Storms, Tools and Open Questions: teacher key

Hurricanes and Tornadoes, grade 11 edition, written for 11th grade. Radar, aircraft and satellites study hurricanes and tornadoes, and some questions about them are open. Follow the tools, the evidence and the questions.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. A forecaster trusts only one computer model of a hurricane. What problem could that cause?
   • No one model is right every time (answer)
   • The eye closes
   • The storm gets a new name
2. Why do National Hurricane Center forecasters study many computer models?
   • No one model is right every time (answer)
   • Models are cheap
   • Models name storms
3. What did the Tornado Vortex Signature discovery lead NOAA to do?
   • Rename hurricanes
   • Build a nationwide network of Doppler radars (answer)
   • Start the Fujita scale
4. Why are Enhanced Fujita wind speeds estimates and not measurements?
   • They come from satellites
   • They come from damage (answer)
   • They come from names
5. A tornado crosses an empty field and leaves no damage. Why would the Enhanced Fujita scale struggle to rate it?
   • The scale rates by the damage a tornado causes (answer)
   • The scale only rates hurricanes
   • Radar cannot see fields

Words

• mesocyclone: rotating updraft
• intensification: getting stronger
• dropsondes: dropped probes
• radar: storm-seeing tool
• satellite: orbiting camera
• rotation: spinning