GEOG: 2050 [Final]

Which one has the greatest wind speed?

EF-5 tornado

El Niño Southern Oscillation

ENSO

On what side of the eye of Hurricane Katrina was the storm tide the highest and how high was the surge?

East of the eye, ~24 feet

What state has the highest average annual occurrence of thunderstorms in the United States?

Florida

Which states in the U.S. have the most thunderstorms?

Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia

What IS derecho?

a line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving windstorms and sometimes thunderstorms that moves across a great distance and is characterized by damaging winds.

If all the ice melted, what would happen to LSU?

It would be underwater. The elevation of Baton Rouge is 56 feet. Sea level rise of 216 feet would put the campus underwater.

Australia is characterized most prominently by the ___________ climate type.

arid and semiarid steppe

involves meeting of air masses of significantly different temperatures

frontal lifting

cool, humid, and unstable

maritime polar

warm, humid to very humid, and stable to very unstable.

maritime tropical

The __________ climates have distinct seasons but generally average above freezing. Additionally, they are the location of more than half (55%) the world's population.

mesothermal

In the dry climate type___________, rainfall is low, highly variable, and undependable.

midlatitude cold steppe

A(n) __________ front is produced when a cold front overtakes a cyclonic warm front, wedging beneath it.

occluded front

air forcibly lifted upslope resulting from topographic barrier

orographic lifting

Cyclonic storms and air masses move across the United States along __________, which shift in latitude with the Sun and the seasons.

storm tracks

The climate type characteristic of Verkhoyansk, Russia is ___________.

subarctic cold winter

A(n) __________ front commonly results in the formation of towering cumulonimbus clouds.

cold front

What is wind shear?

variation in wind velocity occurring along a direction at right angles to the wind's direction and tending to exert a turning force.

At what temperatures does precipitation start to freeze?

0ºC or 32°F

El Niño sequence of events

1 = Decreased trade winds 2 = Warm western Pacific surface water propagates eastward 3 = Thermocline sinks deeper off the South American coast 4 = Increased precipitation in South America and increased aridity in Australia

La Niña sequence of events

1 = Stronger trade winds 2 = Warm surface water accumulates around Indonesia 3 = Thermocline rises to shallower depths off the South American coast 4 = Increased aridity in South America and increased precipitation in Indonesia

Put the three stages of thunderstorm development in order starting with the earliest.

1 = Towering Cumulus Stage 2 = Mature Cumulus Stage 3 = Dissipating Stage

How many people die in the United States on average per year due to flooding?

127

In 2014, Louisiana experienced _______ tornadoes with the most tornadoes in __________ and _______EF-2 tornado(es).

17, April, 4

How many storms reached just tropical storms status in 2014?

2

How many hurricane names are there for each year?

21

What day in 2014 did a EF-2 tornado occur in Oklahoma? How many tornadoes were recorded on that particular day?

4/27/2014, 2

How many inches of fast moving water are required to knock you down?

6"

When is the storm tide the greatest (i.e., red colors) for Hurricane Camille?

8/18/1969 0:00 UTC

When is the storm tide the greatest (i.e., red colors) for Hurricane Katrina?

8/29/2005 15:00 UTC or 10:00 AM

The EF-5 wind range.

>200 mph

Which of the following is not a type of wind shear?

Advection shear

In this week's activity, you visited the National Hurricane Center website and found the tropical cyclone names for the Atlantic 2015 hurricane season. What will be the name of the first tropical cyclone for the 2015 season?

Ana

In this week's activity, you looked at the storm track of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in Google Earth. You viewed the satellite images of Katrina along the storm track and I asked you to look for the eye to develop. On what day was the eye clearly visible in the satellite images and what was the wind intensity?

August 28, 2005: winds >120 knots (kts)

The Fujita scale developed by Dr. T. Theodore Fujita of the University of Chicago is based on the ___________scale.

Beaufort Scale

_____________ is the long-term average of weather conditions in a region.

Climate

__________ fronts travel faster than __________ fronts.

Cold/warm

The state with more hailstorms

Colorado

Which of the following is not a type of thunderstorm.

Conductive-cell Thunderstorm; Conduction is the passing of heat through physical contact.

_____________ air masses form only in the Northern Hemisphere and are most developed in winter and cold-weather conditions.

Continental polar

Which of the following is not a reason why downbursts are dangerous to airplanes?

Contrail

What is the usual direction of spin for tornadoes in the northern hemisphere?

Counterclockwise

What lifting mechanism do you think explains the large number of thunderstorms on the Gulf Coast and Florida?

Differential heating or convectional lifting

Dangerous to landing airplanes

Downbursts

The state with the most thunderstorms

Florida

A rain shadow typically occurs on the windward side of slopes of mountains.

False

An air mass retains its initial characteristics as it migrates from its source region.

False

Arid and semiarid climates generally are characterized by extremely high average temperatures and near complete lack of vegetation.

False

Tornadoes with a Fujita rating of F5 are less likely to cause severe damage than the rarer and far more powerful F1 tornadoes.

False

Weather and climate are essentially the same thing.

False

The greatest number of deaths per year, on average.

Flooding

What events ARE associated with El Niño?

Indonesian, Australia, and countries in the Western Pacific Warm Pool experience below average precipitation and drought. Fisheries off the coast of Peru fail due to a lack of nutrients from upwelling waters. The Atlantic basin experiences a below average number of hurricanes.

Why do more storms occur in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia?

Maritime tropical air masses that contain warm, moist air move to land from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Convective lifting over the hotter land surfaces lifts the warm humid air forcing it to cool producing thunderstorms.

On average, which month has the largest number of tornadoes?

May

Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the New Jersey coast on October 29, 2012. In the activity you look at some damage photos taken by the United States Geological Survey. Which location had the least amount damage of the 6 locations you looked at in the activity (5 in New York and 1 in New Jersey).

New Jersey directly where landfall was made

Where do the majority of hailstorms occur?

New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming

With 5 feet of sea level rise, which city will have the most area flooded?

Miami Beach

Where does the SLOSH simulation show the highest storm tides for Hurricane Katrina?

Mississippi coast

What are the three necessary ingredients for thunderstorms to form?

Moisture, instability, and a lifting mechanism

Which of the following statements describe the normal atmospheric and oceanic circulation in the tropical Pacific (i.e., not El Niño or La Niña)?

NE and SE trade winds blow towards the equator, warm surface water moves westward, convection center over western Pacific warm pool, deep thermocline in western Pacific, shallow thermocline in eastern Pacific and upwelling.

The state with the most tornadoes

Oklahoma

__________ is the type of lifting that involves air being forcibly pushed up a mountain slope.

Orographic lifting

Which of the following is the best description of a downdraft?

Rain-cooled, more dense air sinks rapidly during a thunderstorm creating damage as the wind spread out along the ground.

Besides warming ocean temperatures, what consequence of global warming must we be concerned with in regards to hurricanes and tropical cyclones by the end of the 21st century?

Sea level rise

Which of the following is not a description of a derecho?

Sinking air that causes a rapid rise in temperature. This is the definition a heat burst.

Hook shape on radar

Supercell

Which one of the following thunderstorm types produces "large tornadoes"?

Supercell

Why is the greatest surge on the east?

The counter-clockwise rotation of the storm has winds in the northeastern quadrant of the storm blowing and moving water towards the shore.

Why do you think there are fewer hailstorms in Florida and the Gulf Coast? Please select the best answer or explanation.

The freezing level in the atmosphere is at a higher altitude within the thunderstorm and hail melts before reaching the ground.

How many hurricanes formed in 2014?

There were six hurricanes in 2014: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Edouard, Fay, and Gonazlo.

El Niño events are associated with abnormal weather conditions. Which of the following is NOT associated with El Niño events.

The western coast of North and South America experience no change.

A genetic classification of climate is based on causative factors such as interaction of air masses.

True

An urban heat island is a source of surface heating that can lead to convectional lifting.

True

Much of the damage associated with hurricanes often results from storm surges.

True

No two places on the Earth's surface experience exactly the same climatic conditions.

True

Tornadoes can occur year round, but tend to peak in late spring to early summer.

True

Tropical climates are the most extensive, covering approximately 36% of the Earth's surface.

True

Weather data needed for synoptic analysis includes wind, pressure, temperature, and moisture conditions.

True

With 25 feet of sea level rise, the city of New Orleans would be ______________.

Underwater

What determines how large hailstones will be?

Updraft speed that is sustained for a long period of time.

What happens if there are more than 21 storms is the tropical Atlantic hurricane season? Has this happened before?

Use the Greek alphabet, this occurred in 2005 when the season ended with Tropical Storm Zeta

__________ is the short-term, day-to-day condition of the atmosphere.

Weather

What is a "severe weather watch"?

When conditions become favorable for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.

Does the storm surge along the coast increase before the eye of Hurricane Katrina makes landfall?

Yes

With global warming, do scientist expect the frequency and intensity of hurricanes to increase by the end of the 21st century?

Yes

cool, dry, and moderately stable

continental polar

hot, low relative humidity, and stable aloft, but unstable at the surface.

continental tropical

involves air moving over a warm surface

convectional lifting

involves air flowing from different directions into the same low pressure area causing the upward displacement of air

convergent lifting

Moisture deficit is a predominant, semi-permanent characteristic of the __________ climate.

desert

The __________ climate type is a result of fairly constant subsidence (i.e., the subtropical high-pressure belts) and in some instances the presence of a rain shadow.

desert

Which of the following is true of Sevilla, Spain?

precipitation maxima occur in the winter months

The __________ climates have virtually no winter because of consistent day length and an almost perpendicular Sun angle.

tropical