S1 Weather Revision

You have been studying weather in class. The following revision sheet will help you
revise for your test.
What is meant by the term weather?
Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a given time.
All around the world the weather is continually monitored measured at weather stations
on land and by special equipment on planes, ships, weather balloons and in satellites.
Then meteorologists or weather scientists use the data to write weather reports and
draw weather maps, and make weather forecasts.

Weather Term
Temperature
Air pressure
Cloud Cover

Wind Speed
Wind Direction
Precipitation

Visibility

Weather Instruments
Units
Means
degreesC
How hot or cold it is
In millibars (mb)
How heavy the air
is
Oktas
How much of the
sky is hidden by
clouds
Km/hr
How fast the wind
is blowing
North, East, South, Where the wind is
West
blowing from
mm
Water falling from
the sky in any form
(rain, hail, snow,
sleet)
In metres or
Haw far ahead we
kilometres
can see, for
example on a foggy
day

Measured using
Thermometer
Barometer
Your eyes, satellite
image
Anemometer
Wind vane
Rain gauge

Human eye

Rainfall
Three types of Rainfall (including diagrams):
1. Convectional Rainfall
2. Relief Rainfall
3. Frontal Rainfall
Practice drawing you diagrams out with the labels on.
Air Pressure
Although we cant feel it the air above us is pressing down on us, giving air pressure. If
air pressure is low, it means air is rising. If it is high it means air is sinking.

Low pressure causes unsettled and changeable weather whereas high pressure causing
settled weather (anticyclone).
High Pressure in Summer
No clouds
Sun is strong
Ground gets cold at night. Water
vapour condenses on grass to form
dew.
No cloud to trap heat so nights are
cool.
No cloud means no rain so there can
be drought in some place.
But inland on very hot days, the air
may rise rapidly, cool, and form
huge black clouds causing
thunderstorms/ sometimes
flooding.

High Pressure in Winter

No clouds to trap heat so the
days are clear, cold and bright.
Group cools fast at night and cools
the air above it.
Water vapour condenses and
freezes on cold surfaces, giving
frost.
It also condenses on other
particles in the air giving fog.
This weather can be dangerous for
drivers, pipes may burst and homes
might get flooded. It is difficult
for animals to find food.

Air Masses
Some parts of the world are hot. Some are cold. The air moves around the world
spreading this energy.
The air moves around the world in huge blocks called Air Masses. An air mass can be
thousands of km across. It can be warm or cold, damp of dry depending on where it
came from.

Air mass coming across the sea (maritime)

brings wet weather because the air picks
up moisture.

Air mass coming across land (continental)

brings dry weather because it doesnt
pick up moisture.

Air mass coming from the south (tropical)

brings warm air from the equator.

Air mass from the north brings polar

(cold) and arctic (freezing) temperatures.

Monsoon (Bangladesh)
Monsoon rains bring some severe flooding to south Asia. Bangladesh suffers worst of
all. On average, Bangladesh gets nearly three times as much rain as the UK and most
of it falls between May and September (monsoon season).
Why do monsoon rains happen?
1. Land heats up faster than the ocean in summer. So, by May, the land in south
Asia is a lot hotter than the ocean around it.
2. The land heats the air. The hot air rises fast, giving low pressure. So moist
winds blow in from the ocean to fill the pressure gap.
3. The moist air in the winds rises over the hot land, leading to clouds, and
torrential rain and more wind.
Draw a diagram of each process of monsoon rains

How can Bangladesh reduce the impacts of flooding?

Build houses/building on stilts

Embankments have been built along rivers
There are warnings when floods are on the way but it is still hard to warn

people in rural areas.

When the floods arrive, the police and army do what they can but they cant be

everywhere.
Some flood shelters are built but not nearly enough.
After bad floods they need help from the rest of the world: food, tents, seeds,
medicine, money

Hurricanes
A hurricane is a huge storm system that starts over warm tropical ocean waters. If it
reaches land, it can do terrible damage.
Hurricanes are very powerful storms and they gain power from travelling over warm
oceans. The warm oceans allow the hurricane to pick up moisture and become more
powerful.
When hurricanes travel over land they lose power because they dont pick up moisture
from the ocean anymore.

Revising your case studies:

When revising your case studies of Bangladesh (flooding) and New Orleans (Hurricane)
think about

What are the causes?

What are the effects or impacts?
How can we reduce/stop/prevent future damage?
How do developed and developing countries deal with the impacts?

For the powerpoint of your lessons and more revision help go to:
http://kingussiesocialsubjects.weebly.com/weather1.html