GRY 135 - Investigation 10A

22. Using the cyclone's Track B fronts in Oklahoma as a guide, draw in the cold and warm front at 12-hr intervals. Follow the same guidelines as for Track A fronts. With Track B, residents of Detroit ______ experience the passage of fronts.

Do

25. An extended period of substantial snowfall at Detroit is more likely if the cyclone takes Track ______.

A

14. Most cloudiness associated with a warm front develops over a broad area, often hundreds of kilometers wide, ______ the front. From these clouds, light to moderate precipitation may fall for 12-24 hr or longer.

Ahead of

29. The next weather system to affect Detroit is likely a cold ______ approaching from central Canada.

Anticyclone

26. Two periods of precipitation, more likely to be rain, separated by a short period of relatively warm fair weather at Detroit might occur if the cyclone takes Track ______.

B

17. Composed of precipitating clouds, a broad, bright, white arc curls between Wisconsin and central Texas. The arc of clouds forms the band spread ahead of and along the wave cyclone's ______ front.

Cold

21. Consider the wind shifts and fronts at Detroit as the cyclone passes along Track A, the city is on the ______ side of the system.

Cold

5. To the north and west of the center of an extratropical cyclone, surface winds are likely to produce ______ air advection.

Cold

16. Around the low-pressure system, the visible image shows a broad white, comma-shaped swirl of clouds. Consistent with the hand-twist model of a Low, an animation would show this swirl to be rotating ______. The circulation and rising air of low-pressure systems leads to the "comma" shape of clouds frequently seen in satellite images of storms.

Counterclockwise

1. Looking down on a Northern Hemisphere extratropical cyclone, surface winds blow ______ about the center.

Counterclockwise and inward

19. Using the Track A fronts in Texas as the starting point, draw the cyclone's cold and warm fronts at 12-hr intervals. For simplicity, draw the warm front in the same position relative to the low-pressure center while rotating the cold front until it is oriented roughly north-south 24 hr after its Texas position. With Track A, residents of Detroit ______ experience the passage of fronts.

Do not

10. With the passage of a cold front, usually the air temperature falls and the dewpoint ______.

Falls

27. As the cyclone's center approaches Detroit on either storm track, the air pressure at the city ______.

Falls

3. As a cyclone advances, the system typically progresses through its life cycle. As it develops, the central pressure of the system ______ and surface winds strengthen. At maturity, clouds cover a broad area about the low center and precipitation is widespread.

Falls

2. The specific track of an extratropical cyclone's low-pressure center across Earth's surface is largely determined by large-scale horizontal winds blowing ______.

In the middle and upper trophosphere

13. Ahead of a surface warm front, warm and humid air rides up and over a wedge of cooler air (known as overrunning). As the ascending warm air expands and cools, its relative humidity ______, and clouds typically form.

Increases

15. As a cold air mass advances and a warm air mass retreats, the colder, denser air forces the warmer, lighter air to ascend either along or just ahead of the cold front. Uplift of warm air triggers cloud development and perhaps showery precipitation. In some instances, uplift is so vigorous that thunderstorms develop. The band of clouds and precipitation associated with a cold front is ______ than that associated with a warm front.

Narrower

20. Apply the hand-twist model of low-pressure systems to the cyclone's position at the 12-hr intervals along Track A and assume, before the storm's arrival, the wind at Detroit blew from the east. As the cyclone approaches the wind shifts from the east to the ______.

Northeast

18. A broad band of cloudiness also swelled eastward from northern Minnesota into the Canadian Province of Ontario. This wide cloud band aligned east of the storm system's ______ front(s).

Occluded and Warm

28. As the cyclone center moves away from Detroit, the air pressure in the city ______.

Rises

8. Eventually the cold front catches up and merges with the warm front forming an occluded front. At this stage in the life cycle of an extratropical cyclone (known as an occlusion), the storm often begins to weaken as the central air pressure ______.

Rises

9. With the passage of a warm front, the air temperature rises and the dewpoint ______.

Rises

7. As the cyclone progresses across Earth's surface, the cold and warm fronts rotate about the center of low pressure. The motion of the storm system has similarities to that of a flying Frisbee®, which spins as it sails through the air (simultaneously exhibiting rotational and translational motions). The cold front rotates about the center of the low faster than the warm front and the extent of the warm sector, occupied by warm and humid air, at the surface ______.

Shrinks

23. Apply the hand-twist model of low-pressure systems to each of the cyclone's 12-hr positions along Track B, assuming initially the wind at Detroit blew from the east. As the storm approaches the wind shifts from the east to the ______.

Southeast

12. With passage of the warm front, surface winds shift direction from the east to the ______.

Southeast or East

6. Dewpoints are likely to be higher to the ______ of the cyclone's center.

Southwest

24. Considering the wind shifts at Detroit as the cyclone passes through Michigan along with Track B, Detroit is positioned to experience weather-related to the ______ side of the system.

Warm

4. In the extratropical cyclone's warm sector (the area between the warm front and the advancing cold front), surface winds are likely to produce ______ air advection.

Warm

11. A shift in wind direction accompanies the passage of a front. With passage of the cold front, surface winds shift direction from the south to the ______.

West or Northwest