Direction of Wind

Direction of Wind Name: _________________________________________ Period: ______ Date: ____________________ Essential Question: How is wind affected by temperature differences and earth’s rotation? Wind is caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere. Since the Earth is rotating, the air does not flow directly from high to low pressure, but it is deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere; to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, this is known as Coriolis effect. 1. What causes wind? Wind is caused by the movement of air from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure due to differences in temperature and air pressure. _____________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Why does the warm air rise? Warm air rises because it is less dense than cooler air, being lighter and more buoyant. _____________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Why does the cold air sink? Cold air sinks because it is denser than warm air, being heavier and more compact. _____________________________________________________________________________________ low 4. Warm air is ( low, high) __________ pressure and it rises. high sinks 5. Cold air is ( low, high) __________ pressure and it ( rises, sinks) ______________. 6. What happens to the rising air? Rising air cools, potentially forming clouds and precipitation, before descending again as cooler, denser air. _____________________________________________________________________________________ 7.What is wind? Wind is the movement of air driven by differences in air pressure within the Earth's atmosphere. _____________________________________________________________________________________ the Earth's surface 8. Wind comes from the energy of the ____________. 9. What causes sea breeze? Sea breeze is caused by the temperature difference between land and sea during the day. _____________________________________________________________________________________ day 10. Sea breeze happens during the ( day, night) ___________________________. colder 11. Water is ( colder, warmer)______________ than land during the day. 12. What is land breeze? Land breeze occurs at night when the land cools faster than the sea. _____________________________________________________________________________________ low pressure 13. Wind blows from high pressure to ( low pressure, medium pressure)____________________ land water 14. In land breeze air currents move from (land, water)__________ to (land, water)_____________ 15. Coastal areas receive more rain and thunderstorms than the inland because of (evaporation, air evaporation pressure) _________________________________filling up clouds. 16. Where can you find more vegetation ( near the shoreline, mountainside)? More vegetation is typically found near mountainsides due to factors such as water availability and climate. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 17. What is the Coriolis effect? ( Read the paragraph above) The Coriolis effect is the apparent deflection of moving objects caused by the Earth's rotation, influencing wind _____________________________________________________________________________________ and ocean currents. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Day-sea breeze Night-land breeze Sea and Land Breezes describe the wind that blows onshore from sea to land during the day and blows offshore in the evening. Why do I care? During the summer, the sea breezes are stronger than in winter because of the large temperature differences between land and ocean water that time of year. The fronts caused by the sea breezes along the coast can provide a trigger to daily thunderstorm activity in coastal areas, particularly along the peninsula of Florida. Instructions: Use the figure above to answer questions day 18. When does sea breeze happen (day, night)? ______________________________________________ night 19. When does land breeze happen ( day, night)?_____________________________________________ Sea breeze is a coastal wind blowing from the sea toward 20. How are sea breeze and land breeze described? ___________________________________________ the land during the day, while land breeze is a coastal wind blowing from the land toward the sea at night. _____________________________________________________________________________________ land 21. At daytime, which heats up faster or has low pressure( land, sea)? ____________________________ sea 22. At nighttime, which heats up faster or has low pressure ( land, sea)? __________________________ 23. Why do we experience more thunderstorms during the spring and summer? We experience more thunderstorms during the spring and summer because these seasons are characterized by warmer temperatures and higher _____________________________________________________________________________________ humidity levels, creating favorable conditions for the formation of thunderstorms through the convective process. Additionally, increased solar heating _____________________________________________________________________________________ The Coriolis effect is the apparent curvature of global winds, ocean currents, and everything else that moves freely across the Earth’s surface. If not for the Earth’s rotation, global winds would blow in straight northsouth lines. What actually happens is that global winds blow diagonally. The Coriolis effect influences wind direction around the world in this way: in the Northern Hemisphere it curves winds to the right; in the Southern Hemisphere it curves them left. The exception is with low pressure systems. In these systems there is a balance between the Coriolis effect and the pressure gradient force and the winds flow in reverse. The Coriolis effect is the apparent deflection of moving objects, including wind 24. What is the Coriolis effect? ___________________________________________________________ and ocean currents, caused by the rotation of the Earth. _____________________________________________________________________________________ 25. What would be the direction of the global winds if the earth is not rotating? If the Earth were not rotating, there would be no Coriolis effect, and winds would blow directly from areas of high _____________________________________________________________________________________ pressure to areas of low pressure in a straight path. _____________________________________________________________________________________ 26. How does Coriolis effect influence the direction of wind the Northern Hemisphere? In the Northern Hemisphere, the Coriolis effect causes winds to deflect to the right of their intended path. This means winds blowing from high pressure areas tend to curve clockwise and winds blowing from low pressure areas tend to curve counterclockwise. _____________________________________________________________________________________ 27. How does Coriolis effect influence the direction of wind the Southern Hemisphere? In the Southern Hemisphere, the Coriolis effect causes winds to deflect to the left of their intended path. Therefore, _____________________________________________________________________________________ winds blowing from high pressure areas tend to curve counterclockwise and winds blowing from low pressure areas tend to curve clockwise.