Chat with AIExam 12: Middle Latitude Cyclones
Since the Northern Hemisphere's polar jet stream is strongest and moves farther south in ____, we can see why mid-latitude cyclonic storms are better developed and move more quickly during the ____ months.
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VerifiedD
Outline the development of the superstorm of March, 1993.
(35) VerifiedThe storm began on March 12 as a frontal wave off the Texas coast. In the upper air, a shortwave, moving rapidly around a longwave, disturbed the flow, setting up the necessary ingredients for the surface storm's development. By the morning of March 13, the storm had intensified into a deep open-wave cyclone centered over Florida. In the upper air, a region of diverging air positioned above the storm caused the storm's surface pressures to drop rapidly. Upper-level southwesterly winds directed the surface low northeastward, where it became occluded over Virginia during the afternoon of March 13. At this point, the storm's central pressure dropped to an incredibly low 960 mb (28.35 in.). Although the surface winds associated with this low pressure were quite strong and gusty, they were not as strong as those in a major hurricane because the isobars around the storm were spread farther apart than those in a hurricane and because surface friction slowed the winds. Higher up, away from the influence of the surface, the winds were much stronger, as a wind of 125 knots (144 mi/hr) was reported at the top of 1900-meter-high Mount Washington, New Hampshire.
The upper trough remained to the west of the surface low, and the storm continued its northeastward movement. By the morning of March 14 the storm (which was now a deep, bent-back occluded system) had weakened slightly and was centered along the coast of Maine. Moving out from under its area of upper-level divergence, the storm weakened even more as it continued its northeastward journey, out over the North Atlantic. In all, the storm was one of the strongest and most widespread in U.S. weather history. It blanketed a vast area from Alabama to Canada with deep snow. Fierce winds piled the snow into huge drifts that closed roads, leaving motorists stranded. The storm shut down every major airport along the East Coast, and more than 3 million people lost electric power at some point during the storm. The Storm of the Century damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes, produced 27 tornadoes, stranded hikers in North Carolina and Tennessee, caused an estimated $800 million in damage, and claimed the lives of at least 270 people.
How can shortwaves be identified and followed on 500 mb charts?
(38) VerifiedSometimes it is difficult to pinpoint the location of a shortwave trough on a 500-mb chart simply by looking at the contour lines. However, with the aid of vorticity, it is possible to locate a shortwave on a map and determine how it will move. The shortwave aligns itself with the region of maximum vorticity. So where we find a vorticity maximum on the chart, we also find a shortwave trough.
In the conveyor belt model, directly below a warm conveyor belt, a cold airstream, known as the ____________________, is located.
(38) The polar front theory of a developing wave cyclone was conceived in
(36) Explain why nor'easters would commonly go undetected before the age of modern satellite imagery.
(37) If the flow of air into a surface low pressure area is greater than the divergence of air aloft, the surface pressure in the center of the low will
(31) When a shortwave disturbs a longwave trough that lies parallel to and directly above a stationary front, the rising of warm air and the sinking of cold air establishes a condition known as ____________________.
(29) The polar front is a semicontinuous global boundary separating cold ____________________ air from warm ____________________ air.
(39) A surface low pressure area with a deep upper-level trough to the west will tend to move toward the
(46) Atmospheric shortwaves usually move ____ longwaves, and ____ when they move through a longwave ridge.
(31) Longwaves in the middle and upper troposphere usually have lengths on the order of
(41) ____________________ is the transfer of vorticity (the rate of horizontal spin of air parcels) by wind.
(38) On a 500-mb chart, shortwave troughs can be difficult to detect. However, one way to identify them is to find regions of ____, with which shortwaves align themselves.
(39) Where maritime arctic air and colder continental arctic air meet, the boundary separating them is called a(n) ____________________.
(28) During the Blizzard of 1983, a(n) ____________________ turned into a ferocious storm.
(40) Cloud patterns in visible and infrared satellite images can be very helpful in identifying vorticity maxima in regions where clouds are present. In cloud-free areas, a type of infrared image called a(n) ____ image measures wavelengths of radiation emitted by water vapor. The swirling patterns of moisture clearly identify the position of vorticity centers.
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