Atmo CH.8

Match each air mass with the correct description. 1. continental polar (cP) 2.continental arctic (cA) 3.continental tropical (cT) 4.​maritime polar (mP) 5.​maritime tropical

1. Air masses that are cold and dry and form over land. 2. Air masses that are extremely cold and dry and form over land. 3. Air masses that are hot and dry, and are responsible for heat waves of summer in the western half of the United States. 4. Air masses that are cold and moist, form over water, and are responsible for the cold, damp, and often wet weather in the western United States. 5. ​Air masses are warm and humid, and are responsible for the hot, muggy weather that frequently plague the eastern United States in summer.

Examine the diagram and answer the questions below. 1. Identify the front labeled "A" 2. Identify the front labeled "B" 3. What type of front will form when A catches up to B and the two merge?

1. cold front 2. warm front 3. occluded front

Match the following fronts and boundaries with the appropriate label: A. Triangle B. Circle C. Circle & Triangle D.Purple Circle & Triangle E. Brownish Gold Circle

A. Cold Front B. Warm Front C. Stationary Front D. Occluded Front E. Dryline

Yesterday, Lubbock warmed up into the 60's and the wind was blowing from the southwest. Today the high temperature is only in the 20's and the wind has shifted and is now blowing from the northwest. You might guess that a _________ front passed over Lubbock in the past 24 hours.

Cold

Earlier today the dewpoint temperature in Lubbock was 65 degrees and the wind was blowing from the southeast. Now the dewpoint temperatures had decreased to 15 degrees and the winds are blowing from the west. You might guess that a _________ passed over Lubbock today.

Dryline

Because it is located at middle latitudes, the United States is only rarely affected by polar and tropical air masses.

False

What is the origin of the cP and cA air masses that enter the United States?

Northern Canada and Alaska

In which US city did your instructor assist with disaster relief due to flooding from an atmospheric river event in 1997?

RENO

Some mid-latitude cyclones may have calm winds at their center, similar to a hurricane's "eye".

True

What type of weather front would be responsible for the following weather forecast? "Increasing high cloudiness and cold this morning. Clouds increasing and lowering this afternoon with a chance of snow or rain tonight. Precipitation ending tomorrow morning. Turning much warmer. Winds from the south and becoming southwesterly tomorrow."

Warm Front

For a surface storm system to intensify, the upper trough of low pressure must be located to the ____ of the surface low.

West

Which of the following can you use to help locate a cold front on a surface weather map? Check all that apply.

a. drop in dewpoint temperature behind the front b. colder temperatures behind the front c. kinks in the isobars d. change in wind direction e. warmer temperatures ahead of the front

Cold fronts that move into the United States from the east, or northeast, are called ____ fronts.

backdoor

A stationary front does not move because winds on both sides of the front______.

blow parallel to the front and in opposite directions

The coldest of all air masses is ____.

cA

What type of air mass would be responsible for hot, dry summer weather in southern Arizona?

cT

Which air mass forms over North America only in summer?

cT

The figure shows a warm front with precipitation passing overhead in winter. Letters a through d represent a sequence of clouds that you might expect to observe as the warm front approaches. Match the letter on the figure with the correct cloud type. cloud a cloud b cloud c cloud d

cloud a-cirrus cloud b-cirrostratus cloud c- Altrostratus cloud d-Nimbostratus

One would expect a cP air mass to be ____.

cold and dry

Developing low pressure areas generally have ____ air near the surface and ____ air aloft.

converging; diverging

When upper-level divergence of air above a surface low exceeds the surface convergence of air, the surface air pressure will ____ and the storm itself will ____.

decrease; intensify

The typical path of a winter mid-latitude cyclone is ____.

eastward or northeastward

What is the best source region for an air mass?

generally flat areas of uniform composition with light surface winds

Generally, the average speed of a warm front ____ the average speed of a cold front

is slower than

When a cold front passes, the lowest pressure reading at a station will occur ____ the front passes.

just as

Lake-effect snows are best developed around the Great Lakes during ____.

late fall and early winter when cold, dry polar air moves over the relatively warm water

During the winter, an air mass that moves into coastal sections of Oregon and Washington from the northwest would most likely be ____.

mP

What type of air mass would be responsible for daily afternoon thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast of the United States?

mT

According to the model of the life cycle of a wave cyclone, the storm system is normally most intense as a(n) ____.

mature cyclone

When two air masses collide at a front, one air mass may be pushed upward by the other. This is because ____.

one air mass is denser than the other

The forward progress of a warm front may be inhibited at night as a result of ____.

radiational cooling

During a cold occlusion, the cold front forces the warm front to ____.

rise off the ground

Drylines typically occur in the ____.

southern Great Plains of the United States

An air mass is characterized by similar properties of ____ and ____ in any horizontal direction at a given altitude.

temperature; humidity

If lows and highs aloft are directly above lows and high at the surface, ____.

the surface system would dissipate

The region of air between the cold and warm fronts of an open wave is known as the ____.

warm sector

Compared to an mP air mass, an mT air mass is ____.

warmer and moister

Maritime air masses typically form over ____ and have _____ air.

water; moist