_________________________________ is constantly changing, sometimes from hour to hour and other times, day to day. It is the term that refers to the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place.

1. _________________________________ is constantly changing, sometimes from hour to hour and other times, day to day. It is the term that refers to the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place.

2. Earth is sometimes called the ___________________ Planet because the majority of the Earth’s surface is covered by ____________________ .

3. The greatest factor underlying water’s importance is its ability to exist in ______ physical states within the temperatures ranges encountered near the Earth’s surface.

4. In the space below, draw and label the different processes that are part of the water cycle:

5. When precipitation falls on the land, it either soaks into the ground, a process called _____________________, flows over the surface as ___________________________, or is immediately evaporated.

6. __________________________________ is the process by which water changes from a liquid to vapor, whereas _________________________ is the process by which water vapor changes into liquid.

7. When warm, moist air rises, it _____________________ as atmospheric pressure decreases at higher altitudes. Air’s ability to hold water vapor is decreased as pressure is reduced and cools adiabatically and eventually reaching its __________________________. As a result, rising air becomes unable to hold water vapors (air is saturated), leading to condensation and then followed by ________________________.

8. ___________________________ – the effect created when moisture bearing winds rise against a mountain range. The air expands at altitude and ___________________________ to form clouds and precipitation.

9. Draw and label Orographic Lifting. Include: Ocean, storm/rain, coastal mountains, Sierra Nevada, windward, leeward, wet valley, dry valley, rain shadow, precipitation and arrows showing storm and uplift.

10. ________________________ is the pressure exerted by the weight of the air above. Average air pressure at sea level is approximately ___________________ millibars (mb).

11. Generally air tends to resist vertical movement; air near the surface, stays at the surface, air aloft, stays aloft. One way to move air vertically is convective lifting, warm is ____________ dense and _______________ buoyant and therefore rises. 12. When an air mass near the ground is heated, the air molecules vibrates faster and increase collision among the molecules, this causes air to _____________________, decreasing its density. The lower density air rises creating a _______________________ system.

13. A ____________________________ system forms as cool air in the upper atmosphere, which is more dense than the surrounding warmer air, sinks towards the ground

14. Wind is the result of horizontal differences in atmospheric pressure. Air flows outward from areas of ____________ pressure and into areas of ___________ pressure.

15. The amount of pressure change occurring over a given distance is called pressure gradient force. The relationship between wind speed and pressure gradient is: the _________________(greater/lesser) the pressure gradient, the ____________________ (stronger/weaker) the wind.

16. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Coriolis Effect curves objects to the ____________________ of their straight-line paths. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Coriolis Effect curves objects to the ________________________.

17. The Coriolis Effect is at a _________________ at the poles and at a ___________________ at the equator.

18. More solar energy is absorbed in the tropics than at the poles. As a result, the Earth’s surface is __________________ (cooler/warmer) near the poles and _________________ (cooler/warmer) at the equator.

19. The hot conditions at the equator warm air and cause it to _________________. The warm air travels north at high altitude where the air cools and ____________________ near 30°latitude. This creates a circulation pattern where surface air flows ________________ from 30°to the equator.

20. The region of sinking dry air which encircles the globe near 30°latitude, north and south, is known as the ____________________________ – pressure zone.

21. The combination of the Coriolis Effect, which influences the wind’s ____________________ and the pressure gradient, which produces wind ____________________ generate Global Air Circulation.

23. Severe weather is often associated with ________________ fronts, the boundaries between ____________ and warm air masses. Fronts accompany moist, unstable air ______________ up into the atmosphere where the air cools, condenses and eventually forms __________________.

24. Most severe cold fronts that can produce thunderstorms in the U.S. are the result of a ______________ air mass originating from the northern plains states colliding with a ____________________ air mass moving northward from out of the Gulf of Mexico.

25. In a __________________ Front, a cold air s move more rapidly than an adjacent ________________ air mass, causing rapid lifting and displacement of the warm air.

26. In a _________________ Front, a warm air mass moves more rapidly than the adjacent _______________ air mass, and thus rises over the cold air mass.

27. Advancing cold fronts rapidly lift ______________, moist air to high altitudes, causing instability, condensation, precipitation and ______________________.

28. Draw and label both warm and cold fronts. Include air mass (cold and warm), direction of front, air movement, updraft, area of precipitation, thunderstorm or medium precipitation and cloud coverage.