WEATHER

CHANGES
By:
>Armi Mondares
>Danna Garcia
>Ilham Menor
>Lara Pablo
 STORMS
• Any disturbed state of an
astronomical body's
atmosphere, especially
affecting its surface, and
strongly implying severe
weather.
• May be marked by strong
wind, thunder and lightning
(a thunderstorm), heavy
precipitation, such as ice
(ice storm), or wind
transporting some
substance through the
atmosphere (as in a dust
 FORMATION
•Storms are created when a
center of low pressure
develops, with a system of
high pressure surrounding it.
•This combination of
opposing forces can create
winds and result in the
formation of storm clouds,
such as the cumulonimbus.
•Small, localized areas of low
pressure can form from hot
air rising off hot ground,
resulting in smaller
disturbances such as dust
 TYPES
1.Ice Storm
• Ice storms are one of the most
dangerous forms of winter
weather.
• When surface temperatures are
below freezing, but a thick layer
of above freezing air remains aloft
above ground level, rain can fall
into the freezing layer and freeze
upon impact into a "glaze".
• In general, 8 millimeters (1/4 in)
of accumulation is all that is
required, especially in
combination with breezy
conditions, to start downing power
lines as well as tree limbs.
• Ice storms also make unheated
road surfaces too slick to drive
2. Blizzard
•There are varying definitions for
blizzards, both over time and by
location.
•In general, a blizzard is
accompanied by gale-force winds,
heavy snow (accumulating at a
rate of at least 5 centimeters
(2 in) per hour), and very cold
conditions (below approximately
-10 degrees Celsius or
3. Snowstorm
•A heavy fall of snow
accumulating at a rate of
more than 5 centimeters
(2 in) per hour that lasts
several hours.
•Snow storms, especially
ones with a high liquid
equivalent and breezy
conditions, can down tree
limbs, cut off power, and
paralyze travel over a large
region.
Ocean Storm
h sustained winds of 48 knots (55 mph or 90 km/h) or greater.
ly just referred to as a storm, it can sink vessels of all types and sizes.

5. Firestorm
Conflagrations which attain such intensity that they create
and sustain their own wind systems.
It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created
during some of the largest bushfires, forest fires, and
wildfires.
• Dust devil
• A small, localized updraft of rising air.
 Windstorm
A severe weather condition indicated by high winds and with little or no r

8. Squall
•Sudden onset of wind increase of at least 16 knots (30 km/h) or
greater sustained for at least one minute.

9. Gale
•An extratropical storm with sustained winds between 34-48
knots (39-55 mph or 63-90 km/h)
10. Thunderstorm
•A thunderstorm is a type of storm that generates lightning and the
attendant thunder.
• It is normally accompanied by heavy precipitation.
•Thunderstorms occur throughout the world, with the highest
frequency in tropical rainforest regions where there are conditions of
high humidity and temperature along with atmospheric instability.
•These storms occur when high levels of condensation form in a
volume of unstable air that generates deep, rapid, upward motion in
the atmosphere.
•The heat energy creates powerful rising air currents that swirl
upwards to the tropopause.
•Cool descending air currents produce strong downdraughts below
the storm. After the storm has spent its energy, the rising currents
die away and downdraughts break up the cloud. Individual storm
clouds can measure 2-10 km across.
11. Tropical Cyclone
•A tropical cyclone is a storm system with a closed circulation around a
centre of low pressure, fueled by the heat released when moist air rises and
condense.
•Tropical cyclones are distinguished from other cyclonic storms such as
nor'easters and polar lows by the heat mechanism that fuels them, which
makes them "warm core" storm systems.
12. Hailstorm
•A type of storm that precipitates chunks of ice.
• Hailstorms usually occur during regular thunder storms.
•While most of the hail that precipitates from the clouds is fairly small and
virtually harmless, there have been cases of hail greater than 2 inches
diameter that caused much damage and injuries.

13. Tornado
• A tornado is a violent, destructive wind storm occurring on land. Usually
its appearance is that of a dark, funnel-shaped cyclone.
• Often tornadoes are preceded by a thunderstorm and a wall cloud.
• They are often called the most destructive of storms, and while they form
all over the world.
 Easterly
Waves
•Long waves occur in bands of geostrophic wind flowing above the
friction layer.
•Long waves may flow toward the west or toward the east depending
on which of the major global wind belts they occur in.
•Easterly waves are "long waves" that occur within the trade wind
belt.
•About 60% of the Atlantic tropical storms and minor hurricanes
originate from easterly waves.
•However, nearly 85% of the intense (or major) hurricanes have their
origins as easterly waves.
Approximate location, amplitude and
wavelength of easterly waves

•At first, an easterly wave has a small amplitude, and

produces mild rain showers.
• Powerful thunderstorms and the force of high-altitude
winds amplify the wave when atmospheric conditions are
favorable.
•Several severe thunderstorms begin to form, and
eventually a tropical storm may develop.
Troughs and Ridges in
Easterly Waves

In order to understand why an easterly wave generates

convection, we need to understand what ridges and troughs
are in longwaves, and how they affect the behavior of
geostrophic wind.
•In this figure, we see the formation of a curve in the
geostrophic wind, concave toward lower pressure.
• This is termed a trough in the wave.
•As the wind crosses a reference latitude toward the south,
we observe a curve in the wind concave toward high
pressure.
•This is called a ridge in the wave.
 Relationship between troughs, ridges and
atmospheric pressure in easterly waves.
Regions of Convergence and Divergence in Easterly Waves.
•Easterly waves influence the movement and pressure of air in the
tradewind flow.
•This is because at certain locations in the long wave, wind speeds
up or slows down.
•These changes cause stretching (divergence), or piling up
(convergence), respectively, of the air parcel in the wave.
Remember that gradient wind is geostrophic wind that flows parallel
to curved isobars, and occurs in the absence of friction. When
gradient wind is moving through a curve, centrifugal force acts on
the parcel of air toward the outside of the curve (see black arrow
below). When the wind is curving around low pressure (i.e. moving
through a trough), the centrifugal force is acting opposite to the
pressure gradient force, or PGF (green arrow below). If the Coriolis
force (red arrow), and the wind speed (yellow arrow), were to
remain the same, there would now be an imbalance of force acting
contrary to the PGF. In order to balance the forces, and maintain an
unaccelerated wind, the wind slows down. This automatically
reduces the Coriolis force, and rebalances the gradient wind.
Because the wind has temporarily slowed down, we call this
subgeostrophic wind.
Relationship between troughs, ridges and
atmospheric pressure in easterly waves.
Forces acting to produce subgeostrophic wind
moving through a trough
Intertropical Convergence ZoneThe Intertropical Convergence Zone
(ITCZ), also known as the
Intertropical Front, Monsoon
trough, or the Equatorial
Convergence Zone is a belt of low
pressure girdling Earth at the equator.
It is formed by the vertical ascent of
warm, moist air from the latitudes north
and south of the equator.
The air is drawn into the intertropical
Position convergence zone by the action of the
The location of the Hadley cell, a macroscale atmospheric
intertropical feature which is part of the Earth's heat
convergence zone varies and moisture distribution system. It is
over time. Over land, it transported aloft by the convective
moves back and forth activity of thunderstorms; regions in
across the equator the intertropical convergence zone
following the sun's zenith receive precipitation over 200 days in a
point. year.
Over the oceans, where
the convergence zone is
better defined, the
seasonal cycle is more
fects on weather

•Vertical velocity at 500 hPa, July average. Ascent (negative

values) is a tracer for the ITCZ and is concentrated close to
the solar equator; descent (positive values) is more diffuse.
•Variation in the location of the intertropical convergence
zone drastically affects rainfall in many equatorial nations,
resulting in the wet and dry seasons of the tropics rather than
the cold and warm seasons of higher latitudes. Longer term
changes in the intertropical convergence zone can result in
severe droughts or flooding in nearby areas.
•Within the ITCZ the average winds are slight, unlike the
zones north and south of the equator where the trade winds
feed. Early sailors named this belt of calm the doldrums
because of the inactivity and stagnation they found
themselves in after days of no wind. To find oneself becalmed
in this region in a hot and muggy climate could mean death in
an era when wind was the only effective way to propel ships
across the ocean.