Fall has arrived in southern Colorado, and that means stronger low pressure systems are beginning to impact the region.
We often talk about low pressure systems bringing rain, but how exactly do they produce rainfall? Here's an experiment you can do at home with your family that demonstrates this weather phenomenon in action!
The Experiment
For this demonstration, you'll need a pan, a stove, an empty 12-ounce soda can, some tongs, a tray, ice and some water.
First, grab a pan and put it on the stove, letting it heat up for a minute or two on medium heat. Then fill up an empty soda can with 2-3 ounces of water and put it on the stove.
After a few minutes, steam begins to appear. After another couple of minutes, the water starts boiling.
Using tongs, grab the can and flip it over onto a pan with ice water. The can immediately compresses.
When you lift up the can, water should come pouring out - much more than you were boiling before.
The Science Behind It
Here's what happened: First, when I boiled the water it turned into steam. This steam expands and pushes some of the air out of the can.
When I flipped the can, the steam cooled and condensed back into liquid water. This lowered the pressure in the can, but the air outside of the can remained at high pressure.
The air outside crushed the can. The vacuum effect also pulled water up from the pan and into the can.
How This Relates to Weather
On a much bigger scale, low pressure in the atmosphere does the same thing. Low pressure centers act just like the can - there's a lack of air in the low, hence the name, and the air outside the low comes in and then gets forced upward.
When we force air to rise, and that air has water in it like it did in our example, that water tends to condense into clouds and produce rain or snow.
As we head into fall, low pressure systems get more intense. This lets us pull up more air, which leads to bigger storms.
As for why low pressure systems get stronger in winter - that's an experiment for another day.
If you want to see a topic covered on the Climate Classroom, you can email me at casey.dorn@koaa.com.
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