Focus on the Environment and Societal Impacts: Air Mass Weather: Oppressive Heat and Humidity

Understanding Weather and Climate (7th Edition) (MasteringMeteorology Series) by Edward Aguado, James E. Burt 

Physical Principles: Maintaining General Circulation

Understanding Weather and Climate (7th Edition) (MasteringMeteorology Series) by Edward Aguado, James E. Burt 

Focus on the Environment and Social Impacts: High Temperatures and Human Health

Understanding Weather and Climate (7th Edition) (MasteringMeteorology Series) by Edward Aguado, James E. Burt

Focus on the Environment & Societal Impacts: Recent Severe Heat Waves

Understanding Weather and Climate (7th Edition) (MasteringMeteorology Series) by Edward Aguado, James E. Burt

Adiabatic Lapse Rates

What do you know about the Wet Adiabatic Lapse rate?

-       Less than dry adiabatic lapse rate

The more it slants = greater lapse rate 

Lapse rate = Rate of cooling

What’s the difference between the Dry and Wet Adiabatic Lapse Rate?

-   Unsaturated à reaches LCL à Saturated

-   Latent “Hidden” heat - The heat either released or absorbed as a result of a change of state.

-   When a cloud forms….

o   The water vapor reaches the LCL à Temperature decreases à It’s doing work à slows the rate of cooling

-   Water vapor condenses à latent heat is released

Mixing ratio (w) - A measurement of the amount of water vapor in the air of a given sized quantity of dry air. Grams of vapor per kilogram of dry air.

W = Water vapor in the box

-   Dewpoint Lapse Rate = As it goes up it decreases = 2 deg C / km

-   Dew point (Td) - The temperature to which air must cool at constant pressure in order for air to reach saturation (commonly dew to form); indicates moisture content.

Adiabats & Potential Temperature

Dry Adiabat = 333

·         Potential Temperature – A measure of heat. It is the temperature air would be if brought dry adiabatically to 1000 mb.

·         How much warmer will the potential temperature increase?

o   Has hidden heat, Lift up, pressure decreases, starts expanding, starts making hidden heat into real heat, which is determined by how much latent heat is left in the parcel

o   Wet adiabatic line will be parallel to the dry adiabatic line

§  Vapor starts condensing which makes latent heat turn into real heat

·         Latent heat becoming real is what is increasing the potential temperature -  delta = measure of real heat

Some Meteorological Symbols