RainShadowLesson: Name_______________________________________
WhyisLasVegasaDesert? Period________
IntroductionIngeneral,weatherpatternsmovefromwesttoeastacrosstheUnitedStates.IntheSouthwesternUnitedStates,weatherpatternsmoveacrossthePacificOceanoverSouthernCaliforniaandNevada,
whichareapartoftheMojaveDesert.TheMojaveDesertislocatedmostlyinCalifornia,thesouthernportionofNevadaandthewesternedgeofArizona.Inthefollowinglesson,youwilldiscoverhowtopographycausesarainshadoweffectresultingintheMojaveDesert.
MapsofArea
WeatherPatternMovementinSouthwestUS
(MapcourtesyofLandsatandGoogleMaps)
Figure1-1Weatherpatterns(representedbyblackarrow)movefromthePacificOceanoverSouthernCaliforniaandSouthernNevada.TheyellowrectanglerepresentstheareashowninFigure1-2.
SpringMountainsandLasVegasRegion
(MapcourtesyofLandsatandGoogleMaps)
Figure1-2MapofSpringMountainsandLasVegasregion.TheSpringMountainsRangeiswest-northwestoftheLasVegasregion.
Usingthedatabelow,generateadouble-linegraphthatshowsthemonthlyprecipitationatthetwodifferentlocations. PrecipitationData
MountCharlestonMonthlyPrecipitation(in.)
LasVegasRegionMonthlyPrecipitation(in.)
January 14.45 January 0.54February 5.88 February 0.76March 3.33 March 0.44April 0.65 April 0.15May 0.80 May 0.12June 0.00 June 0.07July 3.59 July 0.40August 8.31 August 0.33September 1.05 September 0.25October 2.78 October 0.27November 0.04 November 0.36December 0.24 December 0.50
(Datacourtesyofwrh.noaa.gov–2005PrecipitationRecord)
SpringMountainsRange
LasVegasRegion
Mt.Charleston
PrecipitationModel
DataAnalysis1. WhatisthetotalyearlyamountofprecipitationforMt.Charleston?____________________2. WhatisthetotalyearlyamountofprecipitationforLasVegasValley?___________________3. Duringwhichmonthistherethegreatestdifferenceinprecipitationforthetwolocations?
_______________________________________________________________________4. Duringwhichmonthistheretheleastdifferenceinprecipitationforthetwolocations?
_______________________________________________________________________5. Whatisthegreatestdifferenceinprecipitationforthetwolocations?______________6. Whatistheaveragemonthlyprecipitationforeachlocation?RecordAnswerBelow.
MountCharlestonAverageMonthlyPrecipitation(in.)
LasVegasValleyAverageMonthlyPrecipitation(in.)
00.51
1.52
2.53
3.54
4.55
5.56
6.57
7.58
8.59
9.510
10.511
11.512
12.513
13.514
14.515
PrecipitaD
on(in.)
MonthlyPrecipitaDonTotals
MtCharleston
LasVegasValley
RainShadowDiagramInthediagrambelow,labelthefollowing:
• PacificOcean• SpringMountains/Mt.Charleston• MojaveDesert/LasVegasValley• Moistair• Dryair• TotalPrecipitation(fromdataanalysis)forMt.Charleston• TotalPrecipitation(fromdataanalysis)forLasVegasRegion
directionofwindWindwardSideLeewardSideWestEast
SummarizeUsingthediagramaboveandyourknowledgeofthewatercycle,describethehowtheSpringMountainscausesarainshadoweffectontheLasVegasregion.
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AdditionalRainShadows
Usingthemapbelowandyourknowledgeofweatherpatterns,labelthemapwithastarwhereadditionallocationsintheUnitedStatesmightexperiencearainshadoweffect?
Justifytheadditionalrainshadowlocationsyouhaveaddedtothemapabove.
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Extension:LakeEffectSnow
Inadditiontorainshadows,somelocationsneartheGreatLakesandotherlargebodiesofwater,suchasLakeTahoe,experiencelakeeffectsnow.Whenwindsmoveoverabodyofwater,waterwillevaporate,developlargestormcloudsandgeneratesignificantsnowfallandsometimeblizzards.
LakeEffectSnow
(Photocourtesyof:http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/review/lake-snow/lake-effect-diagram.png)
Usingthediagramaboveandmapbelow,listthreestatesorregionsthatmightexperiencelarge
snowfallsandpotentialblizzardsbasedontheirlocation.(Note:windsgenerallymovefromwesttoeast).
GreatLakesRegion
(Mapcourtesyofhttp://glakesonline.nos.noaa.gov/images/great_lakes.gif)
Threestatesorregionsthatmightexperiencelakeeffectsnow:_____________________________________________________________________________________
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EastWest
