Cyclonic Storms Question Sheet
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Cosumnes River College *
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300
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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Cyclonic Storms
Part A. Air Masses
1. What would the general temperature and humidity conditions be for the following
types of air masses?
a. cP:
Continental polar (cP) or continental arctic (cA) air masses are cold, dry,
and stable. These air masses originate over northern Canada and Alaska as a
result of radiational cooling.They move southward, east of Rockies into the
Plains, then eastward.
b. mP:
maritime polar (mP): Maritime polar (mP) is also cold but moist due to its
origination over the oceans.
c. mT:
maritime tropical (mT): The maritime Tropical (mT) is the most important
moisture-bearing and rain-producing air mass throughout the year.
2. Figure 7.1 below, shows the source region and direction of most of the air masses
that influence the weather conditions of North America. Label each of the air
masses (cP; cT; mP; or mT).
Figure 7.1: Map of North America and Significant Air Masses.
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3. What two major air masses would influence the weather of California?
mP, mT: mT is maritime tropical air mass which flows from the tropical region of pacific
ocean and brings warm humid air to California and western regions. Similarly, mP
refers to maritime polar air mass which blows from the polar regions bringing cold,
humid air to the West coast and affecting the weather of California.
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Figure by Scott Crosier is licensed under
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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Lab 7: Cyclones
4. Which air masses would have the greatest impact on weather along the central
part of the United States?
cP, cT, mT
Continental polar(cP) air mass is a cold ,dry air that blows from polar regions into
North America and affects central areas. Continental tropical(cT) is a dry, and
hot air mass that originates in the mid-latitudes flows over the Mexican region
during summer time and changes weather conditions. mT is a maritime
tropical air mass which flows from the tropical region of the pacific ocean and
brings warm humid air to many parts of America.
5. In one sentence, describe the location of Tornado Alley.
Tornado alley is a region in the central United States which is known for its frequent
tornado activity.
6. 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.
When warm and moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with cool, dry air from the
Rocky Mountains, it creates an unstable atmosphere that increases the
likelihood of tornado formation in Tornado Alley.
7. Use Your Critical Thinking Skills: Why do you think California has so few
tornadoes? Explain your response in one to two sentences.
California has fewer tornadoes compared to tornado alley because the prevailing
weather patterns geography of california are not as conductive to the formation
of tornadoes as the conditions found in tornado alley
Part B. Fronts and Frontal Lifting
8. Based on the diagram of air masses in Figure 7.1, where would you most likely
see these fronts developing (North, South)?
The warm front would be in the south and the cool front would most likely be
developing in the north.
9. Along a __
warm front
___________ front you will find the warm, humid air
rapidly being forced up, leading to more severe storms.
10.Along a ____
cold front
_________ front, the warm, humid air gradually slides up
and over the cooler, more dense air mass.
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Lab 7: Cyclones
Part C. Midlatitude Cyclonic Storm
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Progression
11.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.
The air pressure on the north side of a stationary front is typically higher than on
the south side. This is because colder, denser air masses often reside to the
north of the front, leading to higher atmospheric pressure, while warmer, less
dense air masses are found to the south, resulting in lower pressure.
12.Storms typically include cloud formation and precipitation. Which air mass
contains the greater amount of humidity?
The warm, moist air mass in a storm system is usually the one with the
highest relative humidity. Because of its larger water vapor concentration,
which can condense into clouds and generate rainfall or other kinds of
precipitation, this warm, humid air is more favorable to cloud formation
and precipitation.
13.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?
Surface-level winds in the northern hemisphere travel counterclockwise into a
low-pressure system due to the Coriolis effect. This indicates that a low-pressure
system is surrounded by winds that blow counterclockwise.
14.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.
It is likely that the cold front will catch up to the warm front if it moves more quickly
than the warm front and revolves around the core low pressure. As a result, the
warm front's warm, humid air may be lifted by the cold front more swiftly, which
may result in more severe weather at the frontal boundary, including
thunderstorms and significant precipitation.
15.Based on the temperature of the ocean currents off the Pacific and Atlantic
coasts, why do we find much greater tropical storm development in the Atlantic
Ocean influencing the United States? Why don’t we see many in California?
Explain your responses in two to three sentences.
Why do we find that the Atlantic Ocean influences the United States with
significantly larger development of tropical storms based on the temperature of
the ocean currents off the shores of the Pacific and Atlantic? Why is there a lack
of them in California? Put your answers into two or three sentences to explain
them.
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Lab 7: Cyclones
16.Complete the table by determining the storm category based on the wind speed.
You should reference Table 7.1 above.
Table 7.2: Hurricane Katrina Data
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Date
Time
Appro
x.
Degre
e
s
North
Appro
x.
Degr
ee
s
East
Press
ur e
(mb)
Wind
Speed
(knots)
Category
Aug 23,
2005
1800
23
75
1008
30
Tropical depression
Aug 24,
1800
25
77
1003
40
Tropical storm
2005
Aug 25,
2005
1800
26
80
988
60
Tropical storm
Aug 26,
2005
1800
25
83
968
85
Hurricane category 2
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
Hurrcane category 1
Aug 30,
2005
1800
37
87
990
30
Tropical depression
Aug 31,
2005
600
40
83
996
25
Tropical depression
17.In the data table above, what relationship do you see between pressure and wind
speed?
Pressure and wind speed are directly correlated; the bigger the pressure differential,
the quicker the wind.
18.Based on the provided coordinates in Table 7.2, plot the daily location of
Hurricane Katrina in the map (Figure 7.13) provided below. Using colored
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Data sourced from
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
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Lab 7: Cyclones
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.
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Figure 7.13: Progression of Hurricane Katrina, August 23–31, 2005.
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19.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.
It was originally traveling West but once it got to the Gulf of Mexico it started
traveling North probably because of the mixture of cool and warm air/
temperatures in the midwest.
20.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.
The storm did not travel the same speed when it initially started in the beginning
stages it was slower as it was building up. Through the middle stages which
were the peak stages and hit the Gulf of Mexico the speeds picked up until it
hit the midwest then it eventually started slowing down. Eventually leading to
slowing down enough to the storm coming to an end
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Figure by Scott Crosier is licensed under
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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Lab 7: Cyclones