Meteorology B

[bubblebrian]

on the rules it said " similar regional patters", what does it mean?
do we have to know things like derechos or other things?

[FueL]

on the rules it said " similar regional patters", what does it mean?
do we have to know things like derechos or other things?

Yup, basically. Things like nor'easters and valley/mountain breezes.

[zyzzyva980]

Ladies and gents, there has been/will be/is a big severe storm outbreak in the plains today, specifically OK,TX, KS, MO, and NE. If you want to start studying for Severe Storms, today is the day to do it. The thunder is already starting to roll in at my location.

[brobo]

Almost a week later, and we're getting some heavy thunderstorms here (mainly yesterday) but we looked at the Weather Channel, and it says that we could get rain a little bit every day this week! This is pretty strange for us here in this part of Texas, so is this what you were talking about zyzzyva?

[zyzzyva980]

Yeah, except for us in Kansas it's not "strange" at all. It's going to rain today again here.

[bubblebrian]

Hey nationals is in a few days and I still need some help...

(especially in warm fronts) When you look at a surface weather map and look at the fronts, does the front symbol mean the beginning of the front where the first winds are (the "tip" of the front), or is it at the end of the front, where it totally becomes an air mass, or somewhere in between?

Thanks!

[bubblebrian]

Also, I need to know:

In the Northern Hempishere, do winds usually rotate clockwise or counterclockwise in warm fronts? How about in cold fronts? How about hurricanes?

Also, is it possible for a warm front to overtake a cold front? (i don't think so, but i'm not sure)

How would I know which clouds are which in a Stuve Diagram?

[gyourkoshaven]

Everyday Weather Wiki

It's a magical place.

[brobo]

(especially in warm fronts) When you look at a surface weather map and look at the fronts, does the front symbol mean the beginning of the front where the first winds are (the "tip" of the front), or is it at the end of the front, where it totally becomes an air mass, or somewhere in between?

Ok, um...
A front is an imaginary line between hot air and cold air. The hot air and cold air are like big huge sections of air. The front itself is not an object. Its just a highlight of the boundry between these two sections of air. The lines show in which direction the section of air is moving.
So if you come across a question that asks you to draw the fronts, look for dramatic differences in temperature over a very short distance. The area in between is the front. You just need to decide which is moving, if either of them. You then draw the line there, in the direction that its moving. If the cold air is moving, its a cold front, and if the warm air is moving then its a warm front. I hope that makes sense...

In the Northern Hempishere, do winds usually rotate clockwise or counterclockwise in warm fronts? How about in cold fronts? How about hurricanes?

Warm fronts and cold fronts have nothing to do with it. I have some trouble with that principal too, but what you are looking for is high and low pressure systems. In the northern hemispher, winds blow clockwise around a high pressure system. Yes, high pressure systems are usually associated with colder temperatures, but a cold front is like an imaginary boundry, not a system. Hurricanes follow the same idea. They spin counterclockwise in the norhtern hemispher, and clockwise in the souther hemisphere.

Also, is it possible for a warm front to overtake a cold front? (i don't think so, but i'm not sure)

I'm not sure, but I don't see why not. When a cold front takes over a warm front, is it called an occulated front, but I don't know if it works the same in reverse.

How would I know which clouds are which in a Stuve Diagram?

Stuve diagram's won't show you the types of clouds, just like Meteograms. You would need to look at a station ball or a sample of METAR (not all METAR code contains this information, however) to find the types of clouds.

But yes, gyourkoshaven is right, most of this information is found in the Meteorology Wiki. I know I wasn't sure about using the [wiki][/wiki] at first, but its a safe place. Its completely designed and made by people on this forum, and is closely moderated by robotman09 and starpug, along with the other mods, so all the information found there is very reliable.

Good luck!

EDIT: Yeah, FueL is right, I made a mistake, but I went ahead and fixed it. Sorry!

[FueL]

A few things added on to robodude's response:

Warm fronts and cold fronts have nothing to do with it. I have some trouble with that principal too, but what you are looking for is high and low pressure systems. In the northern hemispher, winds blow counterclockwise around a high pressure system. Yes, high pressure systems are usually associated with colder temperatures, but a cold front is like an imaginary boundry, not a system. Hurricanes follow the same idea. They spin counterclockwise in the norhtern hemispher, and clockwise in the souther hemisphere.

I think you meant winds blow clockwise around a high pressure and counterclockwise around a low. You shouldn't need to know hurricanes, as it's everyday weather. Robodude is correct about their rotations; however, hurricanes are called cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere.

How would I know which clouds are which in a Stuve Diagram?

There is no way of knowing for sure. However, you can make an educated guess if the diagram includes altitudes with the millibar measurements.

Also, is it possible for a warm front to overtake a cold front? (i don't think so, but i'm not sure)

I don't think it's possible, actually, since cold fronts move much faster than warm fronts. When a cold front overtakes a warm front though, it becomes an occluded front.

When you look at a surface weather map and look at the fronts, does the front symbol mean the beginning of the front where the first winds are (the "tip" of the front), or is it at the end of the front, where it totally becomes an air mass, or somewhere in between?

I'm not sure what you mean, but the front is symbol is always located where the two air masses meet at ground level. In this picture, you can see the warm front is actually behind some of the warm air that has risen above the cold air:



Hope this helped, and good luck at nationals.