Lab 7. Cyclones (Answer Sheet).Foster

Name: Aniya Foster______________________ Date: 10/20/2023__________ Lab 7: Cyclones 1. What would the general temperature and humidity conditions be for the following types of air masses? a. cP: continental polar; dry and cold weather b. mP: maritime polar; humid and cool weather c. mT: maritime tropical; humid and warm weather 2. Refer to Figure 7.1, which shows the source region and direction of most of the air masses that influence the weather conditions of North America. a. Label each of the air masses (cP; cT; mP; or mT). Figure 7.1: Map of North America and Significant Air Masses. 1 b. What two major air masses influence the weather of California? Maritime Tropical (mT) and Maritime Polar (mP) c. Which air masses have the greatest impact on weather along the central part of the United States? Continental Polar (cP) and Maritime Tropical (mT) 3. Based on the diagram of air masses in Figure 7.1, where would you most likely see these fronts developing in the United States? 1 Figure by Scott Crosier is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Answer Sheet page 1 | Lab 7: Cyclones

You would most likely see mP in the western area near Washington and in the eastern area near New Jersey. You would see mT in the western area near California and in the eastern area near Texas. You would see cT in southern areas near Mexico and cP near Montana. 4. Compare Figures 7.5 and 7.6. a. Along a ______ cold _______ front you will find the warm, humid air rapidly being forced up, leading to more severe storms. b. Along a ______ warm _______ front, the warm, humid air more gradually slides up and over the cooler, more dense air mass, leading to mild storms. 5. Refer to Figure 7.7. a. In one sentence, describe the location of Tornado Alley. Tornado Alley is located in the eastern area of the Great Plains, covering most of Oklahoma and Kansas. b. Refer back to Figure 7.1 (shown earlier in the lab). What influence do you think the colliding air masses have on the high probability of tornadoes occurring in Tornado Alley? Explain your response in one to two sentences. I think the colliding air masses influence the cause of thunderstorms and tornados based off of the area Tornado Valley is in, and from the cold and warm air masses colliding into each other. c. Use Your Critical Thinking Skills: Why do you think California has so few tornadoes? Explain your response in one to two sentences. I think California has so few tornados because of the tall mountains holding in warm air masses, blocking cold air masses from coming into the area. From the cold air only bringing in rain/thunderstorms, tornados are less likely to occur in California. 6. How would the air pressure differ between the north side of a stationary front versus the south side of the same front? Explain your response in one to two sentences. 7. Storms typically include cloud formation and precipitation. Which air mass contains the greater amount of humidity? 8. In the northern hemisphere, would the Coriolis effect cause surface-level winds to move into a low pressure system in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction? The Coriolis effect would cause surface level winds to move in a clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere. 9. Cold fronts typically move faster than warm fronts. If the cold front rotates faster around the central low pressure, what would you expect to happen to the two different fronts? Explain your response in one to two sentences. Answer Sheet page 2 | Lab 7: Cyclones

Degrees North Degrees West (mb) Speed (knots) Aug 27, 2005 1800 25 85 948 100 Hurricane Category 3 Aug 28, 2005 1800 26 89 902 150 Hurricane Category 5 Aug 29, 2005 1800 31 90 948 80 Hurricane Category 1 Aug 30, 2005 1800 37 87 990 30 Tropical Depression Aug 31, 2005 600 40 83 996 25 Tropical Depression 13. Refer to Table 7.2. What relationship do you notice between pressure and wind speed? I noticed that as the pressure increased the wind speed decreased, and as the pressure decreased the wind speed increased; vice versa. 14. Based on the provided coordinates in Table 7.2, plot the daily location of Hurricane Katrina on the map provided below (Figure 7.14). Using colored pencils, code each point according to the category of storm. Create a legend in the space below that shows the color used for each storm category. With a black line, connect each of the points to mark the storm's trajectory. Figure 7.14: Progression of Hurricane Katrina, August 23–31, 2005. 4 15. Compare the direction of travel of the storm between the 23rd to the 26th with the projection of the storm between the 27th to 30th. List the differences that you notice. 4 Figure by Scott Crosier is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Answer Sheet page 4 | Lab 7: Cyclones

16. Did the storm travel the same speed each day? What trends in storm speed do you see? Explain your response in two to three sentences. 17. Complete the far-right column of Table 7.3 by determining the storm category based on the wind speed. You should refer to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Severity Scale (Table 7.1, shown above) to complete the Category column. Table 7.3: Hurricane Harvey Data 5 Date Time Approx. Degrees North Approx. Degrees West Pressure (mb) Wind Speed (knots) Category Aug 16, 2017 1200 14 47 1010 25 Aug 17, 2017 1200 13 53 1008 30 Aug 18, 2017 1200 13 60 1004 40 Aug 19, 2017 1200 14 68 1006 30 Aug 20, 2017 1200 14 75 1006 30 Aug 21, 2017 1200 16 83 1008 25 Aug 22, 2017 1200 19 89 1010 25 Aug 23, 2017 1200 21 92 1006 30 Aug 24, 2017 1200 24 93 986 60 Aug 25, 2017 1200 26 96 949 95 Aug 26, 2017 1200 29 97 978 65 Aug 27, 2017 1200 29 97 998 35 Aug 28, 2017 1200 29 96 997 40 Aug 29, 2017 1200 28 96 995 40 Aug 30, 2017 1200 30 93 992 40 Aug 31, 2017 1200 32 92 1001 20 Sep 1, 2017 1200 36 87 1002 25 Sep 2, 2017 1200 38 85 1013 15 18. Based on the provided coordinates in Table 7.3, plot the daily location of Hurricane Harvey on the map provided below (Figure 7.15). Using colored pencils, code each point according to the category of storm. Use the same colors as you did for question 14 (Figure 7.14) and add a legend to the map. With a black line, connect each of the points to mark the storm's trajectory. 5 Data sourced from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information Answer Sheet page 5 | Lab 7: Cyclones