1. Bellwork 4/13
Describe the weather associated with cyclones and anticyclones.
What are the winds called between the Equatorial Low and the Subtropical High?

2. General atmospheric circulation
Influence of continents
Seasonal temperature differences disrupt the
Global pressure patterns
Global wind patterns
Influence is most obvious in the Northern Hemisphere
WHY??? _____________________

3. General atmospheric circulation
Influence of continents
Monsoon
During warm months
Warm, moist air flows onto land
Winter months
Dry air flows off the land

4. Average surface pressure and associated winds for July

5. Average surface pressure and associated winds for January

7. El Niño and La Niña El Niño
A countercurrent that flows along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru
Warm
**Normally, the countercurrent lasts for a few weeks
Every 2-7 years, the countercurrent is unusually strong…this is the El Nino affect

8. Normal conditions

9. El Niño

10. Strongest El Niño events on record occurred between 1982-83 and 1997-98
event caused
Heavy rains in Ecuador and Peru
Ferocious storms in California
Droughts in Australia
Less intense monsoon season in eastern Asia
*SO MANY MORE AFFECTS
Ecological, economical, health-related, environmental, social, ect,

11. What causes El Nino? …we’re not entirely sure…
Related to large-scale atmospheric circulation
Pressure change between the eastern and western Pacific called the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
Changes in trade winds creates a major change in the equatorial current system, with warm water flowing eastward
Effects are highly variable depending in part on the temperatures and size of the warm water pools

12. La Niña Opposite of El Niño
Triggered by colder than average surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific
Also not normal conditions…

13. La Niña Typical La Niña winter
Blows colder than normal air over the Pacific Northwest and northern Great Plains while warming much of the rest of the United States
Greater precipitation is expected in the Northwest
Increased hurricane activity

14. Can we predict El Nino? We can try… Satellites Supercomputers Buoys
Funding was cut in 2012

15. “The numbers don’t add up
“The numbers don’t add up. When, in 2012, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) retired the Ka’imimoana, a former US Navy ship dedicated to maintaining an array of moored buoys that monitors the equatorial Pacific Ocean, administrators were able to chop roughly $6 million from the annual NOAA budget. In 2013, the agency says, it spent up to $3 million chartering boats for the same purpose. Those charters have failed to keep pace with the rigorous maintenance requirements, however, and the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array has partially collapsed as a result. The upshot is that, to save a few million dollars, NOAA has left the world partially blind to a phenomenon that can cause tens of billions of dollars in damage.” -From Nature