Meteorology 101
Assignment 2

On February 14, Valentine's Day, 1995 a major weather system moved across the state of Utah. The purpose of this assigment is to help you become familiar with the weather phenomena associated with a major cold front such as this one.

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First, look at the result of the storm in terms of the distribution of snow as seen from space. This visible image was taken during the afternoon of the next day. There were no clouds around, so areas that are bright and white are snow covered and areas that are dark are snow-free. (An exception is the forested regions surrounding the high Uintas, where the snow and forest blend together to give less reflection than the treeless high country.)

Question 1:
Explain briefly in terms of the absorption and reflection of solar radiation why in the visible image Salt Lake, Utah Lake, and Bear Lake appear darker than the surrounding terrain.

Question 2:
Now, let's get an idea of the large-scale circulation associated with this storm. Examine each of the following images.

500 mb height. Blue denotes band of heights close to location of jet-stream.
Sea level pressure (black contours) and surface temperature (red contours).

In the mid-troposphere (say 500 mb, for example), the winds tend to blow parallel to the contours of height while near the surface, the winds tend to be directed more from high pressure to low pressure.

Based on the images above, what is the prevailing wind direction likely to be in the vicinity of Salt Lake City at the 500 mb level and what is the likely wind direction in the vicinity of Salt Lake City at the surface?

Question 3:
Now let's look at a sequence of visible satellite images, eventually focussing on the Utah region at several times during the day.

Visible image (large view). Image taken around 11AM MST
Visible image (western U.S. view). Image taken at 11:52AM MST
Visible image (Utah view). Image taken at 9:17AM MST
Visible image (Utah view). Image taken at 11:47AM MST
Visible image (Utah view). Image taken at 3:17PM MST

Superimposed on the satellite images of Utah are the observations of weather conditions reported at locations around the state at that hour.

Explain why it can be inferred from the weather observations that the front is past Salt Lake City by 9:17AM, past Delta (U24) by 11:47AM, and past Cedar City (CDC) by 3:17PM.


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