Meteorology 2603
Severe and Unusual Weather
Problem Set #4

Distributed Monday, 23 April 2001
Due Wednesday, 2 May 2001

(All problems are worth the same number of points)

1.  Describe the principal differences between sprites and jets.

2.  If you see a lighting flash and hear thunder 12 seconds
later, approximately how far away is the lightning?  What
sorts of things could affect the thunder's time of arrival
at your location?

3.  Plot the following sounding on a thermodynamic
diagram and use it to find the Lifted Index, Showalter
Index, Total Totals Index, and K-Index.  Using this
information, determine the type of weather that would
result if air parcels were lifted to their condensation
level. Are the results of each index's prediction
consistent?  Why or why not?

4.  Suppose the tangential winds in a developing hurricane
are 20 kts at a radius from the hurricane center of 150 km.
Assuming that angular momentum is conserved, find the
speed of the tangential winds if the air at 150 km radius
spirals inward to a radius of 30 km.  [See pages 424 and
286 in the text.]  Assume that you're following a single
air parcel that has a mass of 1.0 kg.