Name: Date:
Student Exploration: Hurricane Motion
Vocabulary: air pressure, Coriolis effect, eye, hurricane, knot, meteorologist, precipitation
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
A hurricane is a large, rotating tropical storm with wind speeds of at least 74 miles per hour.
Since 1990, meteorologists have regularly used satellite images to track hurricanes.
1. The satellite image at right
shows Hurricane Katrina just before it hit New
Orleans in 2005. Label the hurricane on the image.
2. How do you think meteorologists predicted the
arrival of a hurricane before the 1990s?
Used ship reports, air pressure,
readings,
Gizmo Warm-up
You can use data collected from weather stations to study the characteristics of hurricanes. The
Hurricane Motion Gizmo has three simulated weather stations. Turn on Show weather station
data. Make sure Wind, Cloud cover, and Pressure are all checked.
The tails on each station symbol point in the direction the wind is coming
from. The flags on the tail indicate wind speed, measured in knots. (One knot
is equal to 1.151 mph.) A short line extending from the tail indicates 5 knots of
wind. A longer line indicates 10 knots. A triangular flag indicates 50 knots. Add
all the flags together to get the wind speed.
The number in the station’s upper right is the air pressure, which is measured in millibars (mb).
The circle symbol
indicates the
percentage of cloud
cover, as shown in
the table at right.
Use the information above to complete this table for station A on the Gizmo.
Wind speed (knots) Wind from Cloud cover Pressure (mb)
2021
, 30 North 1/8 1023.5 mb
2021
Student Exploration: Hurricane Motion
Vocabulary: air pressure, Coriolis effect, eye, hurricane, knot, meteorologist, precipitation
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
A hurricane is a large, rotating tropical storm with wind speeds of at least 74 miles per hour.
Since 1990, meteorologists have regularly used satellite images to track hurricanes.
1. The satellite image at right
shows Hurricane Katrina just before it hit New
Orleans in 2005. Label the hurricane on the image.
2. How do you think meteorologists predicted the
arrival of a hurricane before the 1990s?
Used ship reports, air pressure,
readings,
Gizmo Warm-up
You can use data collected from weather stations to study the characteristics of hurricanes. The
Hurricane Motion Gizmo has three simulated weather stations. Turn on Show weather station
data. Make sure Wind, Cloud cover, and Pressure are all checked.
The tails on each station symbol point in the direction the wind is coming
from. The flags on the tail indicate wind speed, measured in knots. (One knot
is equal to 1.151 mph.) A short line extending from the tail indicates 5 knots of
wind. A longer line indicates 10 knots. A triangular flag indicates 50 knots. Add
all the flags together to get the wind speed.
The number in the station’s upper right is the air pressure, which is measured in millibars (mb).
The circle symbol
indicates the
percentage of cloud
cover, as shown in
the table at right.
Use the information above to complete this table for station A on the Gizmo.
Wind speed (knots) Wind from Cloud cover Pressure (mb)
2021
, 30 North 1/8 1023.5 mb
2021
