ES – NC Landforms, Weather, and Climate

1. ES – NC Landforms, Weather, and Climate

2. NC Landforms

3. Major Geographic Regions • Coastal Plain • Two main subregions: • Outer Coastal Plain • Inner Coastal Plain (includes Sandhills) • Piedmont • Mountains

4. Geographic View

5. Features of the Coastal Plain Barrier Islands Coastal Plain Terraces Pocosins Carolina Bays Coastal Plains

6. Barrier Islands

7. Coastal Dune

8. Outer Banks (Barrier Islands)

9. Cape Hatteras

10. Ocracoke Island

11. Coastal Plain Terraces

12. Oceanic Invasion of the South

13. Floodplain

14. The Formation of a Pocosin

15. A Typical Pocosin Profile

16. NC Pocosins

17. Pocosin

18. Pocosin Lake

19. Carolina Bays

20. Drained by a number of rivers, including the Dan, Tar, Neuse, Cape Fear, Yadkin, and Catawba Piedmont

21. Piedmont

22. Main chains of mountain ranges running from northeast to southwest Other chains run between the main chains, creating coves, basins, and valleys. Mountains

23. Appalachian Mountains

24. Stream in the Blue Ridge Mountains

25. Great Smoky Mountains

26. Pilot Mountain

27. Thunder Hill in the Blue Ridge Mountains

28. Grandfather Mountain

29. Linville Falls

30. Linville Gorge

31. Linville Caverns

32. Mountain Lake

33. Waterfall

34. NC Rivers and Lakes

35. Lake Lure

36. Geographic Considerations Air Masses Elevation Bodies of Water Climatic Concerns Temperature Precipitation Sunshine Frost Climatic Considerations

37. Air Masses Affecting North Carolina

38. Orographic Precipitation Convectional Precipitation Cyclonic Precipitation Types of Precipitation

39. Occurs in the mountains and western piedmont Tropical air mass reaches the mountains and cools adiabatically as it rises along the mountains. When it reaches the dew point (100% humidity), it results in rain or snow. Orographic Precipitation

40. Adiabatic: describing a process in which there is no transfer of heat into or out of the system in question. Saturation-adiabatic process: an adiabatic process in which the air is maintained at saturation by the evaporation or condensation of water substance, the latent heat being supplied by or to the air respectively; the ascent of cloudy air, for example, is often assumed to be such a process. Adiabatic

41. Primarily a warm weather phenomena—isolated summer thunderstorms. Most summer rain comes from convectional precipitation. The heat of day on the air and land heats an already warm maritime tropical air mass. As the heated and moist air rises, it cools and its water vapor turns into rain. Convectional Precipitation

42. Conventional low pressure storms. Generally move west to east across the United States. Generally fall, winter and spring in North Carolina. Warm fronts tend to provide light, prolonged precipitation. Cold fronts tend to provide brief, heavy showers. Cyclonic Precipitation

43. Tornados Hurricanes Exceptional Weather

44. Tornado Locations

45. Average Temperatures Frost-Free Seasons Average Annual Rainfall While North Carolina is located in a warm temperate zone, its diverse regions can experience a great variety of weather conditions. While locations in the mountains may see average temperatures of 30 degrees Fahrenheit in January and 65 degrees Fahrenheit in August, locations in the coastal plains can often experience January averages in the mid 40's and August averages in the 90's. The state averages 44 inches of rainfall each year, and 5 inches of snow. Climatic Measures

46. NC Climate Summary Hickory Climate Summary

47. Annual Rainfall in NC

48. Annual Seasonal Snowfall in NC

50. Normal Mean Temperature for January in NC