Hurricanes, Tornadoes & Monsoons

Science · Weather & Climate · ages 12-13

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Tornadoes form inside which kind of storm?
- A hurricane
- A supercell thunderstorm
- A gentle rain shower
What powers a hurricane and makes it grow stronger?
- Warm ocean water releasing heat as its vapor condenses
- Cold air sinking over land
- Strong winds blowing from the poles
A summer monsoon happens because land heats up faster than the ocean.
Circle one: True False
A thunderstorm has winds blowing in different directions at different heights (wind shear). How does this help create a tornado?
- It tilts a horizontal spinning tube of air into a vertical one that an updraft can tighten
- It cools the storm so no tornado can form
- It pushes all the storm's energy out to sea
Why does the air spiral inward at the center of a hurricane instead of flowing straight to the low-pressure center?
- The ocean water pushes the air sideways
- Cold air from the poles blocks the straight path
- Earth's rotation deflects the moving air, curving its path (the Coriolis effect)
In winter, the land cools faster than the ocean. Which way does the monsoon wind blow then?
- From the ocean onto the land
- From the land out toward the ocean
- It stops blowing completely
Why can attribution scientists say hurricanes are getting more intense due to climate change, but can't run the same kind of study on a specific tornado?
- Tornadoes are too small and short-lived for today's climate models to simulate directly, while hurricanes are large enough for models to capture
- Tornadoes never occur inside storms with rotation
- Climate change cannot affect wind shear
After a big hurricane, a scientist says: 'Climate change caused this hurricane.' What is the more careful way scientists actually describe the link?
- Climate change caused every single hurricane that ever forms
- Climate change has no effect on any single storm, only on long-term averages
- Climate change made a storm like this a certain amount more likely or more intense, compared to a world without human-caused warming

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Hurricanes, Tornadoes & Monsoons W1-mt__wWHVvqMWb-s1

A supercell thunderstorm · Supercell thunderstorms already have a spinning column of air. A strong updraft can twist that into a tornado.
Warm ocean water releasing heat as its vapor condenses · As water vapor rises and condenses into clouds, it releases stored heat (latent heat), which powers the storm and helps it grow.
True · Hot air over the land rises, pulling in moist air from the ocean, which brings the monsoon rains.
It tilts a horizontal spinning tube of air into a vertical one that an updraft can tighten · Wind shear sets up rotation. A strong updraft tips that spinning air upright and tightens it into a funnel.
Earth's rotation deflects the moving air, curving its path (the Coriolis effect) · Just like with global wind belts, Earth's rotation bends moving air, so instead of rushing straight in, it spirals.
From the land out toward the ocean · With the temperature difference reversed, the wind reverses too, now flowing from the cooler land toward the warmer ocean, so winter monsoons tend to be dry.
Tornadoes are too small and short-lived for today's climate models to simulate directly, while hurricanes are large enough for models to capture · Climate models work on the scale of whole storm systems like hurricanes. Tornadoes form and die within minutes over just a few city blocks, too small for these models to capture directly.
Climate change made a storm like this a certain amount more likely or more intense, compared to a world without human-caused warming · Attribution science compares simulations of today's warmed climate to a modeled world without human-caused warming, then reports how much more likely or intense the storm became, not a simple yes or no cause.