UBC  ATSC 201 - Meteorology of Storms

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Week 7 13 - 19 Oct 2025
Monday (D1) HOLIDAY
Morning
Midday
 Finish Homework from previous week.
Be sure your name, student number, and HW# are at top of every page.
Deadline: Submit your electronic HW by the start of class today (unless today is a holiday).
2 PM Class: No class today. Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday.
  1. Turn in HW by today (unless Monday is a holiday).
  2. Discussion & interaction on topics from last week (bring your clicker).
  3. Keynote slides of lightning.
  4. Keynote slides & discussion of hail.
  5. Videos of lightning :  YouTube Day1-01 thru Day1-22, and
  6. Videos of hail:  Day4-25 thru Day4-35.
 Topic: Hail; and Lightning & Thunder - Part 2 (was covered last week, because today is a holiday)
.
Learning Goals
At the end of this section, you should be able to:
  1. Summarize key aspects of the distribution of lightning around the world.
  2. Relate lightning hazards to lightning characteristics.
  3. Recommend actions you can take to make yourself safe near a thunderstorm.

Evening Readings:
  • S:Ch4. Sections 4.0 - 4.2.
Warm-up Questions:
Do quiz W07 D2 online on Canvas.
 Topic: Moisture: Saturation & Variables
    Textbook sections 4.0 - 4.2.
Learning Goals
At the end of this section, you should be able to:
  1. List the names, define, and explain how to use each moisture variable.
  2. Calculate the humidity and saturation values for any moisture variable.
  3. Distinguish between moisture content and saturation.
  4. Explain why cooling can cause water vapour to condense.
Tuesday (D2)
Morning
Midday
Evening
10 PM Deadline to finish warm-up Qs.
Wed. (D3) .
Morning
Midday
2 PM Class:
  1. If Monday was a holiday, then turn in HW today.
  2. Discussion & interaction on topics from readings (bring your clicker).

Evening Readings:
  • S:Ch4. Sections 4.3 - 4.5.
  • S:Ch14. Section 14.3.
Warm-up Questions:
Do quiz W07 D4 online on Canvas.
 Topic: Moisture Budgets: Lagrangian & Eulerian
    Textbook sections 4.3 - 4.5 and 14.3.
Learning Goals
At the end of this section, you should be able to:
  1. Describe the concept of an air parcel, and explain what is conserved when it rises.
  2. Use dry and moist adiabats, and isohumes, on a thermo diagram to forecast the change of thermodynamics state of moving air parcels.
  3. Contrast different potential temperatures, and be able to calculate them.
  4. Explain the physical meaning of each term in the Eulerian moisture budget.
  5. Read weather maps of humidity to infer likely locations for thunderstorm development.
Thurs. (D4)
Morning
Midday
Evening
10 PM Deadline to finish warm-up Qs.
Friday (D5) .
Morning
Midday
2 PM Class:
  1. Discussion & interaction on topics from readings (bring your clicker).

Evening
End-of-Week Numerical Homework Exercises.  
(Due by start of Monday's class.)

Homework 7:
S.Ch4 (use spreadsheet for all, except where indicated):  A1g , A4g , A13g ,
A17g (show work on paper copy of Fig. 4.7 that you photograph with your scanner app; e.g.  CamScanner, but also write the final answer on the spreadsheet),
A25g , E17 (NOT A17.  isohumes only.  Not the dry adiabats.)

Pre-readings for next class: Ch5 sections 5.0 - 5.4.

 Learning Goals
At the end of this section, you should be able to:
  1. Apply topics covered earlier this week to compute number answers & infer their significance.  
Saturday(D6)
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Sunday (D7)
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Notes: The textbook for this course is Stull, 2017: "Practical Meteorology: An Algebra-based Survey of Atmospheric Science", available for free online, at  https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/books/Practical_Meteorology/ .

The reading and homework assignments use the following abbreviations to indicates various parts of this textbook:

Legend:
Ch = chapter.
A = "Apply" exercises.
p = page number.
S = Stull, 2018:  "Practical Meteorology" book (online).
s = "Synthesize" exercises.
E = "Evaluate & Analyze" exercises.