Create A Cloze

Go to this New York Times page and find the “Weather” box at the upper right hand corner.

Copy and paste three or four paragraphs — enough to be able to create at least ten “blanks” — and create a cloze in a Word document. Leave the answer words at the bottom, but not in the correct order. Follow these rules:

* Do not leave blanks in the first or last sentence.

* Make sure that there are “clue” words for the blanks — the aim is to teach, not trick.

Paste the cloze in the comments section. Print out two copies — one for a classmate to complete and the other to turn into Mr. Ferlazzo or Ms. Hull. Circle the clue words on the one you turn-in.

27 thoughts on “Create A Cloze

  1. ALEKI TAPA
    A drought that settled over more than half of the continental United States in the summer of 2012 is the most widespread in more than half a _______. And it is likely to grow worse.
    In July, the National Weather Service forecast increasingly dry conditions over much of the nation’s breadbasket. The drought comes along with heat. So far, 2012 is the hottest year ever recorded in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose records date to _______. And July ________ was the hottest month ever recorded, the agency said.
    The drought has sapped the ________. of corn, soybeans and other crops, afflicting poultry and livestock in _______. The most recent federal assessment in August is that parts of at least 33 states, mostly in the West and the Midwest, are experiencing drought conditions that are severe or __________. It is affecting 87 percent of the land dedicated to growing corn, 63 percent of the land for hay and 72 percent of the land used for _________.
    The impact of the drought has extended beyond farming. In Missouri, the torrid conditions have sparked forest fires that resemble the types of wildfires seen in the West. Already, more than 116 wildfires have burned in Missouri’s Mark Twain National _______, a record-setting pace. Conditions have been so dry that there was a report of hay in a barn combusting on its own.
    Meanwhile, water levels are falling in town reservoirs as well as major waterways like the Mississippi and Ohio _______. Barge and towboat operators have been reducing the size of their loads because of the low ______. This means shipping operators, who transport a variety of goods from crops to gravel, have had to take more trips, increasing transportation costs that could be passed on to consumers.

    Rivers Cattle 1895 2012 Forest
    Water Century Turn Production Worse

  2. A season of warmer ocean waters that has been expected to produce a Niño episode and perhaps bring relief from the continuing drought may turn out to be a bit weaker than advertised, according to climate experts.
    The periodic emergence of warmer waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific can be one of the most telling ____that a climatologist______ make. A powerful Niño can drive global patterns of drought, _____ , snow and flood, with big consequences for farmers and fishermen, relief organizations and reservoir operators, _____children and ski bums.

    But after seeing signals for months that a moderate Niño might be arriving right _____now, the more likely case appears to _____an episode that is weak indeed: probably short, and hardly nasty or brutish.

    Scientists who predict the weather months in advance pay close attention to back-and-forth swings in what they call El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, which includes the mirror-image oceanic cooling called La Niña that probably made the past year’s drought worse. And recently they have been peering at their computer models from the edge of their______, eager to detect the _______change.

    latest ,School , calls ,seats, called ,can, about, storms, be, farmers,
    Chadjasonxiong

  3. At least a third of this overpopulated capital and its suburbs were submerged on Tuesday as torrential rains battered the city and floodwaters poured in from almost all sides.
    A silted lake in the south sent water coursing into an overflowing river that slices through Manila; water _____ from the open _______of a dam to the north, and high tide brought flooding from the bay to the west.
    The combination kept rescue workers in rubber boats struggling to pluck panicked people from _____ waters that sometimes swirled around their necks and turned major roads into virtual _____.
    More than 50 people have already ____in more than a week of intense storms, monsoon rains and flooding, and at least 250,000 have been evacuated in just the past several days, officials said.
    Photographs of some of the hardest-hit_____ showed people clutching ropes and whatever else they could to keep from being ______away in fast currents; one man clung to the top of a metal pole that once supported a basketball hoop.
    Another photo showed dozens of _____under a sea of umbrellas waiting in waist-deep water for trapped relatives to be rescued from their homes.
    “It’s like Waterworld,” said Benito Ramos, who heads the government’s disaster relief agency, referring to the Hollywood movie with Kevin Costner depicting a ______earth.
    Television networks and _____ stations reported receiving frantic calls from people unable to flee their homes, according to The Associated Press. One of them, Josephine Cruz, told DZMM radio that she was trapped in her two-story house with 11 other people, including her 83-year-old mother.

    Radio poured people rivers died submerged areas rushing swept floodgates Alejandra Ruiz

  4. A second tornado ________ down in Canarsie, Brooklyn, the National Weather Service said.
    The swirling columns of wind and _______in Queens, captured by dozens of people on cellphones and almost instantly posted on the Internet, lasted only minutes, according to witnesses. But in that short time the _________tore down walls, lifted roofs off homes and tangled __________ lines as it cut a path through the Rockaways, near Breezy Point.
    Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, who arrived in ___________Point on Saturday afternoon to assess the damage, said there had been no _________of injuries.
    Helen Vesik, 58, was in her ________at the Breezy Point Surf Club when she saw a white waterspout form over the ocean around 11 a.m. — speeding in her__________.
    “I was afraid, and I________ I had to go,” she said.
    Ms. Vesik ran to the main clubhouse just as the tornado hit the club’s pool, sending streams of water into the air.

    Cabana Breezy reports
    speeding point touched
    clubhouse Power knew
    Tornadoes

    By Jonakia Jenkins

  5. The latest outlook released by the National Weather Service on Thursday forecasts increasingly dry conditions over much of the nation’s breadbasket, a development that could lead to higher food prices and shipping costs ____ as well as reduced revenues in areas that count on summer tourism. About the only relief in sight was tropical activity in the Gulf of Mexico and the Southeast that could _____ rain to parts of the _____.
    The unsettling prospects come at a _____ of growing uncertainty for the country’s economy. With evidence mounting of a slowdown in the economic recovery, this new blow from the weather is particularly ill-timed.
    Already some farmers are watching their cash crops burn to the point of no return. Others _____ been cutting their corn early to use for feed, a much less profitable venture.

    Have costs bring
    South time

  6. After months of battling sweltering heat and drought, a bit of good news emerged for farmers on Thursday: The Agriculture Department revised its estimates for soybean production higher, a sign that the drought had less of an impact on the crop than feared.

    The news was not all good, however. The department, for the fourth consecutive month, lowered its estimates for corn, the country’s largest cash crop. The lower _____ for corn supplies means customers will most likely see an increase in______ and _____ prices at the grocery store next year as the cost of animal feed — made primarily from corn and soybeans — remains height.

    The Agriculture _______ crop estimates are published monthly, but analysts say the October report is significant because it is during the harvest across the _______ and probably provides the most comprehensive view yet of the impact of the drought on the size of the corn, soybean and other crops.

    “I don’t think you are going to see any more significant changes in production figures,” said Jerry Norton, an analyst at the _____ Department. “The figures out today capture most of the impact of the drought, so it’s hard to see estimates getting much lower from here on.”

    Grain prices rose after the release of the new estimates. Corn rose 22 1/4 cents higher, to $7.59 a bushel, while soybeans jumped 23 3/4 cents higher, to $15.47 a bushel.

    Despite the increase on Thursday, both crops remain below their record highs, which were set this year. In August, corn rose to $8.49 a bushel. Soybeans reached $17.89 per bushel last month.

    Early this year, the corn ____ had been projected to hit a record high of 15 billion bushels, as_____ had planted the most acreage in almost 70 years. But for the last four months, Agriculture Department had revised its ________ downward as drought and heat ______ crops in the Midwest.

    Department damaged Midwest projections meats
    Agriculture estimates farmers crop diary

  7. The takings clause of the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment ensures that private property cannot be taken for public use without fair compensation. A classic ________ is the government’s exercise of eminent domain power to build a highway; if the road _____ through private land, the government owes the owners payment equal to fair market value. That principle applies when the government builds a dam, and water and silt overflow land, permanently destroying or limiting its value. But for 88 years, the position of the Supreme Court has been that “temporary invasion” of land by ___________ is not a taking because water recedes.
    This week the court reconsidered that rule in a case involving a 36-square-_______ tract of land maintained by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for wildlife, timber and hunting. The tract is 115 miles down the __________ from Missouri’s Clearwater Dam. The Army Corps of Engineers caused temporary flooding on that land for six ______in the 1990s with quick releases of water from the dam in summer. It increased the height of flooding to shorten the flooding period and give farmers upstream more time to harvest crops. As a result, thousands of ________ of trees were destroyed or weakened.
    The Arkansas commission contends that the corps knew the releases would cause flooding and damage which amounted to a taking. It won a ________ judgment of $5.8 million from the United States government in a special federal court, for lost timber and the cost of restoring the habitat.
    The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed that decision, ruling 2 to 1 that the flooding was not a taking. That is the right result.
    The Clearwater Dam was completed in 1948 to provide flood protection below the dam, including for the Arkansas land that routinely flooded before the dam’s construction. It is one of almost 700 ______ the Army Corps of Engineers operates, with a range of purposes that include supplying water and providing recreation and hydropower in addition to controlling floods.
    Between 2000 and 2009, the agency’s flood-control projects saved an estimated $22.3 billion a year from flood damage. If it and other agencies that manage natural ______for the government had to worry about liability for takings for every management decision, they would lose the flexibility they need. The Supreme Court’s longtime rule about temporary flooding gives the government agencies that flexibility. It does not take away the Arkansas commission’s right to sue the government for a form of trespass or on other grounds.

    Resources Years Cuts Flooding Damage Black River Mile Example Acres Dams

  8. An enormous response operation was under way across the South, with emergency officials working alongside churches, sororities and other _________groups. In Alabama, more than 2,000 National Guard troops have been deployed.
    Across nine states, more than 1,680 people spent Wednesday in Red Cross shelters, said Attie Poirier, a spokeswoman with the_________. The last time the Red Cross had set up such an _______system of shelters was after Hurricane Katrina, a _________made by even some of those who had known the experience firsthand.
    “It reminds me of home so much,” said Eric Hamilton, 40, a former Louisianan, who was sitting on the _______outside the Belk Activity Center, which was being used as a Red Cross shelter in south Tuscaloosa.
    Mr. Hamilton lived in a _____area of Tuscaloosa called Alberta City, which __________now describe merely as “gone.” He wiped _____off his cheeks.
    “I’ve never seen so many bodies,” Mr. Hamilton said. “Babies, women. So many bodies.”
    Officials at the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center said they had _______137 tornado reports on Wednesday, with 104 of them coming from Alabama and Mississippi. Over all, there have been 297 confirmed _________this month, breaking a 36-year-old record.

    poor elaborate
    comparison tears
    volunteer received
    sidewalk organization
    tornadoes residents

  9. A season of warmer ocean waters that has been expected to produce a Niño episode and perhaps bring relief from the continuing drought may turn out to be a bit weaker than advertised, according to climate experts.
    The periodic emergence of ____ waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific _____be one of the most telling calls that a climatologist can make. A _____ Niño can drive global patterns of drought, storm, snow ______flood, with big consequences for farmers and fishermen, relief organizations and reservoir operators, schoolchildren and ski bums.
    But after seeing signals for months that a moderate Niño might be _____ right about now, the more likely case appears to be an episode that is weak indeed: probably short, and ______ nasty or brutish.
    _______, who predict the weather months in advance pay close attention to back-and-forth swings in what they call El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, which includes the mirror-image oceanic cooling, LA Niña that arriving made the past year’s drought worse. And recently they have been peering at their _______models from the edge of their seats, _______ to detect the latest change.

    Warmer powerful and hardly arriving been Scientists computer eager can

  10. A federal appeals court reversed itself, ruling Monday that the Army Corps of Engineers is not liable for devastation caused in Hurricane Katrina from a _______-built navigation canal.
    The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the government is immune from lawsuits for decisions made by the _____ that might have left the 76-mile channel, the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet or MR-GO, vulnerable.
    “MR-GO’s size and configuration greatly aggravated the storm’s effects on the city and its environs,” wrote Judge Jerry E. Smith, writing for a three-judge panel, adding that the federal tort claims act “completely insulates the government from liability.”
    In March, the same panel had ruled that the government was liable for some of the flooding, affirming a landmark ruling by Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. of federal District Court in 2009.
    While the government is generally immune from flooding claims resulting from failures of flood control projects, Judge Duval ruled that damage related to the MR-GO canal was different because its purpose was navigation, not flood_____ , even though it was lined with levees. The government appealed the decision, asking the full circuit to rehear the case. Instead, the three-judge panel on Monday withdrew the earlier decision and substituted a new one that cited the “discretionary-_____ exception” to the tort claims act.
    Joseph Bruno, a lawyer in New Orleans who represents plaintiffs, called the ____ “devastating. I’m just amazed that the same three-___ __ panel that affirmed did an abrupt about-face and gave the corps a pass.”
    “We will _____ to press the case,” Mr. Bruno said. It is unclear whether that will mean asking the full circuit court to ____ the case or making an appeal to the Supreme ____.
    “Katrina ____ have been thrown a lot of curveballs,” said Pierce O’Donnell, a lawyer for plaintiffs in the case.

    corps Court function judge government
    victims reconsider continue decision protection

  11. A new race for water is rippling through the drought-scorched heartland, pitting farmers against oil and gas interests, driven by new drilling techniques that use powerful streams of water, sand and chemicals to _____ the ground and release stores of oil and gas.
    A single such well can require five million gallons of ____, and energy companies are flocking to water auctions, farm ponds, irrigation ditches and municipal fire hydrants to get what they need.
    That thirst is helping to drive an explosion of oil production here, but it is also complicating the long and emotional ____ over who drinks and who does not in the arid and fast-growing West. Farmers and environmental activists say they are worried that deep-pocketed energy companies will have purchase on increasingly scarce water supplies as they ____ deep new wells that use the technique of hydraulic fracturing.
    And this summer’s record-breaking drought, which dried up wells and ruined crops, has only amplified those concerns.
    “It’s not a level playing field,” said Peter V. Anderson, who grows corn and alfalfa on the parched plains of eastern Colorado. “I don’t think in reality that the farmer can compete with the oil and gas companies for that water. Their return is a hell of a lot better than ours.” But industry officials say that critics are exaggerating the effect on water supplies. Energy producers do not — and cannot — simply snap up the rights to streams and wells at the expense of farmers or homeowners. To fill their storage tanks, they lease surplus water from cities or buy treated wastewater that would otherwise be dumped back into rivers. In some cases, they buy water rights directly from farmers or other users — a process that in Colorado requires court approval. “This is an important use of our water — to produce energy, which is the foundation of all we do,” said Tisha Schuller, _____ of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. “Think about the big users of water — agriculture, industrial development. All these things require energy.” In _____ years, farmers and ranchers like Mr. Anderson say they pay about $30 for an acre foot of water — equal to about 326,000 _____ — a price that can _____ to $100 when water is scarce. Right now, oil and gas companies in parts of _____ are paying as much as $1,000 to $2,000 for an equal _____ of treated water from city pipes.

    [Crack] [Water] [Struggle] [Drill] [President] [Average] [Gallons] [Rise] [Colorado] [Amount]

  12. The impact of the drought has _________ beyond farming. In Missouri, the torrid conditions have ______ forest fires that resemble the types of wildfires seen in the West. Already, more than 116 wildfires have ________ in Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest, a record-setting pace. Conditions have been so dry that there was a _______ of hay in a barn combusting on its ____ Meanwhile, water levels are ______ in town reservoirs as well as ______ waterways like the ____________ and Ohio Rivers. Barge and towboat operators have been ________the size of their loads because of the low ______.

    Extended sparked burned report own falling major Mississippi reducing water

  13. The remnants of Hurricane Isaac that blew through the middle of the country over the weekend _______ the worst drought in decades in some areas, but a large portion of the nation remains desiccated with ponds still too shallow to water cattle, fields too dusty for feeding and crops beyond the point of salvage, meteorologists and agriculture experts said Wednesday.

    Conditions have, in fact, _______in some rain-starved regions untouched by the hurricane’s gray clouds, meteorologists said.

    When the ______ drought forecasts are released Thursday morning, they will most likely show that the worst of the drought has shifted slightly west, to the Central Plains, stretching from the bottom of South Dakota to North Texas.

    “Isaac’s rains were like Chapter 1 in the drought relief book,” said David Miskus, a ________with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s climate prediction center. “We still need a lot more rain to go here to really eliminate this drought.”

    Thick, swirling, gray bands from Hurricane Isaac drenched broad areas of crop country, from Arkansas through Missouri to Illinois, with two to eight inches of rain. The rain_____ much needed moisture to rock-hard soil, a welcome development for farmers planting wheat in the coming weeks. Some pastures have started to green in the region and the pods on some soybean plants have spruced up.

    Softened
    Meteorologist

  14. There are, on average, ______________tornadoes yearly in the nation, causing around __________annually in recent years. The deadliest year was, ___________when 794 people were reported _____________by tornadoes.
    In 2011, 550 people were killed by tornadoes, many of which ________densely populated areas, making it the ___________season in 75 years. The worst of those ___________leveled much of Joplin, Mo.
    In April 2011, 248 people died in _____________in a single day when more than 60 tornadoes hit. ______________blamed the weather pattern known as La Niña.
    By late February 2012, there had been more _______________than usual, according to meteorologists with the National Weather Service. In January, two people were killed in Alabama.
    Word bank
    (65 deaths) (Killed) (Struck) (Deadliest) (Meteorologist)
    (1,300) (1925) (storms) (Alabama) (tornadoes)

  15. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a tornado “is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the __________.’’ Overall, the sprawling masses of moving air that make up hurricanes produce more large-scale destruction. But the sudden havoc and localized devastation that the funnel-shape cloud of tornadoes can wreak has made them perhaps even more fearsome.
    There are, on average, 1,300 tornadoes yearly in the nation, causing around 65 deaths annually in recent_________. The deadliest year was 1925, when 794 people were __________ killed by tornadoes.
    In 2011, 550 people were killed by tornadoes, many of which struck densely populated areas, making it the deadliest season in 75 years. The worst of those storms leveled much of Joplin, Mo.
    In April 2011, 248 people died in Alabama in a single day when more than 60 ________ hit. Meteorologists blamed the __________pattern known as La Niña.
    By late February 2012, there had been more tornadoes than usual, according to ____________ with the National Weather Service. In January, two people were killed in Alabama.
    A powerful storm system tore through parts of the Midwest and South in February 2012, killing at least 12 people and leaving pockets of _____________ across several states.
    In April, more than _____ tornadoes hit a stretch of the Plains states in 24 hours. But in a stroke that some officials attributed to a more vigilant and persistent warning system, relatively few people were killed or ______.

    Tornadoes meteorologists 24 weather
    Year’s powerful devastation 100
    Killed late reported Ground

  16. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a tornado “is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the ground.’’ Overall, the __________ masses of moving air that make up hurricanes _______ more large-scale destruction. But the sudden havoc and localized devastation that the _________cloud of tornadoes can wreak has made them perhaps even more fearsome.
    There are, on average, 1,300 tornadoes yearly in the nation, causing around 65 deaths annually in recent years. The deadliest year was 1925, when 794 people were reported killed by ________.
    In 2011, 550 people were killed by tornadoes, many of which struck densely populated areas, making it the deadliest season in _______. The worst of those storms leveled much of Joplin, Mo.
    In April 2011, 248 people died in ________ in a single day when more than 60 tornadoes hit. __________ blamed the weather pattern known as La Niña. Days ahead of the deadly winds there was an ________ warning that alerted residents across at least five states to the threat of “_______________”and “catastrophic” weather. Officials said the enhanced language had been developed because of the ______ number of deaths from tornadoes across the country in recent years.

    (Alabama, Unusual, Sprawling, Funnel-shape Extremely dangerous, Meteorologists, Produce, Tornadoes, 75 years, Large)

  17. At least two candy stores have been burglarized this summer by ravenous, drought-starved bears. They are being struck by cars as they roam dark _______, far from their normal foraging grounds. Growing numbers are ________ campsites and kitchens in search of food. One even tried to storm a hotel bar in Telluride, Colo.
    In addition to destroying______, this summer’s record-breaking drought has also ______ off the wild acorns, berries and grasses that sustain animals like mule deer, elk and bears. Without that food, the great outdoors is pushing its way ______, looking for calories __________ they can be found.
    Elk and mule ______ are stealing into farmers’ corn and alfalfa fields more aggressively, and in greater numbers, than usual, _______ officials say. Bears have been ______ lumbering through alleys, raiding garbage cans and scooting into people’s homes through open windows and _______ kitchen doors.
    “My God, they’re everywhere,” said Sheriff Bill Masters of San Miguel County, in the mountains of southwest Colorado. “A lot of them just don’t seem to care anymore. They’re just wandering around.”

    Spotted
    Invading
    Killed
    Whenever
    Crops
    Deer
    Unlocked
    Wildlife
    Inside
    Highways
    Alyssa Saephanh

  18. A drought that settled over more than half of the continental United States in the summer of 2012 is the most _____ in more than half a century. And it is likely to grow worse.
    In July, the National Weather Service forecast increasingly dry conditions over much of the nation’s breadbasket. The _________comes along with heat. So far, 2012 is the hottest year ever recorded in the United STATES, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose records date to 1895. And July 2012 was the hottest month ever recorded, the agency said.
    The drought has ______ the production of corn, soybeans and other crops, afflicting poultry and livestock in turn. The _____ recent federal assessment in August is that parts of at least 33 states, mostly in the West and the Midwest, are experiencing drought conditions that are severe or worse. It is affecting 87 percent of the land dedicated to growing corn, 63 percent of the land for hay and 72 percent of the land used for cattle.
    The impact of the drought has extended beyond farming. In Missouri, the torrid conditions have sparked forest ____ that resemble the types of wildfires seen in the West. Already, more than 116 wildfires have burned in Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest, a ______-setting pace. Conditions have been so dry that there was a report of hay in a barn combusting on its own.
    Meanwhile, water levels are _____ in town reservoirs as well as major waterways like the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Barge and towboat operators have been reducing the size of their loads because of the low water. This means shipping operators, who _______ a variety of goods from crops to gravel, have had to take more trips, increasing transportation costs that could be passed on to consumers.

    widespread , drought , sapped ,record, reducing, hottest, most, transport, fires ,falling

  19. Snow and Snowstorms

    A rare December blizzard unleashed its fury on the East Coast on Dec. 26, 2010, centering its force on the New York metropolitan area where it shut down the three major airports and stopped commuter trains and some subway lines — stranding countless passengers on trains overnight. It was _________City’s sixth-largest snowfall, accompanied by winds that gusted ________65 miles an hour. Knee-to-thigh-high snows were_________, and officials said it would probably take days to dig out.
    The cleanup, though, has been slower than expected and the impact worse than had been apparent when the snow__________ falling. Streets across vast stretches of the_________ remained untouched, leaving tens of _________of residents unable to get to jobs and many facing long waits for ambulances and other emergency___________.
    By the __________of the week, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had ___________that the city’s response to the blizzard had been inadequate. Many theories, in both shouts and whispers, have been offered to explain ___________the: the Sanitation Department had undergone staffing cuts; the ferocity of the snowfall and the _________of the accompanying winds had presented extraordinary challenges to the city’s snow plows; angry sanitation workers had sabotaged the efforts; city residents had ignored common sense and wound stranding their _______in streets across the five___________.
    The mayor and his commissioners pledged to get at the truth. Once the __________have had been cleared, they said, all aspects of the response will be analyzed, and changes, if __________, will be made.

    Streets, power, boroughs, conceded, over, thousands, stopped, services, common, shortcomings, New York, Necessary, end, city, cars

  20. The remnants of Hurricane Isaac, the slow_____ storm that disrupted the Republican National Convention and flooded towns along the Gulf Coast, brought much-needed rain to the Midwest on Saturday, along with scattered reports of______.
    The ____of the storm was tracking east across Missouri and was bound for Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Although thousands of ____remained displaced or without power in hard-hit parts of Louisiana, the storm had faded significantly and was bringing ____relief than anguish, soaking dry fields and refilling low_____.
    Tornadoes were _____in parts of eastern Missouri and western Illinois, but there were ____reports of injuries or._____
    Forecasters said the slow pace of intermittent rainfall made flash flooding unlikely as the storm curled across the drought-scarred ____of the Midwest.

    people, Moving, tornadoes, more, center, damages, spotted, no, creeks, parts

    Erik Brown

  21. Cyclone
    The terms “hurricane” and “typhoon” are regionally specific names for a strong “tropical cyclone”. A tropical_______ is the generic term for a non-frontal synoptic scale low-pressure system over_______ or sub-tropical______ with organized convection (i.e. thunderstorm activity) and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation.
    Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface _______of less than 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) are called “tropical depressions” Once the tropical cyclone reaches winds of at_____ 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) they are typically called a “tropical_______ ” and assigned a______. If winds reach 33 m/s (64 kt, 74 mph)), then they are called:
    • “hurricane” (the North Atlantic_______, the Northeast Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E)
    • “typhoon” (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline)
    • “severe tropical cyclone” (the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of 160E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90E)
    • “severe cyclonic storm” (the North Indian Ocean)
    • “tropical cyclone” (the Southwest_______ Ocean)
    About 90 tropical cyclone storms form each year around the world. In the Atlantic, the stronger ones, with winds of at least 74 m.p.h., are________; the equivalents in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are typhoons. Ten named storms have formed in the Atlantic this hurricane______, which continues to the end of November.

    cyclone Ocean tropical winds Indian name least waters storm season hurricanes

  22. A rare December blizzard unleashed its fury on the East Coast on Dec. 26, 2010, centering its force on the New York metropolitan area where it shut down the three major airports and stopped commuter trains and some subway lines — stranding countless passengers on trains overnight. It was New York City’s sixth-largest snowfall, accompanied by winds that gusted over 65 miles an hour. Knee-to-thigh-high snows were common, and officials said it would probably take days to dig out.

    The cleanup, though, has been slower than expected and the impact worse than had been apparent when the snow stopped falling. Streets across vast stretches of the city remained untouched, leaving tens of thousands of residents unable to get to jobs and many facing long waits for ambulances and other emergency services.

    By the end of the week, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had conceded that the city’s response to the blizzard had been inadequate. Many theories, in both shouts and whispers, have been offered to explain the shortcomings: the Sanitation Department had undergone staffing cuts; the ferocity of the snowfall and the power of the accompanying winds had presented extraordinary challenges to the city’s snow plows; angry sanitation workers had sabotaged the efforts; city residents had ignored common sense and wound up stranding their cars in streets across the five boroughs.

    The mayor and his commissioners pledged to get at the truth. Once the streets have been cleared, they said, all aspects of the response will be analyzed, and changes, if necessary, will be made.

    The two-day blizzard, the worst in four years for the East Coast, originated in the Gulf of Mexico, moved across Florida and picked up speed in the Carolinas on Dec. 25. Even before bearing down on the coast’s most densely populated areas, the storm had led to states of emergency in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland on that day, although the mid-Atlantic did not get hit as hard as anticipated.

    The New York area and the Northeast took the brunt of it. New Jersey declared a state of emergency, allowing the authorities to close roads and make evacuations as necessary

    Brunt…. East coast…. Gulf of mexico… anticipated…commissioners…residents….inadequate ….untouch..dig out…blizzard..

  23. ST. LOUIS — As Gulf Coast residents confronted a waterlogged landscape of flooded homes and debris-covered streets on Friday, tatters of what had been Hurricane Isaac blew toward the parched Midwest, dumping more than a foot of rain, causing isolated flash floods and leaving thousands of people without power.
    Jill Frisard rescued Buddy in Slidell, La., on Friday as heavy ______moved into the parched Midwest.
    Heavy rains overwhelmed drainage systems in parts of Arkansas, flooding roads and prompting some emergency rescues. But after a scorching __________dry soil and low-flowing rivers and streams appeared to be absorbing much of the rain, officials said.
    “We’ve been in a pretty bad drought, and a lot of this rain is being soaked up,” said Jayson Gosselin, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Weldon Spring, Mo., near St. Louis. “The _________can take a lot of rain, that’s for sure.”
    As the slow-moving ________curls its way northeast, emergency crews in Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois have been bracing for a weekend of heavy rains and lashing winds, sandbagging homes and businesses, and preparing to close_______. Meanwhile, officials canceled Labor Day fireworks shows and shooed other end-of-summer festivals indoors.
    It was the messy denouement of a soaking storm that had poured as many as two feet of ______across parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.
    On Friday, officials in Plaquemines Parish, La., announced they had found the bodies of a middle-aged man and woman in the kitchen of their flooded______
    As waters receded from some_____________ on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, officials were slowly restoring electricity to the thousands left without power after the storm felled transmission lines and ________power substations. And crews began punching holes in the parish’s brimming back levees, a process that could take a week to complete.
    Ground Home Summer Storm
    Roads Water Rain neighborhoods damage

    Isaac Dunbar

  24. Tornado

    According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a tornado “is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the ground.’’ Overall, the sprawling masses of moving air that make up hurricanes produce more __________destruction. But the sudden havoc and localized devastation that the funnel-shape cloud of tornadoes can wreak has made them perhaps even more fearsome.

    There are, on average, 1,300 tornadoes yearly in the __________, causing around 65 deaths annually in recent years. The deadliest year was 1925, when 794 people were reported killed by tornadoes.

    In 2011, 550 people were killed by tornadoes, many of which struck_________populated areas, making it the deadliest season in 75 years. The worst of those storms leveled much of Joplin, Mo.

    In April 2011, 248 people died in Alabama in a single day when more than 60 tornadoes hit. Meteorologists blamed the___________ pattern known as La Niña.

    By_________February 2012, there had been more tornadoes than usual, according to meteorologists with the National Weather Service. In January, two people were killed in Alabama.

    A powerful storm system tore through parts of the Midwest and South in February 2012, killing at least 12 people and leaving pockets of____________across several states.

    In April, more than 100 tornadoes hit a stretch of the Plains states in 24 hours. But in a stroke that some officials attributed to a more____________and persistent warning system, relatively few people were killed or injured.

    Days ahead of the_____________winds there was an unusual_____________that alerted residents across at least five states to the threat of “extremely dangerous” and “catastrophic” weather. Officials said the enhanced language had been developed because of the large number of deaths from tornadoes across the____________in recent years.

    (densely) (vigilant) (late) (deadly) (nation) (large-scale) (country) (devastation) (warning) (weather)

  25. Tornado

    According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a tornado “is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the ground.’’ Overall, the sprawling masses of moving air that make up hurricanes produce more __________destruction. But the sudden havoc and localized devastation that the funnel-shape cloud of tornadoes can wreak has made them perhaps even more fearsome.

    There are, on average, 1,300 tornadoes yearly in the __________, causing around 65 deaths annually in recent years. The deadliest year was 1925, when 794 people were reported killed by tornadoes.

    In 2011, 550 people were killed by tornadoes, many of which struck_________populated areas, making it the deadliest season in 75 years. The worst of those storms leveled much of Joplin, Mo.

    In April 2011, 248 people died in Alabama in a single day when more than 60 tornadoes hit. Meteorologists blamed the___________ pattern known as La Niña.

    By_________February 2012, there had been more tornadoes than usual, according to meteorologists with the National Weather Service. In January, two people were killed in Alabama.

    A powerful storm system tore through parts of the Midwest and South in February 2012, killing at least 12 people and leaving pockets of____________across several states.

    In April, more than 100 tornadoes hit a stretch of the Plains states in 24 hours. But in a stroke that some officials attributed to a more____________and persistent warning system, relatively few people were killed or injured.

    Days ahead of the_____________winds there was an unusual_____________that alerted residents across at least five states to the threat of “extremely dangerous” and “catastrophic” weather. Officials said the enhanced language had been developed because of the large number of deaths from tornadoes across the____________in recent years.

    (densely) (vigilant) (late) (deadly) (nation) (large-scale) (country) (devastation) (warning) (weather)

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