Physical Geography

~Weather~

At the end of this unit you will understand the factors affecting weather and the characteristics of local weather conditions. Being able to explain current methods and technologies used to track and predict weather you will never  look up in the sky the same way again!  A greater understanding of how weather works will increase your appreciation of how weather affects our daily lives.

Click here to go to the Book Work section.

1. Weather

We will begin this unit by looking at three slideshows - These slide shows will cover Chapters 15, 16 and 17 of the text book.

ACTIVITY: CANADIAN CITIES - WEATHER YOU KNOW IT...OR NOT!
SAMPLE Cities and forecasts

A. This first slide show is an introduction to the study of Weather and Climate. It discusses the reasons why not all places on earth have the same weather and/or climate.
Click here to see it.

Click here to see an excellent animated image of the earth's wind systems.
 

B. This second slide show is all about storms. It is about the three types of Precipitation that can occur. Click here to see it.

a. More on our province (Ontario) most common type of storm - Mid-Latitude Cyclones. Click here to see another slide show explaining this type of storm.
b. The release of heat due to Latent Energy and the creation of Unstable air are key in understanding the formation of storms, in particular hurricanes and tornadoes. Click here to learn more about latent energy and unstable air.

C. This third and last slide show is about Violent Storms. Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Thunderstorms, Lightning and Hail. Click here to see it.

More about Tornadoes:
Go to the  NOAA Tornado Website  to answer the following questions.
1.    How does a tornado form?
2.    What are the key charachteristics of a tornado? In what type of goegraphical area do they occur?
3.    How effectively can they be predicted? prepared for?
4.    What is the differecne between a 'watch' and a 'warning'?

D. This is an additional slide show that goes into the study of Hurricanes in more detail. Click here to see it.

More about Hurricanes:
Click here to see a PowerPoint on Hurricanes and especially Katrina of 2005!
Click here to see how Hurricanes work - a good background source
Click here to go to a set of activities that will teach you about Hurricanes
Click here to go to an animated site which illustrates the categories of a Hurricane click on the Hurricane Intensities below the first picture.

Media Center!

Animated 'giffs'
- a series of animated images showing a variety of weather related images

QuickTime Movies
- Adiabatic Rates
- Cyclonic Precipitation
- Orographic Precipitation
- Thunder Storms
- Latent Heat and Gas, Solid and Liquid states of water

Flash
- Adiabatic processes and Atmospheric Stability
- Lapse Rates
- Air Temperature and Density
- High Pressure
- Low Pressure
- Warm and Cold Fronts
- Another one on Warm and Cold Fronts
- One more look at Warm and Cold Fronts
- Cyclones and Anticyclones
- Anticyclones
- Cyclonic Precipitation
- Mid-latiude Cyclones
- More on Mid-latitude Cyclones
- One more on Mid-latitude Cyclones
- Hurricanes
- More Hurricanes
- Again Hurricanes
- One more on Hurricanes
- Tracking Hurricane Katrina
- Orographic Precipitation
- Seasonal Pressure and Precipitation - Global View
- Seasonal Pressure and Precipitation - Satellite View
- Tornadoes
- Tornadoes and Hurricanes

2.    Forecasting Weather

Book Work - Chapter 15 "Introducing Weather and Climate" pages 241-256

  1. Do the Developing Skills section "Interpreting Isotherm Maps" page 250 and do #1
  2. Do #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,11 on page 257-260

Book Work - Chapter 16 "Tornadoes, Hurricanes and other Storms" pages 262-280

  1. Do the Thunderstorm Quiz on page 268
  2. Do the Case Study "The Pine Lake - Alberta Tornado" page278 - UPDATE TO NEW ORLEANS AND THE SUMMER OF 2005!
    Answer #1,2,3
  3. Do #1,2,3,4,10,11,12

Book Work - Chapter 17 "Forecasting the Weather" pages 284-293

  1. Do #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9


Return to Physical Geography Units of Study Page