Geology Lab

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GEOL110L_Lab7_Hurricanes.pdf

Hurricanes

LABORATORY 7

Name: Section: Date:

This lab corresponds to the movie Inside the Megastorm (November 2012) by PBS NOVA on Hurricane Sandy. It’s about an hour long and you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=73RDDIFCS8E

1. What is a hurricane?

2. When a large tropical cyclone occurs in the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific, it is called a _____________, a term derived from a Caribbean native word meaning Big ____________.

3. The same type of storm is called a ___________ in the western Pacific, Japan, and Southeast- ern Asia.

4. In the Indian Ocean, these storms are simply called ____________.

Figure 1. How tropical storms are formed.

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5. The surface temperature of the ocean must be at least _____ degrees Fahreneit (_____ de- grees Celsius) in order for a cyclonic storm to form.

6. Where do tropical cyclones get their energy from?

7. Cyclonic storms, such as hurricanes, are characterized as a large area of HIGH/LOW (circle one) atmospheric pressure and strong winds rotating INWARD/OUTWARD (circle one) around the center of a storm.

8. Hurricanes originate between _____ and _____ degrees north or south of the equator. In these tropical latitudes the temperatures are high and the air-_________ gradients are weak.

9. Air rises by localized heating and through condensation from convective “__________” with frequent thunderstorms.

10. The winds rotate CLOCKWISE/COUNTERCLOCKWISE (circle one) in the northern hemi- sphere and CLOCKWISE/COUNTERCLOCKWISE (circle one) in the southern hemisphere.

Figure 2. Tracking hurricanes.

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11. Hurricanes striking the gulf coast and east coast of North America originate in waters around near-equatorial latitudes off the west coast of ______________.

12. Hurricanes in the North Atlantic are blown by the ____________ winds towards North Amer- ica. They curve to the right because of the ________ Effect and travel northward, often making landfall or passing close to shore. Eventually, hurricanes break up and are pushed out to the sea by the ______________________.

13. In its earliest stages, hurricanes in the Northern Atlantic Ocean travel towards the __________ and as they mature can eventually turn __________.

14. When a hurricane moves onto land or onto a cold ocean, it rapidly loses its strength. This decline in storm intensity results from the lack of a source of ___________ air.

15. Briefly explain why hurricanes don’t form in Polar Regions.

16. The federal agency that responds to natural disasters such as hurricanes is ____________.

17. The progression of storm development, ranked in order of increasing strength, are:

a) Tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, hurricane

b) Tropical depression, tropical storm, tropical distur- bance, hurricane

c) Hurricane, tropical depression, tropical storm, tropical disturbance

d) Tropical depression, tropical disturbance, tropical storm, hurricane

Figure 3. Hurricane classification.

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Figure 4. Hurricane winds.

Review Figure 4 to the left. 18. The strongest winds develop in the quadrant of a hurricane and inflict the greatest damage in this region of the storm.

19. The lowest wind speed is located in which quadrant?

20. If you live along the coast, perpendicular to the oncoming hurricane, would you want to live southwest or northeast of the eye as the hurri- cane is travelling onshore? Use the red arrow as a reference and explain your answer below.

Figure 5. Path of Hurricane Sandy.

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21. Compare Figures 2 and 5. Does it appear that Hurricane Sandy’s path (Figure 5) was nor- mal? Briefly explain your answer.

22. What variable contributed to the heavy damage along the northeastern coast due to Hurri- cane Sandy?

23. What form of human response to Hurricane Sandy likely saved the most lives?

24. On Figure 6 above, please draw the path of typical jet stream flow.

25. How does the path you drew compare to the one on the map?

26. Explain how this change in the jet stream contributed to the strengthening of Hurricane Sandy’s force.

Figure 6. The jet stream.

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Figures 7 and 8. Storm Surge.

27. Most damage and fatalities associated with hurricanes, such as Sandy, are due to __________________.

Figure 9. Frequency of tropical cyclones.

Using Figure 9 to the left, please answer the questions below:

28. Most hurricanes de- velop in the months of and .

29. What is the peak number of tropical depressions?

30. What is the peak number of major hurricanes?

31. Explain why the majority of hurricanes occur between August and October (Hint: think about incoming radiation).

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Figures 10 and 11. Tornadoes vs. hurricanes.

32. Review Figures 10 and 11 showing damage from a tornado (top) and hurricane (bottom). What differences do you notice? Tornadoes are associated with much higher wind speeds than hurricanes, but hurricanes often yield more damage and fatalities. Why?