The stability of weather can be explained by the air fronts. The constant motion of the air masses, each having different densities and temperatures, predisposes the creation of specific weather conditions (Lutgens and Tarbuck 445).
Maritime air masses are moist volumes of air, with an impressive (thousands of miles) area, which define climate in a specific region that they cover. A maritime polar air mass is colder and denser than the tropical one (Lutgens and Tarbuck 446).
The processes taking place in a cold front can be defined as air saturation. Since the air is colder and, therefore, denser, the relative humidity rates rise up to 100%. Moving faster, cold fronts tend to collide with warm ones, resulting in a storm (Lutgens and Tarbuck 447).
The difference between the stationary and the occluded fronts is rather basic (Lutgens and Tarbuck 447):
Hurricanes and cyclones are the same phenomenon observed in different areas (hurricanes are for Atlantics and Northwest Pacific, and cyclones are for South Pacific and Indian Ocean) (Lutgens and Tarbuck 448).
A thunderstorm is a result of air mass turning unstable to the point where it convects (Lutgens and Tarbuck 449).
The higher the pressure in a tornado is, the les significant the wind speed in it gets, and vice versa (Lutgens and Tarbuck 450).
Though tornadoes and hurricanes are often confused, the difference between the two is quite obvious. Unlike a hurricane, which may occur nearly anywhere in the world, a tornado takes place mostly in the US continental plains. The shape of a tornado is usually described as a funnel, while a hurricane does not have a specific shape; finally, while the eye of a hurricane may be 20–30 km wide, a tornado is usually very narrow (1–2 km) (v 451).
The Enhanced Fujita scale defines the scale of a tornado based on the speed of the wind in it (Lutgens and Tarbuck 453).
A Doppler radar was designed to predict the physical changes in the air masses and, thus, predict storms, particularly, hurricanes and tornadoes, quite precisely (Lutgens and Tarbuck 453).
The hurricane eye wall is traditionally considered the area where the most drastic rainfall can be observed. In contrast to an eyewall, the eye of a hurricane is, weirdly enough, the calmest part of a hurricane (The Eye Wall para. 1).
Unlike a tropical depression, a tropical storm needs an organized cyclonic circulation (Lutgens and Tarbuck 461). In addition, a tropical storm requires that the speed of wind should be above 39 mph. A tropical depression, in its turn, may develop once the wind speed reaches 25 mph (Lutgens and Tarbuck 462).
As a rule, three types of hurricane damage are identified, i.e., wind, flood and storm surge damage. Due to its immense strength, the surge storm causes the greatest devastation (Lutgens and Tarbuck 465).
A hurricane slows down once it reaches inland because of the warm and humid air mass that is typical for mainland (Lutgens and Tarbuck 467).
For a hurricane to form, it is essential that the environment should be warm. In January, the weather is quite cold in the Gulf of Mexico; as a result, no premises for a hurricane to start in the specified region can be created (Lutgens and Tarbuck 468).
Works Cited
Lutgens, Frederick K. and Edward J. Tarbuck. “The Atmosphere in Motion.” Foundations of Earth Science. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. 2014. 445–468. Print.
The Eye Wall. 2010.