1. Severe Weather Cyclonic Severe Weather

2.  Cyclone= low pressure system  Can develop into severe weather if conditions are right  Severe weather includes: thunderstorms, tornado, hurricanes

3. Hurricanes  Intense Low Pressure System, starts as a tropical low  Winds peak around 120km/hr  Storm surge causes most of the damage  http://www.usatoday.com/graphics/weather/gra/gsurge/fl ash.htm  Energy from latent heat released during condensation fuels the storm  Spin due to Coriolis Effect  Lowest pressure is in the center  Start off the West Coast of South Africa and move westward across Atlantic Ocean  Saffir-Simpson Scale catagorizes

4. Hurricanes – counterclockwise low pressure systems (lousy weather)

5. Hurricane Katrina August 28,2005

6. Eye Wall (inside) of Hurricane Katrina (Cat 5)

7. Hurricane Structure

8. Anatomy of a Hurricane

12. Thunderstorms  Cumulonimbus clouds  Thunder/lightening  Occur along a cold front or in pockets of rapidly rising air (ocean front)  Line of thunderstorms is called a Squall

14. Tornadoes  Occur in the spring usually in midwest region of US (Tornado Alley)  Move SW to NE  Fujita Scale rates Tornado severity from F0-F5 (wind, size)  Form along cold front from cumulonimbus clouds (cold air comes off the Rockies and meets with the warm air from the Gulf of Mexico)

15. Fujita Scale

16. The Enhahanced Fujita Scale

18. Large Hail Stone http://www.britannica.com/thunde rstorms_tornadoes/ocliwea124v4.html

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21. Mesocylone:  A storm-scale region of rotation, typically around 2-6 miles in diameter and often found in the right rear flank of a supercell.

23. Damage-aftermath of F5 Joplin, MO May 22, 2011 (157 killed)

24. Aftermath of F5 Joplin, MO

25. Joplin, Missouri 2011

27. Funnel Cloud produced F-5

28. F-5- Elie, Manitoba 6/22/07

29. Severe Weather Warnings  Tornado, Severe Thunderstorm, and Flash Flood Warnings  Severe weather is occurring  If it is for your area, take shelter right away  Don’t leave shelter until warning has expired

30. Watch vs. Advisory vs. Warning  Severe Storm Watch: storm may happen, conditions are favorable  Advisory: Storm will be a nuisance (used for winter storms)  Severe Storm Warning: storm is going to occur, and be a danger to others, property, travel etc…be prepared!

31. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings  A thunderstorm with winds of 58 mph or greater  Penny sized hail or larger  Also contain lots of lightning  Stay inside  Keep off the phone  Don’t take a shower or bath  Stay away from windows

32. Lightening  Within the thunderstorm clouds, rising and falling air causes turbulence which results in a build up of a static charge. The negative charges concentrate in the base of the cloud.  This first, invisible stroke is called a step leader.  As soon as the negative and positive parts (streamer) of the step leader connect there is a conductive path from the cloud to the ground and the negative charges rush down it causing the visible stroke. Thunder is the sound of lightening…