Notes for Meteorology 356

October 20, 2004

 

Kevin Moerman

Socrates Figueroa

 

 

Assignments:

Reader: 248-253; 267-269; 282- 293; Section VI (296-307); Section VII (319-381); 335-365

 

Upcoming Assignments:

On Friday, Mr. Monteverdi will be handing out the Homework Assignment #2.

 

In-Class Discussion:

Recent Weather:

-Discussed the recent weather events for California, early storm had passed by us the previous day.  Checked the National Weather Service Office in San Francisco to see what the total rainfall was for the day:

á      Oakland Airport: 2Ó

á      San Francisco: 1.7Ó

á      North Bay 1.5-2Ó

á      San Marco Pass(Southern Coastal Range): 5.88Ó

      As we see by the rainfall totals, we concluded that this was a powerful early season    

      storm.  Due to this rain fall, California announced that the fire season was over.

 

Current Weather:

            -Viewed infrared satellite image and noticed remnants of last storm.  Direction of the clouds and wind indicated a low pressure system over San Francisco.  Looked at 500 mb chart for that day and proved that this was true.  Due to the low pressure over San Francisco there was a Jet Stream flowing through Central California.

 

New Material:

            -Went to the ÒFrontsÓ link and received detail description on the Polar Front. Polar Front is characterized as the boundary of the cold polar air masses meeting the warm tropical air masses.

            -Discussed Frontal or Wave Cyclones.  Low Pressure system on a stationary front causing the warm air to move up and into the cold air, creating a warm front and the cold air spiraling down into the warm air creating a cold front.   Noticed that the greatest cloud formation was on the warm side of the wave cyclone were water vapor are more prominent.  This concluded that Frontal or Wave Cyclones are characteristic of precipitation and storm systems. 

            -Introduced to a new Rule of Thumb:  Air that rises cools because it expands as it moves upwards. If relative humidity is less than 100%, the cooling rate is about 5.5◦F/1000 ft.

            -Looked at the expansional cooling link.  It displays how wind spirals into and then rises into a low pressure system causing cooling to occur.  Cloud base is where the air has been cooled to the due point.  Moving upwards stream of condensation. 

            -Polar front location in July is North above Canada, and in the winter it moves South to our latitude.  Jet stream flows along the Polar Front around the world.