Meteorology
3000
Mountain
Weather and Climate
John Horel, Professor
Registration Information: class
number 12907
MWF 9:40-10:30AM. INSCC 490
This course investigates how mountains help to control
the weather and climate throughout the western United States. What causes
the snow in the Wasatch Mountains to be “the greatest snow on earth”? How
can the best places for paragliding and wind surfing be determined? Can clouds
be used to estimate winds and stability over nearby mountain peaks? What
are some of the hazardous weather conditions that could have affected the
Olympics? Lectures, short field trips, interactive computer assignments,
and the excellent text Mountain Weather by C. David Whiteman will be
used to answer these and many other questions. There are no prerequisites for the course. This class
satisfies the Quantitative Intensive requirement. Classes are held in the computer
laboratory of the Department of Meteorology located in the INSCC building. The
classroom limits enrollment to no more than 30 students. Students will
participate in a 1-day field project in the nearby Wasatch Mountains. Material covered in this course is applicable to many
other disciplines. Applications of mountain meteorology are presented to related
subjects such as air pollution, wind energy, road weather, avalanches, and
fire weather. The human physiological response to high altitude and cold
temperature are discussed. For further information, contact John Horel (jhore@met.utah.edu) or visit the
department and course web page at http://www.met.utah.edu.
