ABSTRACT

This chapter explores processes ever closer to home. Although selected case studies are used, the threads of moisture and heat energy will be strong in them all. The weather on a nearby hillside or in the street outside is a blend of atmospheric processes brought together from distant parts of the world and locally modified. So, the study of local processes is more meaningful within the broader framework of the global circulation and synoptic situations already discussed. The core of subsiding air slowly warms adiabatically, reversing the processes outlined at the end of the last chapter. Thus, although low clouds exist in coastal districts, the day is clear and sunny inland especially in the southern half of the country. By and large, the altitude and amplitude of hills and mountains determine the variations of lower-air processes. The former simply refers to the summit heights and the latter is a measure of the difference between the ridges and adjacent valley floors.