What are the values for the size, pressure changes, and lifespan of the typical hurricane?
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: Size: In contrast to tornadoes, whose diameters are typically measured in tens of meters, hurricanes are typically about 600 kilometers (350 mi) wide. Thus, the typical hurricane has a diameter thousands of times greater than that of a tornado. Remembering that the area of a circle is proportional to the square of its radius, and knowing that tornadoes and hurricanes are roughly circular, we see that the area covered by a hurricane is likely to be millions of times greater than the area covered by a tornado. Furthermore, a tornado exists only for a couple of hours at most, while a hurricane can have a lifetime of several days or even a week or more. Though hurricanes are usually about one-third the size of midlatitude cyclones, the pressure difference across a hurricane is about twice as great. They therefore have extreme horizontal pressure gradients that generate powerful winds: Average hurricanes have peak winds of about 150 km/hr (90 mph), and the most intense hurricanes have winds up to 350 km/hr (210 mph). Pressure: Sea-level pressure near the center of a typical hurricane is around 950 mb, but pressures as low as 870 mb have been observed for extremely powerful hurricanes. The weakest hurricanes have central pressures of about 990 mb. Lifespan: a hurricane can have a lifetime of several days or even a week or more.
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Which of the following forecast methods compares past weather maps and weather patterns to those of the present?
A. nowcasting B. persistence forecast C. analogue method D. trend method
The San Andreas Fault is a ___ fault.
Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).
An examination of the distribution of ethnicities in the United States reveals
A) ethnicities are not often clustered in urban areas. B) different ethnicities cluster in each U.S. region. C) ethnic neighborhoods contain a heterogeneous mix of ethnicities, even in cities that were once known for their patterns of segregation. D) segregation and exclusion are a thing of the past for nearly all U.S. ethnic groups. E) ethnic groups tend to cluster in urban areas and in different U.S. regions.
Thunder is caused by
a. the collision between two thunderstorms with opposite electrical charge. b. the rapid heating of air surrounding a lightning channel. c. the explosion that occurs when + and - charge collide and neutralize each other. d. turbulent wind motions inside the thunderstorm. e. microbursts within the atmosphere.