Term
| Centripetal Acceleration is focused where? |
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Definition
| Inward Toward the center of rotation. |
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Term
| Centrifugal Force is oriented where? |
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Definition
| Outward away from the center of rotation. |
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Term
| What happens when air lifts? |
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Definition
| Clouds develop and precipitation occurs. |
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Term
| What are the four main ways that air can rise? |
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Definition
Orographic Lifting
Frontal Lifting
Surface Convergence
Localized Convection |
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Term
| What is Oragraphic Lifting? |
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Definition
| Forced Ascent, due to air following the slope of topography. |
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Term
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Definition
| Air being mechanically forced to rise. |
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Term
| What type of air is more dense and more likely to move toward the ground? |
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Definition
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Term
| What ways air can rise, are considered Forced Ascent? |
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Definition
Orographic Lifting
Frontal Lifting
Surface Convergence |
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Term
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Definition
| Forced Ascent, caused by the descent of cold air lifting warm air directly above it. |
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Term
| What is Surface Convergence? |
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Definition
| Forced Ascent, when air converges, along the Earth's surface, it is forced to rise since it cannot go downward. |
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Term
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Definition
| The transfer of heat upward through the movement of a fluid. |
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Term
| What is Localized Convection? |
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Definition
| Occurs when differential heating at the surface, causes air to lift. |
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Term
| Why Does Localized Convection Occur? |
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Definition
| The tendency for lighter fluid to float upward through a denser fluid. |
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Term
| Why Are Cloud Development and Condensation Consequences of Localized Convection? |
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Definition
| The air expands and cools as it lifts. |
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Term
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Definition
| Mass or the number of molecules divided by volume. |
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Term
| What is Water Vapor Like compared to other molecules that make up air? |
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Definition
| It has less mass and takes up more space. |
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Term
| Drier air is heavier and more dense than what? |
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Definition
| Air that has a lot of water vapor. |
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Term
| Air that has a lot of water vapor is less dense than what? |
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Definition
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Term
| How stable is cold, dry air? |
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Definition
|
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Term
| What are the top two causes for air instability? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Cooling due to the expansion of air, not due to the transfer of energy. |
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Term
| Upward movement of air results in what kind of cooling? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is Static Stability? |
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Definition
| Air's susceptibility to uplift |
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Term
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Definition
| Air that will continue to rise if given an initial upwards push. |
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Term
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Definition
| Air that will resist the upward push and sinks back down to it's original level. |
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Term
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Definition
| Air that will resist upward push and not move at all. |
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Term
| If warm air is warmer than it's surroundings what happens? |
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Definition
| The air will continue to rise, until it is no longer warmer than it's surroundings. |
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Term
| If warm air, becomes cooler than it's surroundings, what happens? |
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Definition
| The air stops rising and sinks back down. |
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Term
| Neutral air is the same temperature as what? |
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Definition
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Term
|
Definition
| A single unit of air, that remains as a single unit, with no heat exchange with the outside air. |
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Term
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Definition
| Rate of cooling of the atmosphere with height. |
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Term
| What is Environmental Lapse Rate? |
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Definition
| Actual temperature as measured by a radiosonde. |
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Term
| What is the Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate? |
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Definition
Unsaturated parcel of air = 10 Celsius per km
(A parcel that does not contain liquid water, is what this is applied to) |
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Term
| What is Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate? |
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Definition
Saturated parcel of air = 6 Celsius per km.
(A parcel that contains liquid water, is what this is applied to) |
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Term
| Are Adiabatic Processes Reversible? |
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Definition
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Term
| Is Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate Reversible? |
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Definition
| No, due to the release of liquid water, making it unable to be reversed. |
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Term
| What is the Dew Point Temperature? |
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Definition
| How cold air has to be before liquid water can start to form |
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Term
| What is absolutely unstable air? |
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Definition
| When the environmental lapse rate is less than the dry adiabatic lapse rate, and a parcel continues to move upward regardless of saturation, due to always being warmer than its environment. |
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Term
| What is absolutely stable air? |
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Definition
| Environmental lapse rate is less than saturated adiabatic lapse rate, causing the parcel to always be cooler than its environment, forcing it to sink. |
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Term
| What is conditionally unstable air? |
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Definition
| Environmental lapse rate is between the dry adiabatic lapse rate and the saturated adiabatic lapse rate, making the air parcel buoyant when lifted to the level of free convection. |
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Term
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Definition
| Level where a parcel is buoyant enough to rise without any additional forcing. |
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Term
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Definition
| Air rises until it hits the condensation level and forms a cloud, in which then air falls to fill in the gap where the air rose originally in a cycle. |
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Term
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Definition
| Cumulonimbus cloud that produces lightning, are very common and transport heat and moisture vertically in the atmosphere. |
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Term
| What is a Severe Thunderstorm? |
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Definition
Thunderstorm with one or more of the following:
Hail > 1 inch diameter
Wind gust > 58 mph
Tornado |
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Term
| What are the ingredients for a thunderstorm? |
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Definition
Water Vapor
Instability
Lifting Mechanism |
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Term
| What is the required ingredient for a severe thunderstorm? |
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Definition
| Strong Vertical Wind Shear |
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Term
| What are three types of individual thunderstorms? |
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Definition
Single Cell
Multicell
Supercell |
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Term
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Definition
| A line of single cell thunderstorms |
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Term
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Definition
| Single Cell Thunderstorm that maintains itself. |
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Term
| What is the time it takes for air to go to the surface, top of the tropopause and back around? |
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Definition
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Term
| What does Vertical Wind Shear do for Thunderstorms? |
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Definition
| It prevents rain from falling through the updraft, killing the updraft and the thunderstorm. |
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Term
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Definition
| Single Cells that can produce some sever weather, usually strong winds as it collapses and some small hail. |
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Term
| What are the three stages of a single cell thunderstorm? |
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Definition
Developing
Mature Stage
Dissipating Stage |
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Term
| What Is The Mature Stage of Single Cell Thunderstorms Like? |
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Definition
There are drafts going up and down, overshooting the top of the tropopause.
The top of it, forms an anvil shape.
Air rising up is curving back down. |
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Term
| What is the Dissipation Stage of Single Cell Thunderstorms Like? |
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Definition
They are dying and only have down drafts.
They leave behind just the anvil shape. |
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Term
| What is the Developing Stage of a Single Cell Thunderstorm Like? |
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Definition
| There is an updraft helping to grow the cloud. |
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Term
| Cauliflower type hard top clouds are doing what? |
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Definition
| They are growing due to a strong updraft. |
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Term
| Wispy top clouds are doing what? |
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Definition
| Dying out, no longer growing upward. |
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Term
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Definition
| Clouds that would have made Thunderstorms, but don't for an unknown reason. |
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Term
| What are Air Mass Thunderstorms? |
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Definition
Weak, not severe, move slowly, dissipate in less than one hour.
It is caused by local heating from the sun. |
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Term
| In order to keep a thunderstorm going, what direction should wind shear push rain? |
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Definition
| Away from the updraft and out of the storm, rather than through the updraft. |
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Term
| Why does the anvil form for a thunderstorm? |
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Definition
| It's the air hitting the tropopause and spreading out. |
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Term
| What does Lightning Require? |
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Definition
| The separation of positive and negative charges into different regions of the thunderstorm. |
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Term
| Where are positive charges in a cloud? |
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Definition
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|
Term
| Where are negative charges in a cloud? |
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Definition
| In the center of a cloud. |
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Term
|
Definition
|
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Term
| Why is there charging separation in clouds? |
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Definition
| The rebounding of graupel with smaller ice crystals, generating electrical charges. |
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Term
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Definition
| The first part of lightning as it starts to form, which can feel a positive charge and branch out, without knowing where the positive charge is. |
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Term
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Definition
| A massive electrical current that occurs when a leader finds a positive charge, several times hotter than the surface of the sun. |
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Term
|
Definition
The combination of multiple strokes.
It's what we see when lightning strikes. |
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Term
| What is Intracloud lightning? |
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Definition
| Lightning that never leaves a cloud. |
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Term
| What percent of lightning is Intracloud? |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| What percent of lightning is Cloud to Ground? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What causes Cloud to Ground Lightning? |
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Definition
| The positive charge at the bottom of a cloud is too weak, so the negative charge in the middle of the cloud darts down to a stronger positive charge on the ground. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The expansion of air during a lightning stroke, creating a shockwave. |
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Term
|
Definition
A lie!
It's thunder from a lightning strike you didn't see. |
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Term
| What areas have the most thunderstorms? |
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Definition
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|
Term
| Lightning is striking the Earth how many times a second? |
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Definition
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|
Term
| Why aren't most thunderstorms over water? |
|
Definition
It is hard to warm the ocean enough to generate a thunderstorm, as the ocean is for the most part always the same temperature.
It is much easier to warm the surface than the ocean. |
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Term
| What does Radar stand for? |
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Definition
| Radio Detection And Ranging |
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Term
| How Do Weather Surveillance Radars Operate? |
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Definition
| Transmits short pulses of radiation, listens for returned energy and transmitted energy is scattered by objects in the environment and atmosphere. |
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Term
| How much energy comes back from scanning a cloud with radar tells you what? |
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Definition
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Term
| How long it takes energy to come back from scanning a cloud with radar tells you what? |
|
Definition
| How far away the cloud is |
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Term
|
Definition
| Amount of energy that is scattered and travels back to the receiver. |
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Term
| What effects Backscatter? |
|
Definition
| Size, shape, state and temperature of what is being hit by the radar energy. |
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Term
| What is Polairmetric Radar? |
|
Definition
| Alternates transmissions of horizontally and vertically polarized waves, and gives more detailed information on what's being hit by the radar waves. |
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