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ClimateConnectionsWeather Weather is defined as the day-to-day characteristics of these atmospheric

conditions.Weatheraffectsallofus,forexamplearainstormcancancelacricket

match,ora snowstormmaycancelschool foraday.Overtheyears, recordsshow

weatherpatterns,whichhaveoccurredoverlongperiodsoftime.

Climate Climatesinfluencewherewelive,whatfarmerscangrow,whichclotheswe

wear, and how we live. There are four main facts when considering Canadas

climate.

1. Canadaextendsforagreatdistancefromnorthtosouth.2. Differentelevationsproducedifferentclimateconditions3. Coastalregionshavedifferentclimatesfrominlandregions.4. Windandpressuresystemsmoveweather conditions formone part of

thecountrytoanother.

Latitude The most southerly point in Canadais Pelee Island in LakeErie at 41o Nlatitude. Themost northerly point of the country is Alert at the northern tip of

EllesmereIslandat83oNlatitude.Latitudehasaneffectonclimate;distanceform

theequatorisakeyfactorinweatheraregionishotorcold.Whenenergyfromthesun hits the equator it is spread over a small area, however when its hits the

northerlyregionsitisspreadoverawiderareaduetothecurvatureoftheearth.

ReliefandElevationRelief refers to differences in the elevation of earths surface. Mountains

ranges actsasbarriersformovementof airmasses. Ifyouwere tohikefromsea

levelupamountainyouwouldnoticeasteadydropin temperatureasyouclimb.

Why do you get colder even though you are moving closer to the sun? This isbecauseairmassesmoveupmountains.Asitrisesitlosespressure,expands,and

losesheat.

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ContinentalandMaritimeEnvironments Areasfarfromoceansandlargelakes in the interiorof landmasseshavea

continentalclimate.Thetemperaturerangeisgreatbecausethereisnolargewater

body tomoderatethe range.Meanwhilecoastal locations havemaritimeclimate,whichmeansthattheaveragetemperaturerangeissmall,andprecipitationlevels

arehigh.

TheModeratingeffectofWater

Bodiesofwaterhavemoderatingeffectonlandtemperatures.Waterheats

and coolsata slower pace than land, thus inthe summer thewater takeslongertoheatup,andinthewinterittakeslongertocool.Windsblowingof

the water moderate the land temperature. Therefore, maritime locations

havecoolersummersandmilderwinters.

OceanCurrents

Oceancurrentsaffectclimate,becausethetemperatureoftheoceancurrent

determinesthetemperaturetheairthatmovesaboveit.Wheretheairabovetwocurrentsmeets,theweatherisoftendampandfoggy.

AirMasses

Anairmassisalargevolumeofairwiththeclimateconditionsoftheareaitwas formed in. Air which start from oceans containmoisture and as they

move over land they release this moisture as precipitation. (This is why

maritimeregionsreceivemoreprecipitation).Airmasseswhichstartinland

aredryastheyarefarfromwater.

WindsandPressureSystems Air,ismattersoithasadefinedweightandvolume.Theweightiscalledair

pressure.Airpressuredifferencesarecreatedwhentheearthisheatedtodifferenttemperatures.Warmair,risingcreatedanareaoflowpressure,whilecoolairfalls

to the earth and creates areas of high pressure. Air moves from areas of high

pressuretoareasoflowpressure,thiscreateswind.Aroundtheearthhighandlowpressure belts have created a pattern of prevailing winds. In Canada prevailing

windsblowfromwesttoeast,knownaswesterlies.ThecoldArcticwindsandwarm

Mexicanwindsmeetatthepolarfront.Intheatmospherethiscurrentofairflows

fromwesttoeastatspeedsof300to500km/h,athighaltitudes.Thewarmair

massesandcoldairmassesdontmixeasily they,insteadtheybattle itoutwitha

storm.

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Precipitation Tounderstandwhyprecipitationoccursyoumustremembertwovery

importantpoints.

1. Air-coolsasitrises.2. Asair-cools,watervaporcondensesmorethanitevaporates.

Airmayriseforanyofthefollowingreasons:1. Itrisestocrossanareaofhighelevation.(Reliefprecipitation)2. Itrisestobecauseithasabsorbedheatfromtheearthssurface.

(Convectionalprecipitation)

3. Itrisesbecausethereisacooler,denserairmassflowingbeneathitthatforcesitup.(Cyclonicprecipitation)

ReliefPrecipitation Mountains create relief precipitation. As moist air rises up the windward

slopeofthemountains,itexpandsandcools.Therateofevaporationdeceasesandtherateofcondensationincreases,astheairrises.Thisresultsintheformationof

heavy rain drops, which fall to the ground (in colder temperatures as snow).MoistureismeasuredintermsofRH(Relativehumidity).

RH=(amountofmoistureinairmoistureholdcapacity)100%Cold air descends on the leeward slope the mountain becoming warmer so

precipitationandcloudformationdecrease.

ConventionalPrecipitation Conventional precipitation is very common ininland locationssuch as the

Prairies.Here, the landissubjectto intenseheating,thiscauses air torise.Asairrises itexpands and formssmallwhiteclouds. Asmore air condenses thewhite

clouds are turned intostormclouds.Theclouds developverticallyasmorewatervapor condenses. The result is very heavy clouds, falling to the earth in form of

violentdownpours.Inextremecases,eventornadoesmaydevelopinthesestorm

clouds.

CyclonicPrecipitation Air masses that are different dont mix easily, they have a front between

them.Thisfrontabasicallyabattlefieldandcyclonicprecipitationdevelopshere.A

cyclonicstormisa large, low-pressure system that formshaswarm and cold aircollide.As thewarmairmovesinwardtoward thecenteroflowpressure, itrisesandcoolscreatingprecipitation.Thisresultsinextremeweatherthatcanhaltan

entireregion.