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55 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What does the "L" in LOWER Near water stand for? |
Latitude |
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What does the "O" in LOWER Near water stand for? |
Ocean Currents |
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What does the "W" in LOWER Near water stand for? |
Winds and Air masses |
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What does the "E" in LOWER Near water stand for? |
Elevation |
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What does the "R" in LOWER Near water stand for? |
Relief (and other precipitation)
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Define Climate |
Long term patterns or trends which prevail in a region |
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Define Weather |
Day to day state of the atmosphere (temperature, moisture, precipitation, wind, pressure) in an area |
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Why do climate conditions vary in Canada? (4 reasons) |
1. Canada's great expanse 2. Varying elevations 3. It has both coastal and inland regions 4. Wind and pressure systems move weather conditions from one area to another |
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What degrees does Canada's land extend? (latitude) |
41 degreesN - 83 degrees N |
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Why are earth's poles so much colder than the equator? |
Earth's curvature allows a greater concentration of sunlight to hit the equator, while the poles receive less sunlight because of the curvature. (refer to diagram) |
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How do you determine if an ocean current is a warm current or a cold current? |
The temperature of an ocean current in comparison to the surrounding water determines whether it is a cold or warm current. |
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What happens to the air that passes over a warm or cold ocean current? |
The air becomes warm/ cold based on the current's temperature, and transfers these characteristics over the land as it passes over. |
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Name 5 currents that affect Canada and classify them as warm or cold currents... |
1. North Pacific Current (warm) 2. Gulf Stream (warm) 3. California Current (cold) 4. North Atlantic Drift (warm) 5. Labrador Current (cold) |
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What happens when cold and warm currents meet? |
They create low lying clouds AKA fog |
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What is an air mass? |
A large volume of air that takes on the climate conditions (temperature and precipitation) where it is formed and transfers these conditions to places where it travels. |
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What is wind and how is it created? |
Wind is created when air masses move. |
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When do air masses move? |
When there is a difference in air pressure |
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How do differences in air pressure occur? |
When different parts on earth are heated to different temperatures |
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Low pressure is... |
areas where earth is hot and air above it is warmed, air rises and air pressures will be low |
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High pressure is... |
When air cools in the atmosphere and starts to fall. (Air that moves from high to low pressure=wind) |
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Precipitation Characteristic for an air mass forming over the ocean (this is a letter) |
M=Maritime air mass (Lots of moisture) |
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Precipitation Characteristic for an air mass forming over land (this is a letter) |
C=Continental air mass (dry) |
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Temperature Characteristic for an air mass that forms near the tropics (this is a letter) |
T= Tropical (hot air) |
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Temperature Characteristic for an air mass that forms between 55 degrees N and 66 degrees N (this is a letter) |
P= Polar (cold air) |
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Temperature Characteristic for an air mass that forms over the Arctic (this is a letter) |
A= Arctic (Very cold air) |
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What characteristics would an air mass possess if it was formed over southern continental US? |
CT, Continental Tropical |
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Define Prevailing Winds |
Differential heating of the earth that creates high and low pressure wind belts which causes air to move from high to low |
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What are the 3 main types of prevailing winds around the world? |
1. Equatorial Trade Winds (Easterlies) 2. Subtropical Westerlies 3. Polar Easterlies |
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Name the three convection cells on earth |
1. Polar Cell 2. Ferrell Cell 3. Hadley Cell |
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Name the two jet streams... |
Polar Jet Stream and Subtropical Jet Stream |
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What is a jet stream? |
A current of fast moving air |
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True or False? Prevailing winds always remain in the same position |
False, they shift according to season |
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What is a Polar Front? |
The boundary between cold, dry polar air and warm, wet tropical air. |
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Which polar jet stream represents winter? |
The one on the bottom (carries cold wind more south) |
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The higher the elevation, the _________ the temperature
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lower
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Air at higher elevations _____________ due to the lower air pressure
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expand
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What happens when air reaches its dewpoint at high elevations? |
Condensation (vapour to liquid) |
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Air cools slower above the condensation point on a mountain because... |
...the act of condensation produces heat |
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The rate of change below the condensation point is... |
-1 degree Celsius / 100m increase of elevation |
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The rate of change above the condensation point is... |
-0.6 degrees Celsuis / 100m increase of elevation |
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Which is the windward? Leeward? |
Left=windward Right=leeward |
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At what temperature does warm air rise? |
20 degrees Celsius |
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Where does moisture in Canada come from? |
Air masses originating over the Pacific Ocean, transferred onto land |
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Here's just a pic to help u understand relief precipitation on the windward slop |
When moist air encounters barrriers of high relief (eg mountain ranges), it rises |
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Steps of relief precipitation on the windward slope |
1. As moist air rises, it expands, cools, and condenses 2. As water droplets grow, they form raindrops 3. When too heavy to remain suspended in the atmosphere, the water falls out of the sky as a form of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, etc) depending on the temperature |
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Here's the pic that was up on Ms. Lee's smartboard the other day |
This basically sums up relief precipitation right here |
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What is Cyclonic Precipitation? (Ms. Lee's diagram) |
In areas when warm and cold air masses collide, inclement weather occurs. Also, lighter, warmer air rises, expands, cools, condenses and precipitates. This warm air is forced to rise over the cool air. Cyclonic Precipitation usually occurs along the Polar Front in a counter-clockwise motion, from west to east |
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True or False: Warmer air rises over the cooler air. (A birds eye view of cyclonic precipitation) |
True |
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Name the three types of relief and other precipitation |
1. Relief (orographic) precipitation 2. Cyclonic precipitation 3. Convectional precipitation |
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True or False? Convectional Precipitation brings violent, short lived rain storms in the afternoon or evenings of hot days in the summer |
True (remember Ms. Lee's bus story) |
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What happens during Convectional Precipitation? |
1. Sun/ summer heat warms the ground 2. Air above ground warms, rises, expands, cools, condenses and precipitates |
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Updrafts and downdrafts create ______ and ________________ |
hail and strong winds |
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Which climate region has greater temperature ranges? Maritime or Continental? |
Continental-because of the moderating effect of water |
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Water temperature changes faster or slower than land temperature? |
Slower |
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When a cold air mass passes over a body of warmer water, what happens?
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The Lake Effect: Lots of snow for the land the air mass is passing through |
