Meteorology 302.01 Spring 2004

Class Notes for 3/1/04

Edna Gee and Lenin Parrales

Assignments:

-Study for midterm-

-After midterm

Sheets and Williams: Chapters 2,3, and 4

Traces the development of the warm core low hypothesis, why hurricanes do not form at the equator, forecasting.

Williams, pages 37-73(notes: this completes chapters 1-4 and part of 5); Chapter 9, 148-161

Hurricane background, cloud formation, jet streams, storms

Zebrowski, Chapter 3 pp. 53-62;77-83;96-101; chapter 5, pp.143-145; 157-163

Chapter 8, 229-251

The interrelationship of human settlement patters and natural disaster, how winds affect the surface of the sea, hurricane-related flood and wind disasters

Housekeeping:

-Midterm #1: Wed 3 March BRING scantron 882 and #2 pencil to class

-Passed out surface weather map

For midterm:

-knowledge on class website (links we’ve discussed about) and surface maps

-50 multiple choice questions

-average time to complete 30 minutes

Looked over surface weather map at the storm that occurred last Wednesday.

Storm move East-ward to the Southern Great plains.

Construct your own weather map (link)

-plotted isobar and windspeeds

-came up with hypothesis to scientific method

-air blows from high to low pressures

Scientific Method(link)

-is a blueprint that scientists follow

1. make a set of observations

2. define a problem evident from an examination of the observations

3. formulate a hypothesis to explain the proven principles
4. test hypothesis by experimentation (meteorologists look @ more information)

5a. come up with a theory if experiment was successful

5b. modify hypothesis if it doesn’t work out

Scientific method is hard work; most people come up with hypothesis and theory without looking for more information

Coriolis Effect:

EXAMPLE: we’re on the planet earth and we’re unaware of the planet moving

-Planet is turning at a costant rate

-person standing near the equator is moving faster than person standing at latitude 60 degrees

-standing at equator:1035mph

-standing at 60 degrees latitude: 578 mph

-standing at north pole no movement

-Centrifugal force: tends to make you fly off something in proportion to the speed in which it’s going

-gravity keeps us from falling off

-Newton’s first law : an object would move in a straight line unless an outside force acts upon it.

Coriolis effect: person B thinks that the ball moved, although he was the one that moved

1.deflects all frictionless (any objects that isn’t connected to the earth)moving objects to the right in the northern hemisphere

2. no Coriolis effect at equator, max at the poles

-no hurricanes at the equator

3. the faster the object, the more it is affected by coriolis effect.

Vector arrows : shows conceptual forces

Cyclone and anticyclones : winds (LINK)

-high pressure is moving clockwise

-low pressure is moving counterclockwise