreme Weather Droughts One type of extreme weather is a drought. A drought is a long period of time without rain. Droughts can cause health problems. There are two kinds of droughts. A permanent drought and a contingent. A contingent drought doesn’t last that long.

Extreme Weather Hurricanes Another type of extreme weather is a hurricane. A hurricane happens in warm places around the equator. A hurricane is the most violent storm. Hurricanes can cause a lot of damage.

Extreme Weather Cyclones A tropical cyclone is a non-frontal low pressure system of a synoptic scale developing over warm waters with a max wind speed of 34 knots or greater wind A synoptic scale is a horizontal length scale of the order 1000 km (about 620) or more. The definition of a cyclone is a large scale of air mass that rotates around strong centers of low pressure.

Fun Facts: Tornados Tornadoes can rip bark off trees Most tornados in the northern hemisphere rotate counter-clockwise and almost ALL southern hemisphere tornados rotate clockwise. Tornados winds are the strongest in the world Tornados are started in thunderstorms that are often accompanied hail +time=