Winter storm

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/winter-storm

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the atmospheric conditions for snow?Requires temperatures below freezing from cloud to ground, with sufficient moisture
2. What is the societal impact?Can cause significant economic disruption, infrastructure damage, and transportation delays
3. What makes a winter storm bring snow to the ground?When cold air meets moist air, the air lifts and cools, turning water vapor into ice crystals that grow into snowflakes. The whole column of air must stay below freezing for snow to fall.
4. How can a winter storm produce sleet or freezing rain instead of snow?If the air is warm in the middle and cold near the ground, snow melts into rain, then refreezes into ice pellets (sleet). If rain falls through a thin cold layer, it stays supercooled and freezes on contact with cold surfaces, creating freezing rain.

Adiabatic Cooling: Cooling of a gas or air parcel as it rises and expands in the atmosphere.
Supercooled Water: Liquid water that remains liquid below its freezing point.
Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP): Computer models that use mathematical equations to forecast future weather conditions.
Jet Stream: Fast-flowing, narrow air currents in the upper atmosphere that influence weather patterns.