Extreme Weather

• Extreme weather includes heavy rain, gales and drought

  Climate can increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather.
• Depressions: low atmospheric pressure and air rising

  A) West

  B) East

  C) nimbus

  D) stratus

  
• Cyclones: low atmospheric pressure and converging air rising

  Anticyclones: high atmospheric pressure and diverging air sinking
• Impacts of anticyclones:

  • Old age pensioners suffer during heatwaves
  • increased risk in heatstroke and sunburnscrops suffer drought in southern England
  • reservoir and river levels drop to dangerous levels
• tropical storms tend to to appear around the equator and never above 30 degrees longitude north or south.
• Tropical storms form where there are

  • light winds high up
  • warm sea temperatures
  • winds near the ocean surface, blowing from different directions- converging
  • low wind - shear winds that do not vary greatly with height.
• Low vs High Pressure

  Unstable rising air causes and changeable weather. Typically, depressions bring:

  • Cloudy skies
  • Low levels of sunshine
  • Wet weather
  • Temperatures that are mild for the time of year
  • Windy conditions
  • Changeable weather
• Low vs High Pressure

  High pressure belts bring stable weather conditions:

  • Clear skies
  • Sunshine
  • Dry weather
  • High day and low night temperatures
  • Calm weather
  • Thunderstorms