Local Weather Patterns Weather Patterns Weather changes from

Local Weather Patterns

Weather Patterns • Weather changes from day to day and from season to season. • These changes typically happen in the same way, following certain patterns. • The weather patterns in a place depend on where it is on Earth.

Daily Weather Changes • Weather changes daily. It may be cloudy one day, sunny the next. It could be hot one day, and much cooler soon after. • Meteorologists use weather measurements to predict these day to day changes.

Sample Weather Over 3 Days in N. C. Study the weather table below. Notice the changes in weather as the temperature changes. Condition Monday Tuesday Wednesday High Temperature 65 F 80 F 70 F Average Wind Speed 5 mph 15 mph 30 mph Wind Direction North South East Precipitation None Rain Weather Description Fair, cool Cloudy, warm Windy, stormy

Seasonal Weather Patterns • Weather changes daily, but seasonal patterns are repeated every year. For example, winters are colder than summers. • If you study past weather patterns, you can predict the type of weather you will see in each season. – Ex. In NC, Mountains get most snow in winter, Piedmont gets less, and Coast gets little to no snow. None of these places will see snow in July.

North Carolina Weather Patterns • Weather is fairly mild in NC, meaning there aren’t often extreme conditions. • Temps in eastern NC are milder because the Atlantic Ocean is nearby. Winters are cool with cold days. Summers in NC are hot. • NC gets a lot of precipitation, mostly rain. Snow falls in winter mostly in the Mountain Region and less often as you move east. • Precipitation is usually the greatest in the summer (wettest month is July) and least in the Fall (driest month is November).

Seasonal Weather in N. C. Season Temperature Precipitation Dangerous Weather Spring Mild Rain Thunderstorms, tornadoes Summer Hot Rain Thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes Fall Mild Rain Hurricanes, some thunderstorms Winter Cool to cold Rain, freezing rain, some snow Snowstorms North Carolina can be affected by hurricanes, particularly along the coast. A hurricane is a strong storm that brings strong winds and heavy rain. They form over the warm waters of the Atlantic. When a hurricane moves from the ocean onto the land, it can cause flooding, beach Click to learn more about erosion, and property damage. Hurricane Arthur making landfall on the NC coast: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=1 g. YRqqo 6 Al. Y severe weather: http: //studyjams. scholastic. com/ studyjams/science/weather -and-climate/severe-storms. htm

What Affects Weather Patterns? • The latitude (distance north or south of the equator) of a place helps determine its weather. The latitudes are split into climate zones. • The tropical zone gets most of the sun’s energy, making places near here warm or hot all year. • The polar zones get the least energy from the sun. • The amount of solar energy in the temperate zones varies throughout the year, creating mild climates here and seasons with very different temperatures.

What Affects Weather Patterns • Each half of the Earth is called a hemisphere. The half above the equator is the Northern Hemisphere and the half below the equator is the Southern Hemisphere. • The seasons and their weather patterns are opposite in these 2 hemispheres. • When it’s summer in the northern hemisphere, it’s winter in the southern hemisphere. When it is fall in North Carolina (northern), it is spring in the southern hemisphere. Click the link below to learn more about Earth’s seasons. http: //studyjams. scholasti c. com/studyjams/scie nce/weather-andclimate/seasons. htm

What Affects Weather Patterns? • Mountains can affect temperature. In general, higher places have cooler temperatures than lower places. The mountains of NC are generally cooler than the coast. • Mountains can affect precipitation. Click the link to learn about the rain shadow effect. https: //www. youtube. com/watc h? v=ez 99 nyf. SHCk

What Affects Weather Patterns • Oceans and lakes affect weather too. Places near large bodies of water tend to have milder weather. • Water warms and cools much more slowly than land. In winter, warmer ocean water keeps nearby land warmer. In summer, cooler ocean water keeps nearby land cooler. • Areas near oceans tend to get a lot of precipitation. Why do you think this happens?

Review • Click the links below to review: – https: //www. brainpop. com/science/forcesofnatur e/weather/