Extreme Weather

1. Extreme Weather

3. Hurricanes

4. Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

5. Hurricane cont… • moves massive amounts of water from the ocean to over the landmasses • may bring much needed precipitation • widespread property damage and flooding • may kill many organisms and destroy habitats

6. Tornadoes • Tornadoes often develop from a class of thunderstorms known as supercells. • Supercells contain an area of organized rotation a few miles up in the atmosphere, usually 1–6 miles across.

7. Tornado cont… • Rising air within the thunderstorm updraft tilts the rotating air from horizontal to vertical. • An area of rotation, 2-6 miles wide, now extends through much of the storm.

9. HIG

10. Floods • an overflow of a body of water that submerges land • Slow kinds: Runoff from sustained rainfall or rapid snow melt exceeding the capacity of a river's channel. • Fast kinds: flash flood as a result of an intense thunderstorm or monsoon.

11. Floods cont… • Physical damage - Can range anywhere from bridges, cars, buildings, sewer systems, roadways, canals and any other type of structure being destroyed. • Casualties - People and livestock die due to drowning. It can also lead to epidemics and diseases. • Water supplies - Contamination of water. Clean drinking water becomes scarce. • Diseases - Unhygienic conditions. Spread of water-borne diseases • Crops and food supplies - Shortage of food crops can be caused due to loss of entire harvest.

12. FLOOD VIDEO

13. DOWNPOUR VIDEO

14. Droughts • an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply • occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation • can be triggered by an above average number of high pressure systems, winds carrying continental, rather than oceanic air masses (reduced water content), and ridges of high pressure areas form with behaviors which prevent or restrict the developing of thunderstorm activity or rainfall over one certain region

15. Drought cont… • diminished crop growth • famine due to lack of water for irrigation • habitat damage, affecting both land and water wildlife • shortages of water for industrial users • wildfires are more common during times of drought

16. Drought ranking • The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council lists conditions on a D0-D4 scale, with D4 being an exceptional drought.

17. Blizzard • severe winter storm characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy blowing snow • Blizzards are formed when a high pressure system interacts with a low pressure system; this results in the moving of air from the high pressure zone into the low pressure area.

18. Blizzards cont… • Blowing snow can cause whiteout conditions that make driving dangerous. • High winds coupled with low temperatures can create wind chill effects that pose a greater danger to humans and animals. • Locks up large amounts of water; then when it melts flooding is possible

19. Blizzard ranking • Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale • The category 1-5 rankings, from "notable" to "extreme

20. LIGHTNING VIDEO

21. Works Cited Brady, J., & Garber, W. (2011). IR Information for the Real World. Retrieved January 20, 2011, from http://www.irinfo.org/articles/article_8_2005_brady.htm Weather Wiz Kids. (2010). Retrieved January 20, 2011, from Hurricanes: http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-hurricane.htm Kid's Corner: Environmental Information System. (2011). Retrieved January 20, 2011, from Tornados: http://envis.tropmet.res.in/kidscorner/tornadoes.htm Short, N. (n.d.). RST: The Water Planet. Retrieved January 20, 2011, from Precipitation, Storms And Other Weather Phenomena; Climate: http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Sect14/Sect14_1d.html Discovery Education. (2000). Retrieved January 20, 2011, from World's Best: Nature's Fury: http://search.discoveryeducation.com/