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| Haboob in western Australia. This wall of dust is due to air being forced out of the coming storm ahead of the rest of the storm. Particles of all sorts fill the air while the sky appears to be filled with Nimbostratus clouds. Photo Credit: http://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/wp-content/upload/2009/09/red-dust.jpg
Nimbostratus clouds are low layered, usually rain filled clouds. The base height (bottom of cloud) can be as low as 2000m. The base of the cloud is where the Dew Point is located. The Dew point is where relative humidity's goal is to reach 100 percent.
Nimbostratus clouds, layered and low almost featureless rain clouds.
Photo Credit:http://www.2d-digital-art-guide.com/images/paintnimbostratusclouds4.jpg
Flat cloud base representing the Dew Point.
Valley Fog is another type of cloud that contains water located very close to the earths surface.
Valley Fog containing water droplets lays over the mountains in the Imbil State Forest in Australia.
Photo Credit: http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/72929370.jpg
There are numerous types of storms that occur in Australia due to its varying climate and weather. Many of these are thunderstorms which produce a wide variety of lightning. Lightning is the product of positive and negative charges that are in excess, being discharged from mainly Cumulonimbus clouds. Lightning can travel in three directions such as from cloud to cloud, cloud to ground, and intracloud. The part of lightning that we are not able to see is the Stepped Leader. The Stepped Leader is the very fast lightning bolt that searches for attracting charges from another source such as the ground.
Above is an example of Zigzag lightning hitting from cloud to ground in Sydney Australia. Zigzag lightning is produced by air between the cloud and the ground that holds pockets of charge. These charges create bolts that move along the ground from pocket to pocket.
Photo Credit: http://www.lovethesepics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/australia.jpg
Another form of lightning that occurs in Australia is Forked lightning. Below is an example of Forked lightning at Ayers Rock in Australia.
Forked cloud to ground lightning at Ayers Rock in Australia. Forked lightning forms when there is an overage of negative charge in the end of a bolt that can split apart in midair to form two more bolts.
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Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Climate and Weather
The climate and weather of Australia has much variety. While most of the climate is Subtropical Desert (BWh on Koppen Scheme), it differs in come coastal areas. Due to the desert climate there have been major dust storms in western Australia. Haboobs(dust walls) signal air being forced out of a storm and hitting the ground forming the wall, behind comes a massive collaboration of dust and dirt.
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