ES – NC Landforms, Weather, and Climate

NC Landforms

Major Geographic Regions

• Coastal Plain– Two main subregions:

∙ Outer Coastal Plain∙ Inner Coastal Plain (includes Sandhills)

• Piedmont• Mountains

Geographic View

Coastal Plains

• Features of the Coastal Plain– Barrier Islands – Coastal Plain Terraces– Pocosins– Carolina Bays

Barrier Islands

Coastal Dune

Outer Banks (Barrier Islands)

Cape Hatteras

Ocracoke Island

Coastal Plain Terraces

Oceanic Invasion of the South

Floodplain

The Formation of a Pocosin

A Typical Pocosin Profile

NC Pocosins

Pocosin

Pocosin Lake

Carolina Bays

Piedmont

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

Piedmont

Mountains

• Main chains of mountain ranges running from northeast to southwest

• Other chains run between the main chains, creating coves, basins, and valleys.

Appalachian Mountains

Stream in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Great Smoky Mountains

Pilot Mountain

Thunder Hill in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Grandfather Mountain

Linville Falls

Linville Gorge

Linville Caverns

Mountain Lake

Waterfall

NC Rivers and Lakes

Lake Lure

Climatic Considerations

• Geographic Considerations– Air Masses– Elevation– Bodies of Water

• Climatic Concerns– Temperature– Precipitation– Sunshine– Frost

Air Masses Affecting

North Carolina

Types of Precipitation

• Orographic Precipitation• Convectional Precipitation• Cyclonic Precipitation

Orographic Precipitation

• 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.

Adiabatic

• 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.

Convectional Precipitation• 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.

Cyclonic Precipitation

• 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.

Exceptional Weather

• Tornados• Hurricanes

Tornado Locations

Climatic Measures

• 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.

NC Climate Summary

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Average Max. Temperature (F) 50.8 53.1 60.5 70.5 78.4 85.0 87.1 86.0 81.3 72.4 61.0 51.6 69.8

Average Min. Temperature (F) 29.7 30.5 36.7 45.5 54.5 62.5 65.9 65.0 59.1 47.5 36.9 30.1 47.0

Average Total Precipitation (in.) 3.97 4.14 4.70 3.77 3.91 4.41 4.76 5.35 3.75 3.61 3.00 4.18 49.54

Average Total SnowFall (in.) 3.0 1.9 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 1.7 8.5

Average Snow Depth (in.) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Average Max. Temperature (F) 51.1 55.5 61.9 70.0 76.1 81.5 84.6 84.5 79.8 72.7 60.4 52.9 69.4

Average Min. Temperature (F) 29.4 30.2 36.5 43.1 52.8 61.1 65.3 65.5 59.2 48.4 36.1 31.6 46.7

Average Total Precipitation (in.) 4.60 4.21 5.69 3.60 6.46 5.53 3.88 3.73 4.14 3.46 3.76 4.78 53.84

Hickory Climate Summary

Annual Rainfall in NC

Annual Seasonal Snowfall in NC

Normal Mean Temperature for January in NC

Average Seasonal Hours of Sunlight in NC

The number of hours during which the sun is visible (black line), with various degrees of daylight, twilight, and night, indicated by the color bands. From bottom (most yellow) to top (most gray): full daylight, solar twilight (sun is visible but less than 6° from the horizon), civil twilight (sun is not visible but is less than 6° below the horizon), nautical twilight (sun is between 6° and 12° below the horizon), astronomical twilight (sun is between 12° and 18° below the horizon), and full night.

Daily Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight and Daylight Savings Time

The sunrise and sunset times over the course of the year 2012 (black lines), with twilights (solar, civil, nautical, and astronomical) indicated by the color bands from yellow to gray. The transitions to and from daylight savings time are indicated by the "DST" labels.

Median Cloud Cover in NC

The median daily cloud cover (black line) with percentile bands (inner band from

40th to 60th percentile, outer band from 25th to 75th percentile).

Average Relative Humidity in NC

The average daily high (blue) and low (brown) relative humidity with percentile bands (inner bands from 25th to 75th percentile, outer bands from 10th to 90th percentile).

Average Dew Point in NC

The daily average low (blue) and high (red) dew point with percentile bands (inner

band from 25th to 75th percentile, outer band from 10th to 90th percentile).

Average Wind Speed in NC

The average daily minimum (red), maximum (green), and average (black) wind speed with percentile bands (inner band from 25th to 75th percentile, outer band

from 10th to 90th percentile).

Human Effects on Geography

• In the 1800s (and earlier) eastern North Carolina's economy affected the landscape:– Naval Stores—use of region’s longleaf pine for timber

and tar:• Some barrier island forests harvested to the point

of deforestation.• Parts of the coastal plains destroyed by insect

infestations, burnings, windstorms, etc., once trees were cut with V’s to drain sap for tar.

– Draining of swamps:• Drained for farming and rice growing.• Draining lowered water levels in rivers and allowed

for major forest fires.

Affects of Climate on History

• In 1998, scientists discovered by measuring tree rings in bald cypresses that in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, two major droughts occurred:– 1587-89—the worst

drought in the last 800 years.

– 1606-12—the driest seven-year period in the last 800 years.

1606-12

1587-89