In addition to lecture material, we will have short current weather discussions every Monday and Thursday, and whenever else there is something else notable or lecture-relevant.

 

Lecture/Topic	Month	Day	EOM reading	Links
1. Composition and structure of our atmosphere	Sep	24	Ch 1 pp. 1-14
2. Weather vs. climate, temperature.		25	Ch 1 pp. 15-24
3. Heat transfer and radiation, Climate of Seattle area.		26	Ch 2 pp. 28-36	Animation software for simulating atoms/molecules in a gas (uses Java)
4. The greenhouse effect.		27	Ch 2 pp. 37-46	Time lapse of infrared water vapor imagery
5. The seasons. Global temperature variations	Oct	1	Ch 2 pp. 46-54
6. Air masses. Daily temperature variations		2	pp. 58-79, 214-224
7. Air pressure, adiabatic expansion, lapse rate		3	pp. 33, 118 (thru Fig. 5.2), 150-155
8. Pressure gradient force. Pressure maps.		4	Ch 6 pp. 156-159
9. Coriolis effect and geostrophic balance		8	Ch 6 pp. 160-174	Does water spiral oppositely down the drain in the two hemispheres? (a 'demonstration' that isn't!)
10. Local circulations I: turbulence, wind shear, mtn waves.		9	Ch 7 pp. 178-181	Mountain lee wave visible satellite loop (6.4 MB)
11. Local circulations II: thermal circulations		10	Ch 7 pp. 182-192
12. Formation of jet streams; the general circulation		11	Ch 7 pp. 193-202	Northern hemisphere 500 mb height loop, 7.5 days ago to 7 days ahead
13. Winds and ocean currents, El Nino		15	Ch 7 pp. 203-207	NOAA El Nino Theme Page
14. Extratropical cyclones and fronts		16	Ch 8 pp. 225-233	500/1000mb loop, 7.5 days ago to 7 days ahead. Note relation of surface highs and lows to 500 mb ridges and troughs
15. Upper atmospheric cyclone structure		17	Ch 8, pp. 234-242
MIDTERM 1 (closed book/note-thru 11 Oct lecture)	Oct	18		Mean: 38/50 (76%); Standard deviation: 8/50 (15%);
16. Year-to-year wintertime variability in midlatitudes		22	Ch 7 pp. 207-209	Maps of recent monthly US temps and precip
17. Humidity		23	Ch 4  pp. 84-95	More on the molecular structure of water and ice
18. Condensation and fog		24	Ch 4  pp. 96-102
19. Types of cloud (+ 30 min cloud slide show)		25	Ch 4  pp. 103-113	Cloud Slideshow for lecture
20. Conditional instability and cumulus clouds		29	Ch 5  pp. 118-127
21. Formation of rain and snow		30	Ch 5  pp. 121-138
22. Other types of precipitation, cloud seeding, radar		31	Ch 5  pp. 139-146
23. Precipitation patterns, floods, droughts	Nov	1	Ch. 12 pp. 344-348, Ch. 13 p. 392
24. How are weather forecasts made?		5	Ch 9 pp. 246-261
25. Forecast error and predictability of weather		6	Ch 9 pp. 262-263	Try out d(model)/dt button on 500 mb loop and WRF precip loop to compare different forecasts for the same time. Look at GFS spaghetti plots to see divergence of an ensemble of forecasts all based on the same observations
26. Thunderstorms and thunderstorm systems		7	Ch 10 pp. 274-289
27. Cloud electrification, lightning and thunder (+35 min video)		8	Ch 10 pp. 290-295	24-hour loop of U.S. lightning strikes
NO CLASS - Veterans Day Holiday		12
28. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes (+ 20, 7 min videos)		13	Ch 10 pp. 296-309	Supercell and Tornado Photos and NCSA Visualization Of An F3 Tornado Within A Supercell Thunderstorm Simulation
29. Hurricanes and tropical cyclones I (+ 20 min video)		14	Ch 11 pp. 314-320	NOAA Hurricane Research Division FAQs about hurricanes.
MIDTERM 2 (closed book/note-thru 8 Nov lecture)	Nov	15		Mean: 73%; Standard deviation: 14%
NO QUIZ SECTION		15/6
30. Hurricanes and tropical cyclones II		19	Ch 11 pp. 321-340
31. Sky color, mirages		20	Ch 15 pp. 434-443	Photos for Lect. 31.
32. Rainbows, halos, coronas		21	Ch 15 pp. 443-452	Photos for Lect. 32. and Rainbow light paths
NO CLASS - Thanksgiving		22
NO QUIZ SECTION - Thanksgiving		22/3
33. Air pollution		26	Ch 14 pp. 406-412, 415-429
34. Ozone hole		27	Ch 14 pp. 413-415, box on 416-417
35. Paleoclimate and climate variability		28	Ch 13 pp. 374-388
36-37. Anthropogenic climate change and its impacts.	Nov Dec	29 03	Ch 13 pp. 388-401
Review Session led by TAs	Dec	4
NO CLASS (INSTRUCTOR TRAVEL)	Dec	5-6
NO QUIZ SECTION	Dec	6-7
FINAL EXAM, 8:30-10:20, Kane 210	Dec	10

 

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