Severe and Hazardous Weather

Catalog description

This course examines hazardous weather patterns and severe weather phenomena during both warm and cold seasons while emphasizing the fundamental concepts and processes in meteorology. The internal structure and atmospheric dynamics of larger scale extra-tropical cyclones will be examined as well as smaller scale atmospheric events such as thunderstorm propagation along squall lines, microbursts, tornado development, blizzards, ice storm, and heat and cold waves among many other potentially hazardous weather events. An examination of tropical weather such as hurricanes and tropical storms and their impact on our coastlines will also be part of this course. Several topics will be investigated by scrutinizing case studies of disastrous weather events that have occurred throughout history. There will be a special focus on the environmental, economic, and social impacts of these events. (3 contact hours)