Weather Break

From the Creighton University Department of Atmospheric Sciences

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Entries from November 2010

Why Weather Never Ends

November 12th, 2010 · 2 Comments

Click here to listen to episode 805 of Weather Break.
Today’s is the final episode of Weather Break.  All this week, we’ve been talking about how weather features end, but that brings up a really interesting question– why doesn’t weather itself ever end?  After all, the atmosphere is under the influence of friction, which always acts [...]

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Tags: Basic Meteorology

The Rope Stage of Tornadoes

November 11th, 2010 · No Comments

Click here to listen to episode 804 of Weather Break.
All storm systems eventually come to an end, and tornadoes are no exception.  There are actually quite a few different ways in which a tornado can stop causing damage (like, for example, simply lifting the funnel cloud off the ground).  However, one of the more dramatic [...]

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Tags: Tornadoes

How Thunderstorms End

November 10th, 2010 · No Comments

Click here to listen to episode 803 of Weather Break.
Some features in the atmosphere are more or less permanent– the subtropical high pressure systems, the trade winds, and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) are good examples.  However, most weather systems go through a clear life cycle, first forming, and later dissipating.  Thunderstorms are a clear [...]

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Tags: Thunderstorms

Cyclolysis

November 9th, 2010 · No Comments

Click here to listen to episode 802 of Weather Break.
Like all weather features, cyclones go through a life cycle– first forming, then going through a “mature” stage, and eventually dissipating.  The processes that cause a cyclone to weaken and die are collectively known as “cyclolysis”.  As Weather Break marches towards its final episode this coming [...]

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Tags: Cyclones and Anticyclones

Frontolysis

November 8th, 2010 · No Comments

Click here to listen to episode 801 of Weather Break.
This is the final week of production of new episodes of Weather Break, and as the program winds down it got us thinking about the different weather features wind down or end.  A good example of this sort of process would be “frontolysis”, or how fronts [...]

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Tags: Basic Meteorology