Question

Weather forecasters are monitoring a wintertime mid-latitude cyclone, currently centered over land in the southeast US. The storm center is predicted to move offshore over the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic Ocean, then follow the Gulf Stream, paralleling the coastline, as it passes Virginia Beach, Virginia (located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the US).  
Based on the conceptual model of mid-latitude cyclone development covered in chapter 12, explain why weather forecasters expect the storm to greatly intensify as it moves into the Atlantic, with heavy snow and blizzard conditions expected for Virginia Beach as the storm passes.

Answer 1

The storm is expected to intensify as it moves in to the Atlantic because the high temperature of the Atlantic ocean water provides favourable conditions for the storm to intensity and turn in to a hurricane as warm water on evaporation gives rise to more moisture and with right kind of wind condition stronger hurricanes form.In winters the freezing temperatures in the virginia beach combined with the low pressure system gives rise to heavy snow and blizzard like conditions as the storm passes.