EAW. Atmosphere and Weather Benchmark 3 Explain and predict general weather patterns and storms.

What is an air mass? A giant bubble of air with the same temperature and humidity throughout Earth’s surface

Air masses get their characteristics from the location where they form.. mT – maritime tropical – warm, moist air mP – maritime polar – cold, moist air cT – continental tropical – warm, dry air cP – continental polar – cool, dry air

Name the type of air mass is shown at each of the following locations: Location 1: mP Location 2: mT Location 3 : Location 4: Location 5: cP cT mT

What is a front? the boundary between 2 different air masses front Earth’ surface warm, moist mT aircool, dry cP air

cP air mT air

Cold Fronts = storms thunderstorms, lightning, and severe weather heavy rainfall pass quickly hail, high winds, and/or tornadoes possible

Cold Front A B

After a cold front passes you can expect… Cooler temperatures Clearer skies Fair weather Drier air – lower humidity Higher pressure Rising barometer

mT air cP air

Warm Fronts = overcast skies Hours to days of gray, overcast skies On and off rain gentle rains Pass slowly NO SEVERE WEATHER!!!

Stationary Fronts

Key concepts: Weather patterns cold front, warm front, stationary front, air mass, high and low pressure systems. Storms—thunderstorms, lightning cold frontwarm frontstationary front Storms and thunder, tornadoes, hurricanes, winds, blizzards. Buoyancy, thermal expansion, convection. See (thermal expansion) and (density).

Weather maps - show fronts, temperatures, isobars, etc. thermometer – measures air temperaturehermometer hygrometer – measures relative humidity barometer - measures air pressure anemometer - measures wind speed wind vane – determines the direction of the wind rain gauge – records the amount of rainfall Satellite radar monitoring Weather Tools:

Real-world contexts: Observable daily weather patterns Examples of weather reports from TV, radio, newspapers, including representations on weather maps. Reports of local weather patterns influenced by the jet stream and prevailing winds.

Resources w_pressure_small.jpghttp:// w_pressure_small.jpg