Meteorology 302.01, Spring 2004
Class Notes for April 12, 2004
Kenny Kapoor
Rodrigo Marquez
Assignments
Read Williams, Chapters 5-8
Read Zebrowski, Chapter 5 (pages 131-135); Chapter 8 (pages 251-262); Chapter 9 (pages 263-266, 272-278)
- Typhoon Sudal is located in the western pacific (thatŐs why it is called a typhoon and not a hurricane)
- Sudal has sustained winds of 125 knots & it is curving northeast
- The coldest cloud tops are around the eye, where the heaviest precipitation occurs (as it usually is for all hurricanes and typhoons)
- Viewed the NCEP & HPC Loops Site
- The NCEP & HPC Loops Site looks at weather maps of the future (forecasts and predictions of the future)
- The site shows forecasts in 12-hour intervals
- The site displays a potential forecast showing Typhoon Sudal dissipating as it crosses the pacific
- Hurricanes weaken when they come on land due to the lack of latent heat; however, the amount of rainfall increases as hurricanes come on land because of the high dew point temperatures
- As the hurricane approaches land, Coriolis Effect is no longer a factor
- Tornadoes are a risk that accompanies a hurricane!!!!
- A storm surge is an abnormal local rise in sea level accompanying a tropical cyclone and whose height is the difference between the observed level of the sea surface and the level that would have occurred in the absence of the storm.
- A typical storm surge can rise anywhere between 15 to 20 feet from sea level over a 500-mile wide range
- The storm surge is due to two effects:
(a) A barometric storm surge due to the lower pressures at the center of the tropical cyclone
(b) A wind related storm surge that is highest in the right front quadrant of the moving cyclone (the combination of effects usually makes the right front quadrant the most dangerous part of the storm from the standpoint of wind strength and storm surge)
- The storm surge can quickly create major flooding in coastal sections that result in people drowning