Identifying Natural Disasters

Download the Identifying Natural Disasters matching and definition worksheet. What types of natural disasters could occur in the area of the world that you live in? What are some ways that you and your family can stay prepared and safe in the event of a natural disaster?

Daily Weather Observation

MATERIALS:

• Downloadable Line-a-Day Weather Observation Journal (also available below)
• Pen or pencil
• Tempest System to record daily weather metrics (optional)

PROCESS:

1. Download and print the Line-a-Day journal and bind using a staple or a paperclip
2. Fill out your  journal with weather metrics and observations about what you see and feel
3. At the end of the year, look back and compare your observations both day to day and month to month

EXPLANATION:

By reflecting on your personal weather data over an extended period of time, you can make comparisons and observations about what you experience throughout the year versus what was forecasted for your area. What kinds of words did you use to describe the weather? Which ones did you use most often? 

We all know that the warmest time of the day is in the afternoon when the sun is high in the sky and sending down its strongest rays. Right? Well, actually that isn’t always the case. On some days, you may find that the temperature actually gets colder in the afternoon. But how can that be? This can happen if a cold front comes through your area. In this activity, you will learn what a cold front is, how it affects you and how you can use maps and observations to find one yourself.

What is a cold front?

To understand cold fronts we first have to talk about air masses. If a big blob of air sits for a while over a spot on the Earth, it will start to become like the land or water below it, just like if you held your hand over a block of ice it would feel colder and colder. Air acts in the same way. So if a big blob, or mass, of air sits over the Canadian Plains for example, it will become cold and dry. If a different mass of air sits over a Tropical Ocean, it will become warm and moist. If these two air masses start to get pushed together, a boundary begins to form between them because they are so different from each other. That boundary is called a cold front.

Imagine you were looking down at the earth from space. In a similar top down view, the graphic below shows where the warm air and cool air would sit around a cold front. Think back to a time when you’ve seen a meteorologist reporting about the weather on the news.. A cold front is represented on a map as a blue line with triangles. The point of the triangles shows the direction the cold air is moving. 

Now, we’ll learn about finding air masses. You can learn how to do this activity by watching this video or following the directions below.

1. Open the National Weather Service Digital Viewer by clicking here or pasting this link into your browser: https://digital.weather.gov/
2. Select “Maximum Temperature” in the second box.
3. Look at the temperatures that are shown on the map. The color key is at the bottom. The warmer temperatures are red, the colder temperatures become progressively dark blue. Can you see warm air masses and cold air masses?
4. Now look for areas on the map where the temperatures are changing very quickly. This is likely where the cold front is.
5. Check to see if you are right by going to https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/#page=ovw. The first map will show where the cold fronts are currently sitting.

Were you able to find a cold front? If not, try another day. We don’t see cold fronts every day and some days, especially in the summer, they are not very strong.

Cold Fronts Bring Clouds, Precipitation, Winds, and Cold Air

Knowing where a cold front is can be extremely important, because as these two air masses collide we can get some dramatic weather. The two different air masses clash at what is called the frontal boundary, just like two armies at war. In fact, that is where the name front came from. The cooler, dry air is more dense and stays closer to the ground as it pushes under the warm, moist air, and causes it to rise, kind of like a bulldozer.  This can cause clouds, rain, and sometimes even violent thunderstorms to grow.  So when a front arrives, you frequently need an umbrella. We can also often see strong and rapidly shifting winds as the two air masses collide.

Let’s see if we can find these weather changes on a map.

1. Return to https://digital.weather.gov/
2. Change the 2nd box to “Sky Cover”.  This will now show you the forecast for the amount of clouds.  The darker the color the more likely that there will be clouds.
3. Do you see a correlation between the location of the cold fronts and the clouds?
4. Now change the 2nd box to “Precipitation Potential Index” . The darker the green the more likely rain is to fall.
5. Do you see a correlation between the cold front and the chance of precipitation?
6. Now change the 2nd box to “Wind Speed” This will now show the forecast for wind.
7. Do you see a correlation between the cold front and the strongest winds?  Where are they in relation to the front?  Many times we find that they are in the coldest air behind the front.

Cold Fronts Move East

Cold fronts generally move in an Easterly direction across North America. As they move the clouds, rain, and winds move along with them.. Let’s see if we can see the movement of the front on forecast maps.

1. Return to https://digital.weather.gov/ and select “Max Temperature”.
2. Find the slider on the upper right that shows future days.  As you move it to the right it will show the forecast map for that day.
3. Slide the bar to the right by one day and take a look at the map.  Did the cold air mass start to shift to the east? Keep shifting it forward and watch how the cold and warm air masses move.
4. Now try the same thing with the “Precipitation Potential Index” and the “Wind Speed” and see if these shift eastward with the front.

Using Past Weather Observations to Find a Cold Front

You can also use weather observations from a Tempest Weather Station or any other recording to find when a cold front came through.

1. Go to TempestWX.com and select “Map” at the top.
2.  Look at the map that shows where all the Tempest stations are located. Pick a station that is behind or west of the cold front.
3. Click on the station marker and the station observations will pop out at the right.
4. Click on the station name to bring up the observations.
5. Start by clicking on the temperature.  This will bring up a graph that shows all the temperature readings from the past week.  Scroll back and see if you can find where the line drops quickly showing cold air moving in.
6. Now go and check the tracings for wind and rainfall to see if you can find that they all started to change when the front was coming through.
7. Another way to check for a front is to look at the pressure tracing.  A cold front will lie in what is called a trough of low pressure.  It will look like “V” on the pressure tracing. Check the tracing to see if you can find a “V” and if that correlates to the time of a cold front.

From this activity, you have gathered some of the tools that you need in order to start learning to understand a weather forecast.  You can use your own Tempest Weather Station, or use the map to watch a station, to find when a cold front is moving through a specific area. This skill can definitely come in handy, especially when you want to know when to wear a coat or carry an umbrella! 

Have you ever wondered why the ocean levels rise and fall each day? If you live near a beach you’ve likely seen the shoreline disappear underwater, only to reappear later in the day. Come find out why.

What are tides?

Tides are the movement of the oceans on Earth. When water levels are higher, it is called high tide. When water levels are lower, it is called low tide. There are usually two high tides and two low tides per day.

What causes high tide and low tide?

The pull of the moon causes high and low tides. Remember that Earth’s gravity keeps the moon in our orbit. But the moon also has a gravity force that pulls on the Earth too. The gravity of the moon is what pulls on the oceans, and causes them to bulge out, creating high tides. The areas where the moon’s gravitational force is lower are where low tides occur.

Why are there two high tides and low tides?

The tidal force, or the pull from the moon’s gravity, causes the oceans to bulge out on two sides of the Earth – the side closest to the moon and the side farthest away. As the Earth rotates, a given location on Earth passes through two of the bulges in a day (high tides), with two lower spots in between (low tides).

Why tides are sometimes higher or lower than normal

The highest tides (called spring tides) occur when the moon is full or new. This is because the Sun, Moon, and Earth are all in a line, and some of the Sun’s gravitational pull also pulls on the oceans.  The lowest tides (called neap tides) occur when the Sun’s gravitational pull works against the moon’s pull, to make the tidal force smaller. 

The winds and weather can also play a factor in higher or lower tides. Very strong winds pushing winds onto the beach can cause higher tides, while winds blowing out to sea could cause lower tides.

The Truth is in the Leaf

Leaves rely on a commonly known compound called chlorophyll to power photosynthesis and turn sunlight (along with water and carbon dioxide) into energy. Chlorophyll is present in the leaves of every plant species, and its production is triggered throughout the summer months by prolonged sunlight exposure. It is also the reason why leaves are mainly green during that time of year; however, chlorophyll isn’t the only color-producing compound found in plant leaves.

Carotenoids, a pigment found in leaves and other plants like pumpkins and carrots is responsible for the spectacular yellows and oranges we see on leaves in the fall. Rich purples and reds come from anthocyanins, which act slightly differently than carotenoids in that they are not produced in the leaf all year long but produced in preparation for fall by the tree. Finally, when all a leaf’s nutrients have been re-absorbed by the tree and it’s ready to drop, a brownish color is left behind by the leftover tannins found in the leaf.

Sensitive to the Sun

So how do the different pigments within the leaf work together to create their spectacular color changes? Weather plays a key role in the process, with sunlight being the driver of the whole operation. Chlorophyll production is amped up into overdrive during the sunny summer months while trees take advantage of the extended daylight hours. However, as fall approaches and the days become shorter, trees begin to take notice and slow their chlorophyll production. As the amount of chlorophyll present in the leaf begins to wane, the more vibrant carotenoids and anthocyanins take center stage and leaves begin to show their hidden colors!

As the season continues on and vibrant fall turns to winter, leaves will make their final color change before dropping from trees for good. Leaves are dropped from most trees during the winter season so that the nutrients they absorbed throughout the summer can be used most effectively by the tree until next spring.

Astronomical Autumn vs Meteorological Autumn

We often mark the beginning of autumn by its noticeable traits: cooler weather, earlier sunsets, later sunrises, colorful leaves, and so on. Many people notice and even celebrate the Autumnal equinox, which usually arrives in mid-September and marks the beginning of those shorter days we mentioned earlier. For them, the equinox signifies the changing of seasons and the beginning of the fall or autumn season. For meteorologists, however, the fall season starts much earlier on September 1st. But why?

The truth here lies in the way that meteorologists define their seasons, which is done by temperature grouping as opposed to the astronomical method which relies on the Earth’s tilt. Meteorologists group their seasons into three months based on the average temperature of each month. So for them, seasons throughout the year look like this:

• Winter begins on December 1st, and spans the months of December, January, and February
• Spring begins on March 1st, and spans the months of March, April, and May
• Summer begins on June 1st, and spans the month of June, July, and August
• Fall begins on September 1st, and spans the months of September, October, and November

Astronomical seasons, however, are marked by what we know as the autumnal and vernal (or spring) equinoxes, along with the winter and summer solstices. These seasons are based on the changing position of the Earth in relation to the Sun as the Earth makes its rotation. The Earth’s tilt also plays a role here, determining the angle at which the Sun’s rays will hit the Earth and for how long.

Because the astronomical seasons are determined by the changing position of the relationship between the Earth and Sun, the date that one season ends and another begins can change from year to year. This yearly change would make it difficult for scientists to compare weather and climate data from one year to the next and sparked the creation of the meteorological calendar.

Falling Into Place

For many North Americans, changing leaves is a staple of the fall season. While there are other factors that contribute to the changes each year like precipitation and temperature, sunlight is the strongest driver in bringing in the bright fall foliage. While we’re taking notice of the cooler temperatures and shorter days, so are the trees, who also begin to prepare for a cooler season ahead. But instead of bringing out coats and scarves like us, they show their spectacular colors as they begin to change and drop their leaves before going dormant through the winter until warmer days come again.

Observe the relationship between the colors of the tree leaves in your area with the radiation levels present throughout the fall season to learn more about the relationship between sunlight and the color of the leaves. Download the printable versions of this activity below to complete at home with your own data!

Download Data Collection Sheet

Download Activity Sheet & Instructions