Weather and Climate (KQ1)

Element 1: Temperature
- The degree of hotness or coldness of a place

- High temperature  >20 degree Celsius

- Low temperature  <10 degree Celsius

4 factors affecting temperatures

1. latitude (it’s the sun thing )
- Refers to the distance of any point on the earth measuring from north or south of the
equator.
- The higher the latitudes, the lower the mean annual temperature range.
- Explanation:
- when the earth is tilted at 23.5 degrees at its own axis. This causes the sun’s rays to strike at
difference angles at different parts of the earth.
- At higher latitude, the sun’s solar angle is smaller when compared to the sun’s solar angle
at lower altitudes.
- At higher latitudes, the solar energy is spread out at wider areas. Whereas, at lower
altitudes, the solar energy is concentrated over a smaller area.

- Latitude: Singapore is located 1 degree and 22 minutes north of the equator

hence it has a tropical climate

2. Altitude
 Refers to the height of a place in relation to the sea level.
 As altitude increase, the mean annual temperature decreases.
 Every 1000m increase in altitude, the temperature decreases by 6.5 degree Celsius.
 Solar radiation received by the earth. The solar radiation that is directly received from the
sun are known as shortwave radiation, the solar radiation that us reflected from the
earth’s surface is longwave radiation
 Gravity pulls air molecules closer to the surface/sea level. There is a higher density of air
molecules at lower altitudes than at higher altitudes.
 Since there are more air molecules at lower altitude, more heat from the outgoing
longwave radiation is absorbed. Hence, the temperature is higher at lower altitudes.

 Example: Altitude: Every 1000m increase in height leads to a decrease in 6.5

degrees celcius
3. Distance from the sea level:
1. (def) Different rate of heating and cooling of sea and land  affects temp in
coastal areas and inland
2. The land heats up and cools down faster than the sea.
3. Maritime effect:
- An effect caused by the large ocean bodies on the climate of coastal areas
- Causes coastal areas to experience Cooler summer and warmer winter.
- A small annual temperature range
- During summer months, the land will be warmer as it heats up faster than the
sea.
- However, during winter months, the land will be cooler as it cools down
faster than the sea.
4. Continental Effect
- An effect caused by continental surfaces on the climate of inland areas
- Causes inland areas to experience warmer summers and cooler winter.
- A larger annual temperature range
- Inland areas are further away from the sea, so the temp in these areas is not
influenced by the sea. This causes the inland areas to experience warmer
summer and cooler winters with a large annual temperature range than coastal
areas.
Example (for both): Anchorage and Fairbanks located in alaska at coastal areas and
inland areas respectively have different mean monthly temperature. Anchorage has
temperature range of -10 to 15 while fairbanks has temperature range of -25 to 16

- Summary for ‘distance from the sea’:

Types of effect Does the sea Causes ____ areas to experience _____ A ___ annual
affect the temperature range
temperature
?
1. maritime Yes Coastal areas SMALL
effect To experience cooler summers and warmer
winters.
2. Continental No Inland areas. LARGER
effect To experience warmer summers and cooler
winters.

Summer months Winter months

 The land heats up faster  The land cools down
 faster
 ‘Coastal areas’   Coastal areas: Cooler  Coastal areas: Warmer
Maritime effect

 ‘Inland areas’   Inland areas: Warmer  Inland areas: Cooler

continental effect

4. Cloud covers
 Refers to the extent of the sky that is covered by clouds
 As cloud covers increases, the diurnal temperature range decreases.

 Example: Sahara desert that has little cloud cover has mean daily temperature of 10
to 40 while Singapore which has a lot of cloud cover has mean daily temperature of
23 to 31

Thick cloud covers Thin or no cloud covers

Day Reflects solar energy to space
Night Absorbs the heat that is
reflected from the earth’s
surface (longwave radiation)
Diurnal temperature range SMALLER
Large amount of the sun’s energy
can reach the earth’s surface as
there are no clouds to reflect it into
space.
More heat radiated from the earth’s
surface can escape into space bcos
there are no clouds to absorb, so the
air on the earth’s surface is cooler at
night
LARGER

Element 2: Relative Humidity

Actual amount of water vapour ∈theair ( g/m 3)
- Maximumamount of water vapour the air can hold(g/m 3 )
× 100%
- When the relative humidity decreases, the temp increases.
- Explanation:
1. when temp increases, it causes air to expand and be able to contain more water
vapour in it.
2. If the actual amount of water vapour in the air remains the same, the relative
humidity will decrease.

Element 3: Clouds
 - Formation of clouds.
1. As earth’s surface is heated up, evaporation occurs.
2. Warm air expands and rises.
3. As the warm air rises, it cools to dew point temperature
4. Condensation then occurs where the water vapour condenses into a condensation
nuclei.

- dew point temperature is where the relative humidity is 100%, also means that the air
has become saturated. Condensation also starts to occur (water vapour change to liq.)
- Measured using a sling psychrometer

Element 3: Rainfall
- (def) precipitation refers to water in any form that falls from the atmosphere to the
surface of the earth. This includes rain, snow, sleet (a mixture of snow and rain) and
hail (balls of ice)

2 types of rainfall
1st type: Convectional rain
- The sun’s energy reaches the earth
- The earth’s surface is heated by the sun’s energy. This in turn heats up the surrounding
air.
- Air becomes unstable, causing it to expand and rise.
- As the air rises, it cools. Air reached dew point temperature and condensation occurs.
- The formation cumulonimbus clouds
- When water droplets become large and heavy enough, they fall to the ground as rain.
 2nd type: Relief Rain
- Warm, moist air from the sea is forced to rise over the windward side of the mountain
range.
- Air cools as it rises. When dew point temperature is reached, condensation occurs and
clouds form. When the water droplets are large enough, rain falls.
- By the time the air moves to the leeward side, the air is dry and no rain falls.
Element 4: Pressure & Wind
Air pressure

- The downward force exerting on an unit area of the Earth’s surface, by the weight of the
column of air above it. (Atmospheric pressure)
- Altitude is inversely related to air pressure.
- When altitude increases, air pressure decreases.
- Main reason for this:
At higher altitudes, the air becomes less dense because gravity pulls air molecules
towards the earth’s surface. As a result, air pressure is lower at a higher altitude and
higher at sea level (low altitude).
- When explaining the relationship:
There is a negative / indirect relationship between air pressure and altitude. The higher
the altitude, the lower the air pressure.
- The average sea level value (0m) of air pressure is 1,013 mb.

Winds

- Winds are the movement of air from an area of higher pressure to an area of lower
pressure.
- The difference in air pressure between 2 places is called gradient pressure.
- The greater the difference in air pressure, the faster the wind speed.
- The higher the pressure gradient, the faster the wind speed.
- Winds are described in terms of speed, direction and frequency.
1. Wind speed is the rate at which air is moving and is measured in kilometres per hour
using an anemometer.
2. Wind direction is the direction from which the wind blows. Can be measured using
wind vane
3. Wind frequency refers to the percentage of time the wind blows from a particular
direction. Sometimes are called as prevailing winds. Can be recorded using wind roses.
 WIND SYSTEMS
1. Land & Sea breezes
- Land & sea breezes are local winds that occur in coastal areas.
How does a land breeze form?
How does a sea breeze form?
Explanation
 During the night, the land loses heat faster than the sea, so the
land has a lower temperature.
 When cool air above the land sinks, the air pressure on the land
becomes higher.
 As the sea loses heat at a slower rate, it has a higher temperature
& lower air pressure than land.
 As a result, there is pressure gradient between the land and the
sea. This causes air to move from the land of high pressure to the
sea of lower pressure which results in land breeze.
 During the day, the land absorbs heat faster than the sea, so the
land has a higher temperature then the sea.
 When warm air above the land rises, the air pressure on the land
becomes higher.
 As the sea absorbs heat at a slower rate, it has a lower
temperature & higher air pressure than land.
 As a result, there is pressure gradient between the land and the
sea. This causes air to move from the sea of high pressure to the
land of lower pressure which results in a sea breeze.
 2. Monsoon Winds

- Monsoon winds are regional wind patterns that reverse directions seasonally.
- They bring seasonal changes in precipitation
- Levels of precipitation can either increase/decrease with the occurrence of monsoons 
wet/dry seasons.
- Monsoon winds and other winds are affected by the Coriolis effect.
- Coriolis effect is a force produced by earth’s rotation.
- The Coriolis effect changed the course of moving air by bending or deflecting on the earth’s
surface as the earth rotates.
- The Coriolis effect is
1. the strongest neat the poles
2. Weak in the tropics
3. Not felt at the equator
-
1st type: Northern Hemisphere 2nd type: Southern Hemisphere
As air moves from high to low As air moves from high to low
pressure in the northern pressure in the southern
hemisphere, it is deflected to hemisphere, it is deflected to
the right by Coriolis force. the left by Coriolis force

There are 2 main types of monsoon occurring in different parts of the world.

- Southwest monsoon and Northeast monsoon

Explanation:

1. The southwest monsoon 2. The northeast monsoon

Takes place during June to September when it is Takes place during October to February when it is
summer in the northern hemisphere. winter in the northern hemisphere.
The air over central Asia heats up, expands and rises, The air over the Australia heats up and rises. This gives
and forming a region of low pressure. rise to a region of low pressure in this area.

At the same time, the southern hemisphere is At the same time, northern hemisphere is experiencing
experiencing winter. winter.

The lower temperature in the southern hemisphere
causes the air to be cold and dense. The sinking of
cold air forms a region of high pressure over Australia.
Due to the difference in air pressure between the 2
hemispheres, winds from Australia travels up to
Central Asia in the direction of Southeast.
Southeast winds deflect to the right after crossing the
equator due to Coriolis effect to become Southeast
monsoon winds.
The warm southwest monsoon winds picks up
moisture when they travel over the Indian Ocean and
The low temperature in the northern hemisphere
during winter causes the cold air to sink to create a
region of high pressure.
Due to differences in air pressure between the 2
hemispheres, air from Central Asia and the Indian sub-
continent travels down towards Australia in the
direction of northeast.
The dry and cold northwest monsoon winds are
deflected to the left due to the Coriolis effect when they
cross the equator and become the northeast monsoon
winds.
The northeast monsoon winds warm up and pick up
moisture as they travel over Indian Ocean. Hence, these
bring heavy rain to the Indian sub-continent. winds bring heavy rain to Australia.

 steeper pressure gradients will result in faster moving when compared to land and sea
breeze. (So its basically their wind speed changes).