GEOG 2050 : GEOG 2050 Exam 3
Document Summary
Severe weather: thunderstorms, fueled by latent heat of condensation in cumulonimbus clouds in very unstable conditions, need warm, moist air to fuel vertical development, 2000 at any given time around the world, convective thunderstorm development, 1. Early stage (cumulus) form after around 10 or 11 am: uplift forms puffy clouds; little or no rain, 2. Mature stage: heavy rain, lightning, tornadoes, etc. frictional drag associated with rain; forces some downdrafting to occur next to uplift area windshear, has gust front horizontal away from thunderstorm, 3. Dissipating stage: dominated by downdrafts more air going down then air going up, rain cools surface, causing loss of means of uplift, can last less than 1-2 hours, causal mechanisms, 1. Convection (e. g. gulf coast in summer: 2. Frontal warm air pushed up over cold front: 3. Individual t-storm cells oriented in lines usually ahead of cold front.
