ATMO 336 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Atmospheric Pressure, Wind Speed, Northern Hemisphere
25 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
500 mb height maps are very good for getting a large-scale picture of the (cid:862)weather pattern(cid:863) over the. Us, north america, or even the northern hemisphere. Are best for studying cool season weather patterns in middle latitudes. Height contours are height of the 500 mb pressure surface in meters above sea level. Generally fall into the range 4600-6000 meters above sea level. Height of the 500 mb surface is related to the temperature of the atmosphere below 500 mb. The higher the temperature, the higher the height of the 500 mb level. Air pressure decreases more slowly as you ascend through a warm column of air, compared to a cold column of air. Warmer than average temperatures can be expected underneath ridges and colder than average temperatures can be expected underneath troughs. The more pronounced the ridge/trough, the more above/below average the temperatures will be.
