SevereWeather:Tornadoes,Hurricanes,ThunderstormsandBlizzards

WEBSITE:http://www.nationalgeographic.com/forcesofnature/
Onceyougettothissite,clickonTornadoes
TORNADOES
Step1:Whenthenumber1isdark.Readtheinformationabouttornadoesinthegrayboxandanswerthe
followingquestions.Youmayhavetoscrolldowntoseealloftheinformation.
1. Whatisatornado?(ThelinkdoesnotworksoIgoogledmostoftheanswers)
Aviolentlyrotatingcolumnofairextendingfromathunderstormtotheground
2. Whichstatehasthemosttwistersperyear?Howmany?
Texas,126
Step2:Clickonthe#2.Readtheinformationinthegraybox,andanswerthefollowingquestions.
1. Whataresupercells?
Supercellsarelargestormswithadeep,persistentlyrotatingupdraft
2. WheredomosttornadoesinAmericaoccur?
TornadoAlley

3. Whydomosttornadoesoccurinthelateafternoon?
Thisiswhenevertheair/groundiswarmest
Clickonthenextbuttontozoomintoseeatornado.
4. Whendotornadoesform?
Whenwarm,humidaircollideswithcolderair
5. Whatisanupdraft?
Anupwardcurrentofdraftair

6. Whywoulditstarttorotate?
Whentheupdraftsanddowndraftsaremovingveryquickly(sincetheyreindifferentdirections)
7. Beforethestormturnsintoatornado,whattypeofclouddoesitbecome?
Afunnelcloud
Step3:Clickonthe#3.Readtheinformationinthegraybox,andanswerthefollowingquestions.

1. Whattypeofweatheraccompaniestornadoes?
Severestorms
Clickonseetornadodamageatthebottomofthetext.
2. HowdoestheFujitascalemeasuretornadointensity?
Itdecidesthedamageandwindspeeds
MovearoundtheFujitascaletoseetheeffectstornadoesofdifferentintensitieshave.
Clickonthe#4toseeavideoofatornadopassing.
Clickonthe#5toanswerthefollowingquestion.Youwillhavetoscrolldowntoanswerthequestion.
1. Whatisthedifferencebetweenatornadowatchandatornadowarning?
Atornadowatchmeansthattornadoesarepossible,andatornadowarningmeansthatatornadoisalreadyin
formation/touchingthegroundoraboutto
Clickon#6tomakeatornado.
1.Whatconditionsareperfectformakingatornado?
Strongwinds,andwhentwodifferentairmassesaretogether
HURRICANES
Now,youaremovingontohurricanes.Clickonthehurricanesymbolabovethenumbers,andbegin.
1. Howmanymphmustwindsbegoinginorderforatropicalstormtobeahurricane?
74
2. Wheredohurricanesform?
Atlantic/EasternPacific
Wheredocyclonesform?
PartsofthePacificOcean,andeastcoastofAfrica
Wheredotyphoonsform?
WesternPacific
Clickon#2,andreadtheinformation.Clickthenextbuttonwhenyouaredone.
low

1.DoestheeyeofthehurricanehaveHIGHorLOWpressure?

2. Wherearethemostviolentwindsinthehurricane?
Rightaroundtheeye
Clickonthe#3.
1. Inthenorthernhemisphere,hurricanesalwaysturnhow?
Clockwise
2. Inthesouthernhemisphere,theyalwaysturnhow?
Counterclockwise

Playwiththeimageofthehurricanetoseea3Dimage.
Clickonthe#4.
1. Alloftherainfromhurricanescancausewhattooccur?
flooding
2.Whatisastormsurge?
Risingofseaduetoatmosphericpressureandwindsfromastorm
Clickonthe#5.
Readtheinformation,andwatchthevideo.
Clickonthe#6.(BecausethelinkdoesntworkIcouldntdofromheretothenextlinkeither)
1. Whatisthedifferencebetweenahurricanewatchandahurricanewarning?
Ahurricanewatchmeansthatahurricanemight/isabouttooccur.Typically,ahurricanewatchis
issuedtwodaysinadvanceofahurricane.
Clickonthe#7.
Create5hurricanes.
1. Whichonecreatesthemostdamage?Whatfactors?
2.Whichonecreatestheleastdamage?Whatfactors?

THUNDERSTORMS
Gotohttp://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/tstorms/ingredient.htm
1. Listthe3ingredientsnecessaryforathunderstorm.
Moisture,instability,andaliftingmechanism.
2. ClickonLifecycleofaThunderstorm.Takenotesoneachofthethreestages.

ToweringCumulusStageAcumulusgrowsaround6kmupward.Airisdominatedbyupdraft.

MatureCumulusStageStormreaches1218kmhigh.Updraftsanddowndraftscoexist.Thisisthe
mostdangerousphase.

DissipatingStageThedowndraftcutsofftheupdraft,andthestormnolongerhasasourceofwarm,
moistair.

3. Whataresomeofthepotentialhazardsofthunderstorms?Hail,damagingwinds,tornadoes,andflash
floods.

BLIZZARDS
Gotohttp://www.ussartf.org/blizzards.htm
1. HowdoestheNationalWeatherServicedefineablizzard?
Aseverewithacombinationofblowingsnowandwind,resultinginverylowvisibility.
2. Listsomeofthedangersofblizzards.
Travellingbycarandgettingtrappedinit,strongwindsandcooltemperatureswhichcanleadtohypothermia,
poweroutages,pipesfreezing,andfuelsourcesmaybecutoff.
3. WhatdowecallablizzardthatmovesuptheeastcoastfromtheMidAtlantictoNewEngland?A
NorEaster

4. ScrolldowntoKeepAheadoftheStorm
Whatdoesitmeanifeachofthefollowingisissued:
WinterStormWatchSevereweatherconditions,suchasheavysnowand/orice,arepossiblewithinthe
nextonetotwodays.
WinterStormWarningSevereweatherconditionshavebegunorareabouttobegininyourarea.
BlizzardWarningSnowandstrongwindswillcombinetoproduceablindingsnow,deepdrifts,andlife
threatening,windchill.

CreateACaneGame
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/outreach/games/canelab.htm
CreateACanePostGameQuestion
1. Whatistheidealwindspeedforahurricane?
LowMedium
2. Whatistheidealtemperatureforahurricane?
26.5

3. Whatistheideallatitudeforahurricane?
10N30N
4. Whatistheidealmoistureforahurricane?
Verymoist
5. Whatisneededtocreateatropicaldepressionintheocean?
AfricanWave