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Cyclonic Storms. Cyclonic storms usually follow principal storm tracks across the continental United States in a generally easterly direction. This makes it possible to predict where the low-pressure storm might move next.
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Cyclonic Storms www.assignmentpoint.com
Cyclonic storms usually follow principal storm tracks across the continental United States in a generally easterly direction. This makes it possible to predict where the low-pressure storm might move next. www.assignmentpoint.com
Air sinks over a high-pressure center that moves away from the center on the surface, veering to the right in the Northern Hemisphere to create a clockwise circulation pattern. Air moves toward a low-pressure center on the surface, rising over the center. As air moves toward the low-pressure center on the surface, it veers to the left in the Northern Hemisphere to create a counterclockwise circulation pattern. www.assignmentpoint.com
Major Storms • Thunderstorms • Conditions • Uplift of air • Cumulus clouds • Frontal Thunderstorms • Move with the front that produced them www.assignmentpoint.com
Stages • Cumulus • Air is lifted and cools adiabatically to the dew point and a cumulus cloud develops. • Heat of vaporization is released and accelerates the uplift. • Mature • When the moisture that is produced reaches the surface of the Earth • This series of updrafts, downdrafts, and precipitation release electrical charges which become the lightening associated with the storm • Final • All of the updrafts are cut off and only downdrafts exist. • Lightening • Thunder • hail www.assignmentpoint.com
Three stages in the life of a thunderstorm cell. (A) The cumulus stage begins as warm, moist air is lifted in an unstable atmosphere. All the air movement is upward in this stage. www.assignmentpoint.com
(B) The mature stage begins when precipitation reaches the ground. This stage has updrafts and downdrafts side by side, which create violent turbulence. www.assignmentpoint.com
(C) The final stage begins when all the updrafts have been cut off, and only downdrafts exist. This cuts off the supply of moisture, and the rain decreases as the thunderstorm dissipates. The anvil-shaped top is a characteristic sign of this stage. www.assignmentpoint.com
Different parts of a thunderstorm cloud develop centers of electric charge. Lightning is a giant electric spark that discharges the accumulated charges. www.assignmentpoint.com
These hailstones fell from a thunderstorm in Iowa, damaging automobiles, structures, and crops. www.assignmentpoint.com
Tornados • Most violent, focused storm on Earth • Speeds in excess of 300 km/hr (200 mi/hr) • Hurricanes • A hurricane is a violent storm that is produced over the warm tropical ocean near the equator. • Tropical Cyclone • Typhoon www.assignmentpoint.com
A tornado might be small, but it is the most violent storm that occurs on the Earth. This tornado, moving across an open road, eventually struck Dallas, Texas. www.assignmentpoint.com
This is a satellite photo of hurricane John, showing the eye and counterclockwise motion. www.assignmentpoint.com
Cross section of a hurricane. www.assignmentpoint.com