how mountains affect climate. windward & leeward

How mountains affect climate.Windward & Leeward

Altitude/Elevation

Altitude & Elevation

Altitude is the height of an object above the mean sea level.

Elevation is the height of a place above mean sea level.

Mountains

What will you find at the peak of a

mountain? It is the coldest part of the mountain.

It will be covered with snow and ice.

What type of animals will you find up there?

Windward vs. Leeward

Let's watch!

Windward vs. Leeward

Windward

As the air carries water vapor from the ocean is travels over the windward side of the mountain.

You will find the most vegetation (grass, trees, bushes, and flowers)

When the water vapor becomes to heavy it falls as rain or snow.

As the warm air rises and cools, fog forms.

Leeward

The dry air continues over to the leeward side of the mountain.

The air warms and picks up moisture from the environment.

The leeward side of the mountain remains dry.

It is also known as the rain shadow.

Windward vs. Leeward

Windward vs. Leeward

Hawaii

Since Hawaii is an island and is surrounded by water, does it have a leeward side?

Which is windward, which is Leeward?

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/other-shows/videos/discovery-atlas-hawaii-wind-effect.htm

Oahu

Windward side of the Big Island

Leeward Kohala Coast of the Big Island

Windward & Leeward

Windward describes how much rain an area gets and leeward describes how tropical or dry an area is.

The trade winds blow from the northeast of the Hawaiian islands to the southwest. The trade winds bring moister air. As the trade winds hit a volcanic mountain, the air cools and creates clouds. Then the clouds produce rain on the windward side. The leeward side is the drier side or the side where the trade winds pass after they hit a mountain. The windward side is the wetter side.

Once the water droplets have been released, the dry air now travels of the other side of the mountain, taking water vapors from the environment and causing it to be dry.