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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
what are the basic ingredients for a thunderstorm?
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moisture, instability, and a lifting mechanism
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what defines a severe thunderstorm?
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hail greater than three-fourths of an inch, wind gusts greater than 50 knots, and/or tornadoes
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what are the stages of thunderstorm development?
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cumulus (updrafts), mature (up & down drafts), and dissipation (down drafts)
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what are the four types of thunderstorms?
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air mass, multicell, squall lines, and supercells
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what is a wind shear?
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the change in direction and speed over a distance
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what makes supercell thunderstorms unique?
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they rotate
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what are the characteristics of supercells?
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last 4-6 hours, cover 40-60 km, and have wind shear
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what are the three types of supercells?
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low precipitation, high precipitation, and classic
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what is a tornado?
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a violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground
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when are tornadoes most likely to form?
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spring (april-june), during the late afternoon and early evening (4-8 pm)
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where are tornadic wind speeds strongest?
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to the right of motion
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what do vortex breakdowns produce?
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multiple vorticies
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what are the life cycle stages of tornadoes?
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organizing, mature, shrinking, and decaying
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what is the definition of temperature?
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the average speed of molecules movement in a substance. (the faster the average speed the high the temp.)
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what is the definition of pressure
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the weight of the air above you
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what is the difference between absolute and relative measures of moisture?
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absolute has nothing to do with temperature, whereas, relative does.
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what is the energy called that resides in water molecules?
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latent heat
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when does latent energy in water get released and absorbed and how does that affect the atmosphere?
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when changing states; in a thunderstorm, water is changing phases on a continual basis, therefore, latent heat is added or released on a continual basis
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how is atmospheric pressure measured?
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mercury barometers
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what are the typical units of pressure that are used in meteorology?
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millibars
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what is the oklahoma mesonet?
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a network of environmental monitoring stations.
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which has a higher heat capacity: water or land?
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water
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what are the four different temperature profiles for winter precipitation?
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rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow
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what are the five different types of airmasses?
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continental polar, continental tropical, maritime polar, maritime tropical, and continental arctic
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which source regions are generally formed in canada in winter and over the ocean in the summer?
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cold airmass sources
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which source regions are seen in the desert SW in the summer when typical daytime highs are around 110 degrees fahrenheit?
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warm airmass sources
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what is the conveyor belt model of a mid-latitude cyclone?
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the depiction of three-dimensional structure of a cyclone in terms of three airstreams: warm, cold, and dry
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what are the four layers of the atmosphere
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troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
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