By: Matthew Gahman
Adiabatic Temperature Change
• Adiabatic temperature change is when the temperature changes without heat being added or subtracted
• This happens by air being compressed or the air being expanded
Orographic Lifting• Is when mountains or high ground act as wind
barriers• As the air/ wind goes up the side of the
mountain it cools it off creating precipitation and clouds
• by time the wind gets to the other side the moister is mostly gone on its decline it puts off warm air
Frontal wedging
• Is when cold and warm air collide with each other becoming a front
• This creates the warm air to flow right over the cold air
• These fronts can create a middle cyclone storms
Convergence
• Is when air in the lower atmosphere flow together
• It happens when air flows from more than one direction an the only place the air can go is up
Localized Convective Lifting
• Is when unequal heating occurs on the earths surface creating warm air pockets
• The warm pockets of air will rise above the other because it is less dense when that happens it is called a thermal
• Thermals are great for hawks to hunt pray and even good for hang gliding
Stability Density Differences
• Stable air stays the same while the unstable air tends to rise
• Clouds wont form in stable air conditions
condensation
• Air must be saturated to form• Saturation happens when air is cooled to its
dew point
Types of Clouds
• Cirrus clouds are described as a curl of hair and are high and thin in the atmosphere
• Cumulus clouds are rounded individual masses• Stratus is a layer or sheet
High clouds
• Cirrus, cirrostratus and cirrocumulus make up the high cloud family
• Often made up of ice crystals making thin and white clouds
• High clouds do not create precipitation
Middle clouds
• Altocumulus clouds are composed of rounded masses that are larger and denser then cirrocumulus clouds
• Middles clouds range from 2000-6000 meters in the atmosphere
• Infrequent light snow or drizzle may occur in this area
Low clouds
• Stratus, stratocumulus, and nimbostratus make up the low cloud family
• Light precipitations are created by nimbostratus clouds
• Stratus that develops a scalloped bottom are called stratocumulus clouds
Clouds of vertical development
• The more movement and acceleration creates a more vertical range
Fog
• Fog is a cloud with a base at or near the ground
• Fog can be produced by moisture from the sea that moves over land
• Moisture evaporates as cool air moves over warm air
Cold cloud precipitation
• The Bergeron process relies on super cooling and saturation
• Ice crystals cannot exist with water droplets
Warm cloud precipitation
• Collision-coalescence process forms raindrops in clouds
• Water absorbing particles remove water vapor from the air
• As droplets move through the clouds that join with smaller droplets
Rain and Snow
• The type of precipitation depends on the temperature in the atmosphere
• When temperatures are above 4˚C snowflakes melt and continue as rain
• A temperature more then -5˚C ice crystals come together in clumps
Sleet, Glaze, and Hail
• Sleet is small particles of clear ice• Glaze (freezing rain) occurs when raindrops
are super cooled as they fall• Hailstones begin as small ice droplets that
get bigger as they collect super cooled droplets
The end
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