Weather and Climate:
Extreme Weather
Written by David Flint
Adapted by Alexandra Mangogna
Reference Page:
Flint, David C. Weather and Climate. London: Gloucester, 1991. Print.
Dictionary.com
Extreme weather has brought disaster to many places around the world causing millions of dollars wroth of damage. Extreme weather has the potential to injure and take lives away. It is essential for people to be aware of what extreme weather is capable of. As forecasting and plannig improves over time, some effects of extreme weather can be avoivded.
Some specific extreme includes hurricanes, tornadoes, thunder and lightning.
Hurricanes form over the Atlantic Ocean. When this same type of wind storm forms over the Pacific Ocean it is called a typhoon. Hurricanes form over warm oceans because the winds from opposite directions meet. After this, swirls of air form and then they create a spiral shape.
The air within this spiral starts to move so fast it reaches up to 180 miles per hour. Because this wind is going so fast, it becomes extremely powerful. It is able to demolish houses to pieces and whip up huge ocean waves creating even more damage.
The circular center of the hurricane is called the "eye." The "eye" of the storm is the point about which the rest of the storm rotates and where the lowest surface pressures are found. Surprisingly it is a very calm area however is still surrounded by violent winds. The distance of the "eye" is about 40 miles across.
Tornadoes are usually more violent than hurricanes. They form over land and aremost common in the central parts of the United States. They are still very violent because they suck up anything that gets in their path. In larger tornadoes, small animlals such as frogs and fish can be sucked up.
Tornadoes start to form when hot, damp air meets with dry, cool air. The air rises extremely fast.
Next, a funnel of cloud forms up to 1,000 feet high. The winds within tornadoes blow at 300 miles per hour.
Anther charactertsic of typical tornadoes is that they are usually a few hundred feet in diameter. Their center is about 300 feet wide. Tornadoes also last about 15 minutes to 5 hours traveling up to two hundred miles.
Lightning and thunder are other components of extreme weather here on planet Earth. Lightning is a powerful burst of electricity that happens very quickly during a thunderstorm. Lightning instantly heats the air in it's path tp about 50,000'F. Lightning can damage buildings and can severly hurt or kill people.
Thunder is the sound of the hot air expanding caused by lightning. The sound of thunder can vary from a loud crack to a low rumble. Lastly, the closer you are the shorter the gap between lightning and thunder is.
Lightning and thunder first starts when violent air currents in cumulonimbus clouds cause ice crystals to crash into each other. As a result, friction and splitting occurs causing static electricity.
Next, positive and negative charges build up in the cloud. The ground has a positive charge, and negative charges in the cloud build at the bottom. Eventually, the difference between the charges gets so big that lightning sparks.
To learn more information about weather and climate that is not found in "Weather and Climate" by David Flint, here are useful links for students to visit.
- http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-climate.htm
- http://climatekids.nasa.gov/menu/weather-and-climate/
- http://www.eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/what1.htm
- http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/weather.html
- http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/weather-and-climate/weather-and-climate.htm
