Severe Weather

Recent Events
Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines, 2013
hurricane in the W. Pacific (category 5)
natural disaster turned man made disaster
overpopulated, disease, poverty,
looting
over 7k deaths, mass graves
California Wildfires, 2015
current drought conditions
Deaths in the U.S. due to Severe Weather
1. Heat - 163
European heat wave in 2003 killed 70k
Eurasia heat wave in 2010 killed 56k
2. Cold - 105
3. Flood - 98
Principles of Weather
What drives the Weather?
Sun, Oceans, Atmosphere, Rotation of Earth &
Uneven Solar Absorption
Hydrologic Cycle
the ocean provides water for rain, which evaporates
into atmosphere leading to condensation which creates rainfall onto the
land (71% of Earth is Ocean) and eventually makes its way back to the
ocean
evaporation - turns a liquid to a gas using
heat/kinetic energy
condensation - gas turns to a liquid, heat is
released
heat capacity - heat required to raise the
temperature of a substance
water - has a very high heat capacity
(it retains heat, takes long time to warm up)
oceans
absorb/release huge amounts of heat energy - which
moderates coastal climates (KEY)
water molecules are
very close together
The Atmosphere
1. Solar Radiation - strongest at the equator, b/c the
sun is at a 90* angle (the snow reflects the suns radiation)
2. Temperature - temperatures decrease as altitude
increases
troposphere - where all weather
occurs, lowermost layer of atmosphere; the air overturns, or air
convecting upward and downwards
airplanes fly in the
tropopause to avoid weather, more stable

 3. Density - warm air is less dense, so it rises (more

buoyant) and cold air is denser, so it sinks
4. Water Vapour - warm air is humid, less dense, so
it rises and cold air is drier, denser, so it sinks
5. Pressure - the weight the air exerts over a
surface; low pressure (L) is a light column of air (air rises) and high
pressure (H) is a heavy column of air (air sinks)
air move from high to low pressure
(wind); moves from W to E in the U.S.
low pressure = rain
high pressure = dry, consistent
weather
Convection cell
equator - warm, moist air - rises in
the atmosphere
L pressure, expands
and cools down
condensation creates
clouds
weather - rain,
instabiliy
30* N/S aloft in the troposphere
cold, dry air - sinks
H pressure,
compressed air, warms
weather - hot, dry
ex:
San Diego
air moves from high
to low pressure
Hadley Cell between the equator
and 30* latitude, warm air rises (low density) and cool air sinks
(high pressure and density)
air rises at equatorial
regions and sinks at subtropical regions
Coriolis Effect - Earths rotation moves objects
causes wind and ocean currents to move; to the
Right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the Left in the Southern
Hemisphere
at the equator the Coriolis effect doesnt exist, air
just moves up or down, have maximum effect at the N. and S. Poles
Prevailing winds: originate at the subtropical high
(~30*)
Trades (Easterlies) - flow west (E. to
W.) toward equator
causes hurricanes,
low latitude winds

Westerlies - flow east (W. to E.)

toward poles

causes tornadoes,

mid latitude winds

Quiz

Low pressure system results in rain

High pressure system results in sun, dry conditions
Lowest pressure is during a hurricane
Highest pressure is Santa Ana conditions, very hot

and dty
Cyclones/Anticyclones
cyclone - a low pressure system that rotates; the air
converges at the surface of the Earth, air rises and veers right, rotates
counterclockwise, results in rainstorms
anticyclone - a high pressure system that rotates;
the air converges at the troposphere, cold air sinks and veers to the right,
compresses at the surface, rotates clockwise, results in sun, fair weather
Firestorms
Santa Ana winds off of CA. causes winds to flow
from land to sea, is a high pressure system results in dry weather
Quiz Q: What does this high pressure system
mean?
that the air is falling to Earths
surface, heating up and diverging
Climate Change
greenhouse gases - h2o (water vapor), co2 (carbon
dioxide), ch4 (methane), n2O (nitrous oxide), O3 (ozone)
anthropogenic - man-made, co2 and
ch4
because of burning
fossil fuels - oil, natural gas and coal
temperature & amount of co2(carbon
dioxide) - burning of coal and trees, coupled with an increase in
population has greatly increased since the industrial revolution
(1750s) and especially since the 1950s (35%)
changes w/global warming
melting of polar ice = a rise in sea
level
extreme weather conditions =
droughts/heat waves or cold fronts/blizzards
extinctions
Arctic sea ice - the N. Hemisphere is heating up
faster, b/c losing ice b/c of waters high heat capacity
Last 600 million years - seen an overall cooling
trend since the dinosaurs
today we see rapid warming of our
climate (for last 100 yrs) anthropogenic warming
Sea Level

steady rise in sea level

great increase in the past 20 yrs. at a rate of 3.2

2 massive ice sheets

Antarctica (S. Hemisphere, S. Pole)

mm per year

- largest
Greenland (N. Hemisphere)
the Atlantic/gulf coast would get much more
flooding than W. Coast b/c it is a flat coast
the W. Coast is higher b/c of tectonic
uplift b/c of transform boundary
Severe Weather (L Pressure systems)
Hurricanes - largest storm system on Earth,
tropical cyclones, a spinning low pressure system powered by warm
waters, width can range up to 2,000 km and up to 12 km high (where
troposphere resides)
Storms general direction is from
East to West b/c of tradewinds/easterlies
Location: 5* - 25* latitude, mostly in
the N. Hemisphere b/c warmer
storms in Atlantic
Ocean are called Hurricanes
storms in Indian
Ocean are called Cyclones
storms in the West
Pacific Ocean are called Typhoons
Quiz Q: Which hemisphere is this
hurricane located?
rotating clockwise - S.
Hemisphere
rotating
counterclockwise - N. Hemisphere
W. Coast waters are too cold for
Tropical Storms
Season - late summer/fall
Dies out at land b/c land has a low
heat capacity, cools down quickly, has no source of heat energy
Very powerful b/c the oceans have
lots of heat energy, repeated cycles of evaporation &
condensation
Eye - no wind, clear, b/c air is falling
back to Earth, a High pressure system
Conditions: warm air mass above a
warm ocean
1. Winds - 120km/hr
(76mph)

2. Seawater - 26* C

3. Warm, humid air

4. Weak wind shear

(80* F)

(upper lvl winds)

Storm Surge - the ocean migrating

Saffir-Simpson Scale
1 - 74-95 mph, storm

onto the lands/ floods

surge 4 ft

5 - >156 mph, storm

surge 18ft
Typhoon Haiyan, 2013, Philippines Cat. 5, 7k deaths, partly caused by humans
Hurricane Camille, 1969, Mississippi
- Cat. 5, apartment complex had a hurricane party near beach,
killed 200 people
Galveston, 1900, Tx - people didnt
evacuate, killed 10k
had funeral fires
Bangladesh - had deadliest
cyclones, tiny country and is heavily populated, poor nation, flat
region, delta soils
1970 cyclone killed
500k
sand erosion caused by surge
waves, posts/stilts buy home more time and safety
Hurricane Case Studies start 7:46pm, 32 mins
Hurricane Sandy, 2012
death toll 286 ppl,
2nd costliest
sea level rising and
high tides
Cat. 3 in Cuba, Cat. 2
in New York and New Jersey
widest Atlantic
hurricane 1,100m, storm surge 4m
hybrid storm, merged
w/ an arctic cold blast from the N.
Hurricane Katrina, 2005
most destructive and
costliest natural disaster in USA
Cat. 5,
storm surge 3-10m (33ft.)
levees
failed
deaths
~2k

New Orleans located

below sea level, 80% submerged

lake to the N. flooded
the city hrs before the surge flooded through a canal
partly a man-made
disaster
Thunderstorms
Stages
Cumulus - (initial)
warm air rises into the sky (less dense)
Mature - updraft and
sinking of cool air, lot of movement, most powerful stage
lighting
, floods, hail
Dissipating - storm is
breaking up
form at Equatorial regions (tropics
and mid-latitudes), supply moist air b/c of warm water
in USA mostly in
Florida and the South
not in W Coast b/c
have a cool current
Lightning
most lightning occurs in the cloud,
only makes it to the ground
negative charges
dominate at the bottom of the ground, positive charges
dominate the top
cloud
strong updrafts: lower
part - negative charges
attract positive on
ground
electric flow =
lightning
50 deaths/yr in the U.S.; 90% of
lightning victims survive
Roy Sullivan got hit
by lightning 7 times
physical/psychological changes
flashover, lightning
and electricity going over your skin
chronic pain, memory
trouble, personality changes, temporary blindness,
deafness and rarely - cardiac arrest
Tornadoes - outcome of thunderstorms
faster as the cloud narrows

very destructive, extreme winds (can

small and erratic

occur mostly in spring & summer - in

elderly and young tend to die, esp

be ups to 300 mph)

mid latitudes
those in mobile homes
supercell thunderstorms - rotates
counterclockwise, strong convection and wind shear
(mesocyclone)
Conditions:
1. Warm humid south
air
2. Cold dry north air
3. Jet stream winds in
top of troposphere (fast westerly winds)
70% of all tornadoes occur in the
USA - the great plains, tornado alley
Enhanced Fujita Scale - power of
the tornado, a function of the damage, 0-5
look at damage of the
ground, then est. determine speed
2011 Tornado Outbreak - USA
1,900 tornadoes,
>550 deaths in a few days
Quiz
Whats the largest
storm of them all?
Hurrica
ne
What occurs mostly in
Spring?
Tornad
oes
What occurs mostly in
Florida?
Thund
erstorms
Whats the storm that
kills mostly in mobile homes?
Tornad
oes
These are all ___
pressure systems.
Low
And if they rotate,
theyre called ________.

Cyclon

es
Floods - very frequent and deadly low pressure

system

high population density, esp. in

floodplains and deltas

heavy rain: t-storms,
cyclones(hurricanes), monsoons
river - inundation of floodplain
(excavation)
Types
1. Flash floods - large
amount of rain in short amount of time
comm
on in mountainous areas
localiz
ed and sudden
thunde
rstorms
2. Regional floods great inundation of rivers on flood plains
large
areas, extensive damage
prolon
ged heavy rains
Mississippi River Floods, 1993
regional flood,
drainage basin is the area that empties into the Mississippi
River
flooding in upper
MidWest, River filled to capacity
largest floods in 133
years, the 100 yr flood
during the summer
there was a low pressure system, with record rainfall
artificial levees didnt
work, 60% damaged
more
sediment piled on the bottom of the river
~50 deaths
Big Thompson Canyon Flood, 1976,
Colorado
flash flood along
Canyon where River runs
large stationary
thunderstorm
145 deaths
Flooding in San Diego

can have flash floods

and regional floods

n Valley is a floodplain of San Diego River

Missio