GEOL 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Coastal Erosion, Thunderstorm, Mesocyclone
Document Summary
Flooding slow-moving thunderstorms producing a lot of rain in a relatively short time: stagnation of thunderstorms storms track over the same area. Wildfires: can start from lightning strikes, long-term changes in global climate. Drought, dust/sandstorms, and heat waves: tropical and extratropical cyclones. Wildfires clear old growth windstorms topple dead trees: source of water. Blizzards and other snowstorms, thunderstorms, and tropical storms primary source for some areas: aesthetic value clouds, snow, lightning, tourism tornado chasing. Timely and accurate prediction is extremely important to spare human lives. Warning: severe weather has been spotted, take action. Cannot prevent severe weather, but can take steps to reduce associated death and damage: mitigation. Long-term actions to prevent or minimize death, injuries, and damage are considered mitigation. Different for each weather hazard but some general techniques: building new structures (example: windproofing, ensuring utilities can continue to function in severe weather, warning systems, hazard insurance. Hurricane sandy: seven days from formation to landfall.
