Water Cycle
Evaporation: Solar energy heats water to turn into a gas (water vapor)
Transpiration: Solar energy and plants use of energy, turn water into gas (water vapor)
Condensation: Water cools as it rises and (condenses- gets smaller) forms clouds
Precipitation: Water becomes so heavy within the clouds that it now falls back to earth (as rain, hail, sleet, snow)
Run off (Percolation): Water cannot be absorbed everywhere so it collects into streams, rivers, lakes, and moves back to oceans.
Our weather is brought mostly by Prevailing Westerlies. Our weather moves West to East
West → East
Jet Stream: A wind barrier that has cold air above (North) it and warm air below (South) it.
Gulf Stream: Warm waters on the southern and east coasts of America that keep our temperatures warm and mild on the east coast. This keeps us in eastern North Carolina from having severe winter temperatures.
We have four different fronts that affect our weather.
Warm Front- temperatures rise- This front pushes warm air over a cold front. Light rain
Cold Front- temperatures fall- The front pushes cold air under a warm front. Brings strong quick thunderstorms
Stationary Front- warm and cold front mix , brings cloudy rainy weather. Neither front is powerful enough to move the other one, so it just stays in place. The rain lasts for days
Occluded Front- Two cold fronts push a warm front up and away quickly (severe storms with these usually). Mixed weather with an occluded front. It could be any type of rain.
ALL FRONTS BRING RAIN. For Cold and Warm fronts, it does not last long.
Barometer-measures pressure (best predictor of weather) THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL TO KNOW
Big changes in pressure will bring changes in wind
Barometer Hygrometer Anemometer and Wind Vane
High Pressure: H sunny, fair, dry
Low Pressure: L cloudy, rainy, stormy
Thermometer: Measures temp (F, C)
Rain gauge: Measures precipitation ( in, cm, or mm)
Anemometer: Measures wind speed ( kph, mph)
Wind Vane: shows wind direction (N, E, S, W)
Hygrometer: Measures humidity in air ( percentage)
Most important piece of information for Weather.
Our weather is mostly caused by the tilt of the Earth (23.5 degrees) that causes uneven heating and wind action.
Our seasons in the Northern half of the earth are opposite of the season on the Southern half of the Earth
Northern Hemisphere
Winter Spring Summer Fall
Dec 21-Mar 20 Mar21-June 20 Jun 21- Sep 20 Sep 21- Dec 20
Summer Fall Winter Spring
Cumulus- low altitude fair weather clouds. Puffy looking (fair for days)
Cirrus( horse tail)- high altitude,thin, wispy clouds, fair weather, and no rain ( Weather will change soon)
Stratus-low altitude flat clouds. Looks like a blanket across the sky. (may start lightly raining)
Nimbostratus- Dark layered flat cloud that bring persistent long lasting rain.
Cumulonimbus- From low to high altitude huge clouds that carry large amounts of rain and possible thunderstorms.
Land Breeze: During the day, warm air rises off the land and moves out towards the sea, while the cooler sea air moves towards land.
Sea Breeze: The sea has retained ( kept) its warmth and now moves warmer air towards the land. The land now sends cooler air towards the sea.
This will be a recurring message throughout the year.
Warm air goes up, cool air goes down.
Warm ALWAYS moves towards cold.