1. Weather

2. Weather...
You can’t see me, but you feel me, you can’t touch me, but I can touch you. I have been called the “Breathe of the Gods”, or the killer and giver of life, gentle and fierce, friendly and enemy, angry and happy. The Native Americans called me Moriah, and Snow Eater (Chinook). The Japanese call me Kaze and in Russia I am called Veter. I can shatter homes, or wake a child from a peaceful sleep or bring relief in times of need. I can spread the most dreaded diseases or bring a welcome freshness. What am I?

3. Weather is....
The current state of the atmosphere...what is happening right now
BUT… Climate is different
Climate – longer time scale (the average conditions , temperature, humidity, rainfall, winds, and other meteorological elements over a long period of time

4. Main points to remember as we learn about weather:
The sun warms the earth’s surface and therefore all the air above the surface
The earth is warmed most at the equator and least at the poles---why?
The air above land is warmed more quickly than air above water.
Warm air expands and rises, creating an area of low pressure; cold air is dense and sinks, creating an area of high pressure

5. What are weather variables?
Temperature
Barometric (air) pressure
Wind speed/ Wind Direction
Humidity (Relative humidity)
Precipitation

6. The Station Model

7. Weather Factors
Weather: The state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place
TEMPERATURE=
the average motion of molecules
↑ TEMP= ↑movement of molecules= feels hot
↓ TEMP= ↓movement of molecules= feels cold

8. Instruments to measure weather variables
Temperature
Measured with a thermometer
2 common scales are Farenheit*** and Celcius

9. Air Pressure- the force exerted by a column of air at a given point
Warm air= expanding or rising air= leaves behind L pressure
Cold Air=sinking air= leaves an area of H pressure
The higher the altitude… the lower the pressure

10. Air Pressure Units of pressure: millibars and inches of mercury
Air pressure (H or L) is measured with a device called a barometer
Units of pressure: millibars and inches of mercury

11. Air pressure rules
When air pressure is noted on station model as greater than 500, we place a 9 in front of the number and a decimal point at the tenths place. Ex 506 = mB of air pressure
When the air pressure is noted as less than 500, we place a 10 in front of the number and a decimal at the tenths place Ex 467 = mB of air pressure

12. Trends in Atmospheric Pressure
If the pressure is falling… stormy weather lies ahead
If the pressure is rising… clear skies are coming

13. Wind -moving air Direction and speed are needed to describe the wind
Wind direction is the direction that wind is blowing from
Wind moves from High Pressure to Low Pressure
Large pressure gradient= strong winds
The knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, which is equal to exactly 1.852 km/h and approximately 1.151 mph

14. What causes winds?
A wind is a horizontal movement of air from a area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
It is this difference in pressure that makes the air move=wind
Winds are measured by direction and speed
The anemometer is the tool we use to measure this
Wind chill=↑ cooling the wind causes

15. Wind speed
Wind speed is measured using an anemometer. Speed is measured in mph or knots (1.15 mph = 1 knot)
Feathers are used to show wind speed on a station model

16. Wind direction Wind direction is found by using a wind vane.
Wind direction is always described as the direction FROM which the wind moved

17. Local Winds
The land cools and heats faster than the ocean. Water holds heat longer than land, and takes longer to heat or cool.
SEA BREEZE
During the day, the land gets hotter faster than the water. The heated air rises, leaving behind an area of low pressure. Wind from the cooler sea blows in to take the place of that warmer air. These happen during the day!

18. Land Breezes
At night the lands cools off faster than the sea. Cool air sinks creating an area of high pressure. Wind blows from the land to the sea.

20. Wind Speed and Isobars Isobars- Isolines of equal pressure
The larger the pressure gradient the faster the
The closer the isobars the faster the wind

22. Coriolis deflects winds to the right in the northern hemisphere

23. Wind speed (con’t)

24. Draw the tail feather on a station model
A. A 5 knot wind blows from the N
B. A 10 knot wind blows from the N
C. A 15 wind blows from the N
D. A 20 knot wind blows from the N
E. A 30 knot wind blows from the N
F. A 35 Knot wind blows from the N
G. Repeat A-F for a Southerly Wind, a North Easterly Wind and a South Westerly Wind

25. Humidity
-the amount of water vapor in the air (mass of water vapor/total mass of air)
The hotter the air… the more water vapor it can hold

26. Relative Humidity
-the amount of water vapor in the air compared to what the air can hold (before the air is saturated)
Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of the water vapor compared to the amount of water vapor that the water could hold. Relative humidity is expressed as a percentage
High relative humidity= muggy feel or rain

27. Relative Humidity
Relative humidity is described as the amount of water vapor in the air compared to the total it can hold. (ex. sponge)
Measured with a sling psychrometer

28. Relative Humidity
-the amount of water vapor in the air compared to what it could hold
Dry air= 0%
Saturated = 100%
The hotter the air… the more water vapor it can hold

29. Dew Point
-the temperature at which water vapor condenses out of the air
- the temperature at which air is saturated
Dew in the moring
The hotter the air… the more water vapor it can hold

31. Dry air is more dense than moist air
Humid air is less dense than dry air because a molecule of water (mass = ≈ 18 ) is less massive than a molecule of nitrogen (mass= ≈ 28) and a molecule of oxygen (16+16 ≈ 32).
Pressure and Moisture also have an inverse relationship

33. Review
As altitude, temperature and moisture increases, density and pressure decrease

34. Cloud Formation
Clouds form when water vapor condenses on aerosols (dust, salt particles in the air)
Factors needed for cloud formation…
The temperature in which condensation begins is called the dew point

35. TYPES OF CLOUDS Cirrus Clouds: wispy, feathery clouds
Form only at high levels, therefore are made of ice crystals

36. Types of Clouds
Cumulus Clouds: are puffy white cotton ball looking clouds

37. Cumulonimbus Clouds
These are thunderstorm clouds

38. Types of Clouds
Stratus Clouds: clouds that form in flat layers- cover all or most of the sky and are low level clouds

39. Precipitation
FALLING LIQUID OR SOLID WATER FROM CLOUDS (RAIN, DRIZZLE, SNOW, SLEET FREEZING RAIN, HAIL)

40. Precipitation
A rain gauge is used to measure the amount of precipitation over a period of time

41. Types of precipitation
Rain- Falls from clouds above Freezing and air above freezing
Drizzle- Small precipitation <0.5 mm
Snow- Falls from clouds below freezing and air below freezing
Sleet- Falls from clouds above freezing but air below freezing
Hail-up and down movement of rain in clouds multiple freezing as altitude goes up and down
Freezing Rain-Hail-Falls from clouds and air above freezing but ground below freezing

42. Haze, Fog and Smog are NOT forms of PRECIPICATION

43. Problem Set 3
Identify the forms of precipiation

44. Reading a weather map
ISOBAR= connects areas of equal pressure BAR comes from BARometric pressure

45. Reading a weather map...
Isotherm: Connects areas of equal temperature; therm means temperature

46. Aim Masses & Source Regions
Air Mass is an extremely large body of air whose properties of temperature and moisture content (humidity), at any given altitude, are fairly similar in any horizontal direction.
Source Regions are simply geographic areas where an air mass originates. Should be:
uniform surface composition - flat
light surface winds

47. Air Mass Classification
4 general air mass classifications categorized according to the source region.
polar latitudes P - located poleward of 60 degrees north and south
tropical latitudes T - located within about 25 degrees of the equator
continental c - located over large land masses--dry
marine m - located over the oceans----moist

48. Types of Air Masses cP continental polar cold, dry, stable
cT continental tropical hot, dry, stable air aloft--unstable surface air
mP maritime polar cool, moist, and unstable
mT maritime tropical warm, moist, usually unstable

51. Air Masses
Air masses are masses of air that have the same characteristics of the surface over which it develops
Pressure Systems
descending (going down)=H pressure
ascending (going up)=L pressure

52. Fronts: Fronts: the boundary between 2 air masses
This is the symbol on a map for a warm front
Warm Front: warm air slides over departing cold air- large bands of precipitation form

53. This is the symbol for a cold front
Cold Fronts
Cold air pushes under a warm air mass. Warm air rises quickly=narrow bands of violent storms form

54. This is the weather map symbol for an occluded front
2 air masses merge and force warm air between them to rise quickly. Strong winds and heavy precipitation will occur

55. This is the weather map symbol for a stationary front
Warm or cold front stops moving. Light wind and precipitation may occur across the front boundary

56. Problem Set What type of weather is associated with each type of front
Draw the symbol for each front

57. Wind blows from high pressure areas to low pressure areas

58. The pressure gradient and coriolis force cause low’s to spin counter clock-wise and highs to spin clockwise