ATM S 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Wind Shear, Water Vapor, Coriolis Force

• School: UW
• Department: Atmospheric Sciences
• Course: ATM S 111
• Professor: Casey Cathlee Hilgenbrink

Document Summary

Hurricanes: hurricane = typhoon = cyclone, eye: clear area in the center, eyewall: clouds immediately surrounding eye (highest winds and rain, rising areas have rain and clouds, sinking areas are dry, worldwide hurricane tracks. Spiral rain bands: outer raining areas: hurricanes occur over the warmest waters Storm surge: high winds pushing water towards land. Flooding: financial damages is increasing, but mostly due to more people living on the coast. Hurricanes and global warming: warmer temperatures means, warmer ocean, more water vapor in the air, water vapor is like gasoline for hurricanes, shouldn"t these mean stronger storms, yes, but it"s not so simple . Shears can change : a prediction from a computer model of global warming. Fewer storms overall though: can individual hurricanes be attributed to global warming, no, can it be said that global warming made hurricane katrina stronger than it would have been otherwise, not a good way to frame the question.