100 points
1. Examine the weather information given below. Fill in the table with the appropriate information. (1 point each for a total of 30 points)
| Station | Temp | Dew Point Temp | Pressure | Wind Dir | Wind Spd | Present Weather |
| Brownsville (BRO) | 82oF | 70oF | 1008.2 mb | SE | 25 mph | None |
| Houston (HOU) | 75oF | 66oF | 1009.4 mb | NW | 10 mph | None |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 59oF | 59oF | 1013.4 mb | SE | 15 mph | Heavy continuous rain |
| Oklahoma City (OKC) | 28oF | 27oF | 1017.0 mb | N | 15 mph | Haze |
| St. James (VIH) | 32oF | 32oF | 1015.7 mb | Calm | Calm | Moderate fog |
2. Examine the information for VIH and BRO.
(a) Which of the two places is experiencing the highest relative humidity? (5 points)
St. James (VIH)
How Did You Tell? (5 points)
The relative humidity relates to the difference between the temperature and the dew point temperature. When the difference is zero, the relative humidity is 100%. Hence, the relative humidity at St. James is much higher than that at Brownsville.
(b) Which of the two is experiencing the greatest amount of water vapor? (5 points)
Brownsville
How Did You Tell? (5 points)
The amount of water vapor is proportional to the dew point temperature. Since the dew point temperature is higher at Brownsville, there is more water vapor there.
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Visible and Infrared Satellite Images for 1500 UTC 17 Sep 04 showing Hurricane Javier
Click on images to get high resolution version.
4. Examine the visible and infrared satellite images (1500 UTC 17 Sept 2004) centered over Hurricane Javier. Note the locations lettered A, B and C. These locations are exactly the same on both images (note that the visible image is at a different scale) and refer to specific cloud areas at those locations on each image.
(a) At which of the three locations is precipitation likely to be the heaviest?(5 pts) __Location C
Why? (10 points) ___
The clouds at location C have the coldest temperatures (from the infrared image). The coldest cloud tops are often associated with the tallest and most significant cumulonimbus clouds. These are typically associated with the heaviest precipitation.
(In addition, they appear the brightest white on the visible image. Since to appear bright white on the visible image, the clouds must be reflecting a high proportion of the visible light of the sun, they must be the thickest. The "thickest" clouds are cumulonimbus clouds, typically associated with very heavy precipitation).
(b) At which of the three locations is the cloud type most likely to be stratus (fog)? (5 points) __Location B_
Why? (10 points) _
At location B, the clouds appear to have the warmest tops (from the colors on the infrared image) of the three areas of clouds indicated. This suggests that the clouds are the most shallow, and probably fog. In fact, the clouds appear to "disappear" on the infrared image, while they seem very pronounced on the visible image.
5. The figure above is the US Navy-produced depiction of the National Hurricane Center track and intensity information for Hurricane Javier.
(a) What does the black symbol furthest northwest (and labeled 17/12Z) represent? (5 points)
It represents the most "current" position of Javier (at 12UTC on 17 September).
(b) What are the sustained winds and gusts expected to be just before Hurricane Javier crosses the Baja California coastline (19/00Z)? (10 points)
Sustained winds are expected to be 65 knots, with gusts to 80 knots, just before Javier crosses onto the Baja California peninsula.
(c) What does the shaded area surrounded by red dashes indicate? (5 points)
This represents the US Navy's "fleet avoidance" area. In essence, the Navy is having all fleet operations canceled in that area because of the threat of Hurricane Javier. In essence, this represents the degree of uncertainty of the forecast track, with the possibility existing that Javier's track could like anywhere within the area bounded by the red dashes.