MET 1010 Final

The greatest wind speed ever recorded at the earth's surface occurred at:

200 knots (230 mph) in 1934 at Mount Washington, NH.

A comma cloud is:

A band of organized cumuliform clouds that look like a comma on a satellite photograph

Which of the following conditions would be most suitable for natural cloud seeding by ice crystals?

A cirriform cloud lying directly above a lower cloud deck.

A "back door" cold front describes which of the following situations?

A cold front that moves into New England from the Atlantic Ocean.

During the summer, what conditions prevail near the surface over the Great Plains that help a hailstone survive as ice all the way to the ground?

A cold thick layer of moist air

In summer, during the passage of a sea breeze, which of the following is NOT usually observed?

A drop in relative humidity.

Which statement below is NOT correct concerning hurricanes?

A hurricane moving northward over the pacific will normally survive for a longer time than one moving over the Atlantic

Which below is the best indication that a hurricane will likely strike your area within 24 hours?

A hurricane warning is issued by the National Weather Service

A group of thunderstorms which develop in a line one next to the other, each in a different stage of development, are called:

A multi-cell thunderstorm

In a hurricane, the eye wall represents:

A zone of intense thunderstorms around the center

When the air is saturated, which of the following statements is NOT correct?

An increase in temperature will cause condensation to occur.

A forecast of an extended period of dry weather would be made for a region beneath:

An upper-level ridge

Two objects, A and B, have the same mass but the specific heat of A is larger than B. If both objects absorb equal amounts of energy,

B's temperature will rise faster than A's.

In cloud-to-ground lightning, the stepped leader travels __ and the return stroke travels __.

Downward;Upward

On a surface weather map, which of the following marks the boundary where a warm, dry air mass encounters a warm, moist air mass?

Dry line

Which below is NOT a way in which a contrail may form?

Due to heating of air by the engine exhaust.

The downdraft in an ordinary thunderstorm is created mainly by:

Evaporating raindrops that make the air cold and heavy

Which fog does not necessarily form in air that is cooling?

Evaporation fog.

Which of the following does NOT describe the subtropical jet stream?

Forms along the polar front.

A weather warning indicates that:

Hazardous weather is either imminent or occurring within the forecast area

The energy for hurricanes comes from the transfer of ____ from the ocean surface to the atmosphere.

Heat

Distant lightning that is so far away you cannot hear the thunder is called:

Heat Lightning

The immense amounts of energy taken in by hurricanes are:

Heat and pressure

In the polar front theory of developing wave cyclone, energy for the storm is usually derived from all but which of the following?

Heat energy stored in the ground.

Which below has the least influence on determining how high a wind wave will grow over the open ocean?

IDK

Which below is NOT correct concerning an occluded front?

IDK

Which is NOT a correct association?

IDK

Which of the following associations is NOT correct?

IDK

Which of the following is NOT a katabatic wind?

IDK

Which of the following would NOT be considered a "desert" wind?

IDK

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Ice nuclei are more plentiful in the atmosphere than condensation nuclei.

Which of the following is NOT correct concerning a warm front?

It has warm air ahead (in advance) of it.

Which of the following is NOT correct concerning a cold front?

It is colored purple on a surface weather map.

Which below is NOT correct about the stratospheric polar-night jet stream?

It is found near the tropopause.

Which of the statements is NOT correct concerning the pressure gradient force?

It is non-existent at the equator.

Which of the following is NOT a reason why water warms and cools much more slowly than land?

It takes more heat to raise the temperature of a given amount of soil 1°C than it does to raise the temperature of water 1°C.

When it is January and winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is ______ and ______ in the Southern Hemisphere.

January, summer

The most costly hurricane ever to hit the US was:

Katrina

A sonic boom is:

a loud explosive like sound caused by a shock wave emanating from an aircraft (or any object) traveling at or above the speed of sound

Which of the following can only be seen when the sun is to your back and it is raining in front of you?

Rainbow.

How do red light and blue light differ?

Red wavelengths are much longer than blue wavelengths.

What color would the sky be if air molecules selectively scattered only the longest wavelengths of visible light?

Red.

Which of the following will increase in a rising parcel of air?

Relative humidity.

All thunderstorms require:

Rising air

Suppose the eye of a hurricane passed directly over you, and you survived the experience. If winds were from the northeast as the eyewall first approached you, from what direction did the winds blow when the eyewall reached you the second time?

SW

A wind reported as 225° would be a wind blowing from the:

SW.

If a cloud appears white on a visible satellite image and gray on an infrared image, then the cloud could be

a low cloud. (T)

If the earth stopped rotating which of the following would NOT be true?

There would still be a Coriolis force.

On a surface weather map during the month of July, one would expect to find what type of pressure system over the desert southwest of the United States?

Thermal low.

Most of the ionosphere is found in what atmospheric layer?

Thermosphere.

Which below is usually NOT true concerning a sea breeze circulation?

They mainly occur at night.

Which below is NOT true concerning an "air pocket?"

They often form in regions that exhibit strong vertical wind shear.

Storms that form in the tropics are given names when:

They reached tropical storm strength

A small thunderstorm cloud with virga falling out of its base and blowing dust at the ground could warn off a severe hazard to an airplane because:

This could indicate an intense downdraft or microburst

A typical raindrop is about ______ that of a typical cloud droplet.

a million times

White light is ________ of electromagnetic radiation.

a mixture of all visible wavelengths

A sounding can be measured by:

a radiosonde.

According to the three-cell general circulation model at the equator we would not expect to find:

a ridge of high pressure.

A small, moving disturbance imbedded in a longwave is called:

a shortwave.

An aneroid barometer works on the principle that:

a small closed cell with most of its air removed will expand and contract with changes in air pressure.

Alternating lines of blue and red on a surface weather map indicate:

a stationary front.

A surface low pressure center is generally associated with ______ on an upper-level isobaric chart.

a trough

On a cold, winter morning, the most likely place for radiation fog to form is:

a valley.

A halo around the sun or moon indicates that rain may be on the way because the halo indicates:

a warm front may be approaching.

Infrared and visible satellite images might provide

a way of determining cloud thickness and altitude. (T)

The maximum in daytime surface temperatures typically occurs ______ the earth receives its most intense solar radiation.

after

Where cold surface air replaces warm air, the boundary separating the different bodies of air is:

a cold front.

The surface weather map is a sea level chart. Thus, a surface weather map is also called:

a constant height chart.

The cloud-like streamer often seen forming behind an aircraft flying at high altitudes is called:

a contrail.

On a surface weather map that shows an open wave cyclone, the warm sector can be observed:

ahead of an advancing cold front.

Air molecules selectively scatter visible light because:

air molecules are smaller than the wavelength of visible light.

An upper-level pool of cold air that has been broken away from the main flow is called:

a cut-off low.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the polar jet stream is strongest when:

air north of the polar front is much colder than air south of the polar front.

Which of the following sets of conditions would produce a cumulus cloud with the lowest base?

air temperature: 90°F dew point temperature: 60°F

Northeasters are mid-latitude storms commonly found:

along the Atlantic coast of North America.

The contour lines drawn on a 500 mb chart are lines of constant:

altitude.

To correctly monitor horizontal changes in air pressure, the most important correction for a mercury barometer is the correction for:

altitude.

A middle cloud that sometimes forms in parallel waves or bands is:

altocumulus.

A dim, "watery" sun visible through a gray sheet-like cloud layer is often a good indication of:

altostratus clouds.

The dry adiabatic lapse rate is ______ greater than the moist adiabatic lapse rate.

always

Radar gathers information about precipitation in clouds by measuring the:

amount of energy reflected back to a transmitter.

A rising parcel of air that does not exchange heat with its surroundings is an example of:

an adiabatic process.

The ionosphere is an atmospheric layer that contains a high concentration of ions. An ion is:

an atom that has lost one or more electrons.

In the earth's upper atmosphere, visible light given off by excited atoms and molecules produces:

an aurora.

Air moving eastward more slowly that the earth rotates, would appear to be ______ wind to the observer.

an east

During the positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation,

an increased pressure gradient exists across the North Atlantic Ocean, the prevailing westerlies in the northern hemisphere are stronger, winters in the eastern US are wet and mild (all of these).

The small, smooth cloud that may form just above the top of a towering cumulus cloud is called:

an incus (anvil) cloud.

An instrument used to measure wind speed is called a(n):

anemometer.

If we assume that the absolute vorticity of flowing air is conserved, air moving northward will bend ______ to compensate for the ______ in the earth's vorticity.

anticylonically, increase

When clouds are viewed near the horizon, the individual cloud elements usually:

appear closer together than is actually the case.

Many small-scale processes are ______ in General Circulation Models.

approximated and parameterized

Winds blow slightly inward:

around surface low pressure centers in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere.

When radiation fog "burns off," the fog tends to dissipate:

as the warmer air mixes in toward the denser foggy area.

The pressure gradient force is directed from higher pressure toward lower pressure:

at all places on earth.

Radiational cooling typically occurs:

at night (once the sun sets and the amount of outgoing energy is greater than incoming energy).

The largest annual ranges of temperature are found:

at polar latitudes over land.

Nighttime temperatures rarely drop below the dew point temperature because:

at saturation, latent heat of condensation is released into the air.

The time of day when the relative humidity reaches a maximum value is usually:

at sunrise.

In the general circulation of the atmosphere, one would find the region called doldrums:

at the equator.

What type of air mass would be responsible for refreshing cool, dry breezes after a long summer hot spell in the Central Plains?

cP

Cumuliform cloud development would most likely be in which of the following?

cP air mass moving over warm water.

The lake effect occurs when ______ air masses move over a ______ body of water.

cP, warm

Which air mass forms over North America only in the summer?

cT

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

cT

Ideal conditions for a strong radiation inversion are:

calm air, long night, and dry, dust-free air.

Radiation fog typically forms on:

calm, clear nights with a breeze less than 5 knots over land.

Supercell thunderstroms __ become severe.

can

When you see your breath on a cold morning, the air temperature:

can be above or below freezing.

Satellites:

can observe clouds in earth's orbit. Provides extremely valuable cloud photographs of areas where there are no ground-based observations.

The gas responsible for the greenhouse effect on Venus is:

carbon dioxide (CO2).

The greenhouse gas that has been increasing in concentration, at least partly due to deforestation, is:

carbon dioxide (CO2).

If the outflow of air around a surface high pressure area is greater than the convergence of air aloft, you would observe:

a decrease in the central pressure.

A dryline is:

a dew point front and a boundary marking a strong horizontal change in atmospheric pressure.

The word "frontogenesis" on a weather map would mean that:

a front is regenerating or strengthening.

On a weather map, the transition zone between two air masses with sharply contrasting properties is marked by:

a front.

A high water vapor pressure indicates:

a high dew point.

The net force on air moving in a circle at constant speed is:

centripetal force.

The dry adiabatic lapse rate is the rate at which

change of temperature in a rising parcel of unsaturated air occurs

Cyclonic flow means ______ in either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.

circulation around a low pressure center

A halo around the moon means that:

cirrostratus clouds are present.

Clouds and precipitation are frequently found on the downwind side of a large lake. This would indicate that the air on the downwind side is:

converging and rising.

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

converging, diverging

Along an irregular coastline, advection fog is more likely to form at the headlands than at the beaches because of the ______ surface winds and ______ air.

converging, rising

Which set of conditions, working together, will make the atmosphere the most stable?

cool the surface and warm the air aloft

A maritime polar (mP) air mass that reaches the Pacific Coast is:

cool, moist, and conditionally unstable.

In clear weather, the air next to the ground is usually ______ than the air above during the night and ______ than the air above during the day.

cooler, warmer

Evaporation is a ________ process.

cooling

The temperature of a rising parcel:

cools as its molecules expand in less dense air.

Suppose the sky is completely covered with a thin, white layered-type cloud. You look at the ground and see that objects cast a distinct shadow. From this you conclude that the cloud must be:

cirrostratus.

Detached clouds of delicate and fibrous appearance, without shading, usually white in color and sometimes of a silky appearance are:

cirrus clouds.

Fall streaks most often form with:

cirrus clouds.

In the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, surface winds tend to blow ______ and ______ around an area of low surface pressure.

counterclockwise, inward

Large raindrops fall ______ than smaller raindrops, and have a ______ terminal velocity than small raindrops.

faster, greater

Atmospheric shortwaves usually move ______ than longwaves and ______ when the move through a longwave ridge.

faster, weaken

The southern hemisphere has ______ semi-permanent lows than the Northern Hemisphere.

fewer

If you were to take a breath of pure oxygen, from a tank, you'd be getting about ________ the amount of oxygen you'd get by taking a normal breath of our atmosphere.

five times

A light shower of snow that falls intermittently from cumuliform clouds for a short duration is known as:

flurry.

A chinook wind in the Alps is called a:

foehn.

A true cold front on a weather map is always:

followed by cooler air.

Dust storms and dust devils are ______ on Mars.

found

Glaze is another name for:

freezing rain.

The wind's speed generally increases with height above the earth's surface because:

friction with the earth's surface slows the air near the ground.

Surface winds blow across the isobars at an angle due to:

frictional force.

The winds aloft in the middle latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere generally blow:

from west to east.

On a weather map, sharp changes in temperature, humidity, and wind direction are marked by a:

front.

When temperatures are below freezing, the temperatures to which air must be cooled in order for a phase change to occur is called the:

frost point.

The name given to a liquid drop of dew that freezes when the air temperature drops below freezing is:

frozen dew.

A good source region for an air mass would be:

generally flat areas of uniform composition with light surface winds.

A wind blowing at constant speed parallel to straight line isobars with the pressure gradient force (PGF) and the Coriolis force in balance is called a:

geostrophic wind.

When only ice crystals exist in a cloud, the cloud is said to be:

glaciated.

Snow will usually melt on the roof of a home that is a:

good radiator of heat.

A wind that blows at a constant speed parallel to curved isobars or contour lines is called a:

gradient wind.

The atmosphere around the earth would rush off into space if the vertical pressure gradient force were not balanced by:

gravity.

At the same sub-freezing temperature, the saturation vapor pressure just above a liquid water surface is ______ than the saturation vapor pressure above an ice surface.

greater

Suppose a west wind of 20 knots blows over a coastal region, which is densely covered in shrubs. If this same wind moves out over the middle of a large calm lake, its speed and direction would probably be:

greater than 20 knots and more northwesterly.

In a conditionally unstable atmosphere, the environmental lapse rate will be ______ than the moist adiabatic rate and ______ less than the dry adiabatic rate.

greater, less

A dust or sandstorm that forms along the leafing edge of a thunderstorm is a:

haboob.

Precipitation with the greatest size (diameter) is:

hailstone.

Hail deposited in a long narrow band is known as a:

hailstreak.

A cold-type occluded front:

has cold surface air behind it.

Low ______ on a constant height chart corresponds to low ______ on a constant pressure chart.

height, pressure

The term "latent" means:

hidden, or stored.

In most areas, the warmest time of the day about 5 feet above the ground occurs:

in the afternoon around 2-5 PM local time.

During the summer along the coast, a sea breeze is usually strongest and best developed:

in the afternoon.

Surface winds are generally strongest and most gusty:

in the afternoon.

A valley breeze would develop its maximum strength:

in the early afternoon.

Clouds often form in:

in the rising air in the center of a low-pressure area.

In hilly areas, cold air typically collects:

in valleys.

In meteorology, the word insolation refers to:

incoming solar radiation.

If you were to take a trip during the summer from Ohio to Neveda, you would most likely observe the afternoon cumulus clouds ________ as you travel west.

increase in elevation

Net convergence of air would cause surface pressure to ______ and net divergence would cause surface pressure to ______.

increase, decrease

If the air temperature remains constant, evaporating water into the air will ______ the dew point and ______ the relative humidity.

increase, increase

A knowledge of air stability is important because:

it determines the vertical movement of air.

A radiation inversion is most commonly observed:

just above the ground.

A strong, usually cold, downslope wind is called a:

katabatic wind.

An extremely strong downslope wind that occurs in parts of Antarctica would be considered a:

katabatic wind.

Energy of motion is also known as:

kinetic energy.

During the summer in humid climates, nighttime clouds tend to form over water during a:

land breeze.

The nighttime counterpart of the sea breeze circulation is called a:

land breeze.

The rate at which temperature decreases with increasing height is known as:

lapse rate.

A sea breeze is most likely to develop along a coastline when:

large temperature differences exist between the land and water.

A change of one degree on the Celsius scale is ________ a change of one degree on the Fahrenheit scale.

larger than

At jet streaks is a place where ______ are found.

clear air turbulence, strong vertical wind, speed shear, very strong winds (all of the above)

During the afternoon, the greatest temperature difference between the surface air and the air several meters above the ground occurs on a:

clear, calm day.

The wind around a surface low pressure center in the Southern Hemisphere blows:

clockwise and inward.

The wind around a surface high pressure center in the Northern Hemisphere blows:

clockwise and outward.

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.

The cold feeling that you experience after leaving a swimming pool on a hot, dry, summer day represents heat transport by:

latent heat.

The heat energy released when water vapor changes to a liquid is called:

latent heat.

What type of air mass would be responsible for persistent cold, damp weather with drizzle along the east coast of North America?

mP

What type of air mass would be responsible for snow showers on the western slope of the Rockies?

mP

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

mP.

The designation for a cool, moist air mass is:

mP.

During the spring, which air mass would most likely bring record-breaking high temperatures to the eastern half of the United States

mT

In Southern California, which air mass is mainly responsible for heavy rains, flooding in low-lying valleys, and melting of snow at high elevations?

mT

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

mT

What type of air mass would be responsible for for heavy summer rain showers in southern Arizona?

mT

What type of air mass would be responsible for hot, muggy summer weather in the eastern half of the United States?

mT

What type of air mass would be responsible for summer afternoon thunderstorms along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California?

mT

The greatest contrast in both temperature and moisture will occur along the boundary separating which air masses?

mT and cP

A moist, tropical air mass that is warmer than the surface over which it is moving is classified as:

mT.

The air mass with the highest actual water vapor content is:

mT.

Clouds that appear as bag-like sacks hanging from beneath a cloud are:

mammatus clouds.

A barograph will:

measure and record atmospheric pressure.

A rotating-beam ceilometer is useful for:

measuring cloud ceilings.

A jet stream transfers more heat across the globe when it is:

meridional.

A wind flow pattern that takes on a more or less north-south trajectory is called:

meridional.

The smallest scale of atmospheric motion is the:

microscale.

The scatterometer measures winds by sending and receiving pulses of:

microwave energy.

The unit of pressure most commonly found of a surface weather map is:

millibars or hectopascals.

The ratio of the mass of water vapor in a given volume (parcel) of air to the mass of the remaining dry air describes the:

mixing ratio.

The rate at which the temperature changes inside a rising (or descending) parcel of saturated air is called the:

moist adiabatic rate.

Large, heavy snowflakes are associated with:

moist air and temperatures near freezing.

Exhaled breath from your mouth can condense when:

moist air from your mouth or nose meets the cold air and mixes with it.

The largest snowflakes would probably be observed in ______ air whose temperature is ______ freezing.

moist, near

The slowing of the wind due to the random motion of air molecules is called:

molecular viscosity.

Pressure changes:

more rapidly in the vertical direction than in the horizontal.

Water heats up ______ and cools of ______ than land.

more slowly, more slowly

Suppose saturated polar air has an air temperature and dew point of -10°C, and unsaturated desert air has an air temperature of 35°C and a dew point of 10°C. The desert air contains ______ water vapor and has a ______ relative humidity than the polar air.

more, lower

Advection fog is often observed along the Pacific coast during summer, as westerly winds carry moist air toward the shore. The fog forms because the surface water near the coast is ______ the surface water farther offshore.

much colder than

The temperature of the tropopause is:

much colder than the temperature at the earth's surface.

Another name for a "mother of pearl" cloud is:

nacreous.

The lowest temperature is usually observed:

near sunrise.

The creaking sound produced by walking on snow is most common on:

new snow when the air temperature is below -10 degrees C.

The low-level jet stream over the Central Plains of the United States appears to be responsible for:

nighttime thunderstorms.

Light or moderate-but-steady precipitation is most often associated with ______ clouds.

nimbostratus

The most abundant gases in the earth's atmosphere by volume are:

nitrogen and oxygen.

In a volume of air near the earth's surface, ______ occupies 78 percent and ______ nearly 21 percent.

nitrogen, oxygen

"Luminous night clouds" are also called"

noctilucent clouds.

Strong Santa Ana winds develop in Los Angeles during the fall when a high pressure center forms to the:

northeast of Los Angeles over the Great Basin.

The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is a region where:

northeast trades meet the southeast trades.

A surface low pressure area with a deep upper-level trough to the west will tend to move toward the:

northeast.

In Honolulu, Hawaii (latitude 2°N), you would most likely experience winds blowing from the:

northeast.

Continental tropical (cT) air masses are typically found in:

northern Mexico and southwestern US.

Suppose that the winds aloft are geostrophic and blowing from the north. With the same orientation of isobars at the surface, the winds would blow from the:

northwest.

The world's deserts are found at 30° latitude because:

of the sinking air of the subtropical highs.

Over the earth as a whole, one would expect to observe the smallest variation in temperature from day to day and from month to month:

on a small island near the equator.

A lee-side low forms:

on the downside of a mountain.

Generally, the greatest lake effect snow fall will be:

on the eastern shore of the Great Lakes.

During summer near the North Pole, the sun is above the horizon ______ in the mid-latitudes.

on the vernal equinox (March 20)

A sea breeze will reverse direction and become a land breeze:

once per day.

Heat is energy in the process of being transferred from:

one object to another because of the difference in temperature between them.

If the setting sun appears red, you may conclude that:

only the longest waves of visible light are striking your eyes.

Considering each hemisphere as a whole, seasonal temperature variation in the Southern Hemisphere is ______ that in the Northern Hemisphere.

opposite

Continental polar (cP) and continental Arctic (cA) air masses:

originate over the ice-and snow-covered regions of the Arctic, northern Canada, and Alaska where long, clear nights allow for strong radiational cooling.

Lenticular clouds typically form ______ a mountain range.

over

The rising of warm air up and over cold air is called:

overrunning.

The gas that absorbs most of the harmful ultraviolet radiation in the stratosphere is:

ozone (O3).

On an upper-level chart wind tends to blow:

parallel to the contour lines.

In the Northern Hemisphere, ocean currents in the Atlantic and Pacific move is a generally circular pattern. The direction of this motion is ______ in the Atlantic and ______ in the Pacific.

clockwise, clockwise

Condensation nuclei may be:

particles of dust, nitric acid particles, smoke from forest fires, and salt from the ocean.

The primary source of oxygen for the earth's atmosphere during the past half billion years or so appears to be:

photosynthesis.

Charged particles from the sun that travel through space at high speeds are called,

plasma, or solar winds/flares.

The wind belt observed on the poleward side of the polar front is called the:

polar easterlies.

Strong storms that develop over water, poleward of the polar front, are called:

polar lows.

Homogenous nucleation occurs when:

randomly moving atoms form clusters above threshold.

As light passes through ice crystals, ______ is bent the least and is, therefore, observed ______ of halos or sundogs.

red, inside

Sunlight that bounces off a surface is said to be ______ from the surface.

reflected

Halos are caused by:

refraction of light passing through ice crystals.

The bending of light that occurs when it enters and passes through a substance of different density is called:

refraction.

The most practical location for building a wind turbine would be:

regions with moderate, steady winds.

The wind chill factor:

relates body heat loss with wind to an equivalent temperature with no wind.

The difference between the "moist" and "dry" adiabatic rates is due to:

relative humidity.

The percentage of water vapor present in the air compared to that required for saturation is the:

relative humidity.

Geostationary satellites:

remain permanently fixed in exactly the same position in the sky.

As the air temperature increases, with no addition of water vapor to the air, the dew point will:

remain the same.

At a warm front, the warm air:

rises and cools.

We can generally expect the air to be ______ above areas of surface low pressure and ______ above areas of surface high pressure.

rising, sinking

The moist latent heat would be released in a ______ parcel of ______ saturated air.

rising, warm

Violent, rotating eddies that create hazardous flying conditions beneath the crest of a mountain wave are called:

rotors.

Dew, frozen dew, and frost form when the below-freezing layer of air is:

saturated and close to the ground.

Another name for diffuse light is:

scattered light.

On a foggy night, it is often difficult to see the road when the high beam lights are on because of ______ of light by the fog.

scattering

The blue color of distant mountains is due primarily to:

scattering of light.

Red sunsets, blue moons, and milky-white skies are mainly the result of:

scattering.

When a sea breeze moving north meets a sea breeze moving south, the form a:

sea breeze convergence zone.

A cool, summertime wind that blow from sea to land is called a:

sea breeze.

Satellites provide a global picture of winds by converting ______ into wind speed and direction.

sea roughness

Which method below describes how scientists have tried to modify hurricanes?

seeding hurricane with silver iodide

A red shirt:

selectively scatters red wavelengths of visible light and absorbs the rest.

The position of the Pacific high over the North Pacific Ocean shifts ______ in winter and ______ in summer.

southward, northward

The amount of heat energy required to bring about a small change in temperature is called the:

specific heat.

An mT air mass lying above a cold ground surface represents a(n):

stable condition.

A conditionally unstable atmosphere is ______ with respect to unsaturated air and ______ with respect to saturated air.

stable, unstable

Air which resists vertical displacements is considered to be:

stable.

If an air parcel is given a small push upward and it fall bas to its original position, the atmosphere is said to be:

stable.

Most thunderstorms do not extend very far into the stratosphere because the air in the stratosphere is:

stable.

You would use a wooden stick to measure rainfall in the:

standard rain gauge.

On a cold, calm autumn morning, the formation of fog above a relatively warm lake would most likely be:

steam fog.

Lee-side lows are:

storms (extratropical cyclones) that form on the eastern (lee) side of a mountain range.

An aneroid barometer carried from sea level to the top of a 300 m (1,000 ft) hill would indicate:

stormy weather.

A low, lumpy cloud layer that appears in rows, patches, or rounded masses would be classified:

stratocumulus.

If you hold your hand at arm's length and cloud elements appear to be about the size of your fist, the cloud type is probably:

stratocumulus.

The name given to ragged-looking clouds that rapidly drift with the wind beneath a rain-producing cloud is:

stratus fractus, or scud.

High fog is also called:

stratus.

During baroclinic instability, wave cyclones can intensify into large storm systems,

strong wind speed shear exists from the surface up to at least the 500 mb level, rising and descending air motions exist, and temperature advection is occurring (all of these).

A seiche can be caused by:

strong winds and sudden changes in atmospheric pressure or earthquakes.

Good hang-gliding conditions require:

strong winds.

Fall streaks usually ______ before reaching the ground.

sublimate

The change of state of ice into water vapor is known as:

sublimation.

The semi-permanent pressure systems associated with the polar front are called:

subpolar lows.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the number of hours of daylight begins to shorten after the:

summer solstice.

Low pressure becomes best developed over the Asian continent in:

summer.

Sunlight passes through a thicker portion of the atmosphere at:

sunrise and sunset.

The type of weather system known as a 'mid-latitude cyclone' CANNOT form over the tropical ocean because:

surface temperature contrasts are not large and the Coriolis force is weak in the tropics.

Suppose yesterday morning you noticed ice crystals (frost) on the grass, yet the minimum temperature reported in the newspaper was only 35°F. The most likely reason for this apparent discrepancy is that:

temperature reading are taken in instrument shelters more than 5 feet above the ground.

To obtain the station pressure you must normally make corrections for:

temperature, gravity, and instrument error.

An air mass is characterized by similar properties of ______ and ______ in any horizontal direction.

temperature, moisture

The earth's atmosphere is divided into layers based on the vertical profile of:

temperature.

The only indication on the station model of past weather conditions is the:

temperature.

Dew is most likely to form on nights:

that are clear and calm.

A building anticyclone means:

that central pressure is increasing.

The Gulf Coast states are more humid in summer than the coastal areas of Southern California mainly because:

the Gulf States are almost constantly receiving humid air from the warm Gulf of Mexico.

In the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, surface winds ten to blow ______ and ______ around an area of high pressure.

clockwise, outward

Polar-orbiting satellites:

closely parallel the earth's meridian lines. Pass over the north and south polar regions on each revolution. Covers the entire earth.

The reversal of the positions of surface high and low pressure at opposite ends of the Pacific Ocean is called:

the Southern Oscillation.

Warming in the stratosphere is mainly caused by:

the absorption of ultraviolet radiation by ozone.

In order for falling snowflakes to survive in air with temperatures much above freezing,

the air must be unsaturated and the wet-bulb temperature must be at or below freezing.

The winds aloft in the middle latitudes would not blow from the west if:

the air over high latitudes became warmer than over the equator.

On the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, chinook winds are driest when:

clouds form and precipitation falls on the upwind side of the mountain.

An example of orographic clouds would be:

clouds forming on the windward slope of a mountain.

The merging of liquid cloud droplets by collision is called:

coalescence.

One would expect a cP air mass to be:

cold and dry.

Cloud seeding using silver iodide only works in:

cold clouds composed of ice crystals and supercooled droplets.

If the temperature of the air is said to be at absolute zero, one might conclude that:

the molecules contain a minimum amount of energy.

A wind rose indicates:

the percentage of time that wind blows from different directions.

The force that would cause a stationary parcel of air to begin to move horizontally is called:

the pressure gradient force.

Wintertime mP air masses are less common along the Atlantic coast of North America than along the Pacific coast mainly because:

the prevailing winds aloft are westerly.

Large cloud droplets fall faster than small cloud droplets because:

the ratio of the drop's surface area to weight is smaller.

Upwelling is:

the rising of cold water from below.

The Coriolis force is the result of:

the rotating earth.

If two air parcels at sea level have the same size but different temperatures, the colder parcel of air will have:

the same pressure but higher density than the warm parcel.

Stratus and high fog are:

the same.

Stars are not visible during the day because:

the scattered light coming from the sky is too bright to be able to see the weaker light from the stars.

The blueness of the sky is mainly due to:

the scattering of shorter wavelengths of sunlight by air molecules.

If the earth's surface were homogenous (either all land or water),

the semi-permanent highs and lows wouldn't change in intensity.

The size and shape of a turbulent eddy depend on:

the size of the obstacle, the shape of the obstacle, and the speed of the wind (all of the above).

Factors that contribute to the formation of a low-level jet stream over the Central Plains of the United States are:

the sloping of the land from the Rockies to the Mississippi Valley, a north-south trending mountain range, stable air above the jet (all of these).

Vorticity refers to:

the spin of air parcels.

During an equinox,

the sun is directly above the equator, and day and night are of equal length everywhere but the poles.

The main reason(s) for warm summers in middle latitudes is that:

the sun is higher and the days are longer.

When an upper-level low lies directly above a surface low,

the surface low will probably weaken.

When upper-level divergence of air above a surface low pressure area is stronger than the convergence of surface air,

the surface pressure will decrease and the storm itself will intensify.

The earth's radiative equilibrium temperature is:

the temperature at which the earth is absorbing solar radiation and emitting infrared radiation at equal rates.

The main reason why vegetables take longer to cook in boiling water at high altitudes is because:

the temperature of the boiling water decreases with increasing altitude.

Incoming solar radiation in middle latitudes is less in winter than in summer because of:

the tilt of the earth on its axis.

The difference in altitude (i.e. the thickness) is greatest in the layer bounded by:

the tropopause.

The Ekman Spiral describes:

the turning of water with depth.

At the North Pole the sun will rise above the horizon on ______ and set below the horizon on ______.

the vernal equinox (March 20), the autumnal equinox (September 22)

The sun emits it greatest intensity of radiation in:

the visible region of the spectrum.

A stationary front does not move because:

the wind blows parallel to the front.

On a clear, windy day, the depth to which mixing occurs above the surface depends upon:

the wind speed, surface heating, and the landscape (all of the above).

The hydrostatic equation describes the equilibrium between the:

vertical pressure gradient force and gravity.

Rain which falls from a cloud but evaporates before reaching the ground is referred to as:

virga.

The friction of fluid flow is called:

viscosity.

Solar radiation reaches the earth's surface as:

visible light (but also ultraviolet light and infrared light).

Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between 0.4 and 0.7 micrometers is called:

visible light.

The lowest temperature that can be attained by evaporating water into the air is know as the:

wet-bulb temperature.

Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) can occur:

when huge eddie develop in clear air.

Condensation is more likely to occur:

when the air cools.

According to the model of the life cycle of a wave cyclone, the storm system is normally most intense:

when the system first becomes occluded.

Along the boundary between continental polar (cP) and maritime tropical (mT) air masses,

widespread precipitation and storminess is often found.

An abrupt change in wind speed or wind direction is called:

wind shear.

An example of microscale motion isL

winds blowing past a chimney.

An example of mesoscale motion is:

winds blowing through a city.

Upwelling occurs along the northern California coast because:

winds cause surface waters to move away from the coast.

The average winds aloft are strongest in:

winter.

A frontal inversion would probably be best observed:

with a warm front in winter.

Condensation nuclei are important in the atmosphere because:

without them condensation would not form easily in the atmosphere.

If you want to keep an object cool while exposed to direct sunlight,

wrap it in aluminum foil with the shiny side facing outward.

The net force acting on air, which is blowing parallel to straight contours at constant speed is:

zero.

When the wind blows in a more or less west to east direction, the wind flow pattern is called:

zonal.

The use of helicopters to mix air and disperse radiation fog at airports is effective provided that:

the fog is shallow radiation fog with low-liquid content.

Most tornadoes move from:

Southwest to northeast

Newton's first law states,

"An object at rest stays at rest as long as no force is exerted on the object."

Which of the features below could indicate prevailing wind direction?

(all of the above)

Which of the following are capable of producing a red sunrise or sunset?

(all of these)

A supercell storm is:

An enormous thunderstorm that last for several hours

Which of the following are NOT units of pressure?

Newtons.

Suppose the wind speed increased from 5 mph to 10 mph. We can conclude that the force exerted by the wind increased by a factor:

2.

The difference in saturation vapor pressure between supercooled water and ice reaches a maximum at about -12°C. This means that the ice crystal process will be most effective in producing precipitation when cloud temperatures are around:

-12°C.

The temperature at which you would expect a cloud to become completely glaciated is:

-40 degrees C.

The sun emits a maximum amount of radiation at wavelengths near ______, while the the earth emits maximum radiation near wavelengths of ______.

0.5 micrometers (visible light), 10 micrometers (infrared)

On average, the water equivalent of 10 inches of snow is about:

1 inch of water.

If a city were to receive 1/2 inch of rain in the morning and then 5 inches of snow that afternoon, about how much precipitation would the weather service report for that day?

1 inch.

The top of the friction layer is usually found near what altitude?

1,000 meters

Which figure comes closest to the estimated number of thunderstorms that occur each year throughout the world?

100,000

If the sea level pressure in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is 1016 mb, the strongest summertime sea breeze along the New Jersey coast would occur when the sea level pressure just east of Atlantic City, New Jersey is:

1019 mb.

A station at an altitude of 900 m (about 3,000 feet) above sea level measure an air pressure of 930 mb. Under normal conditions, which of the values below do you think would be the most realistic sea level pressure for this station?

1020 mb.

Suppose a station at sea level measures an air pressure of 1020 mb. Under standard conditions, what would be the most likely air pressure at an elevation of 600 m (about 2,000 feet) above this station?

1090 mb.

In a typical tornado the winds are usually not much more than __ miles per hour

110

After a snowstorm, the newspaper reports that Buffalo, New York, received 1.5 inches of precipitation. If we assume an average water equivalent ratio for this snowstorm, then Buffalo received about:

15 inches of snow.

If the outside air temperature is is 27°C and the air density is .2 kg/m3, the outside air pressure would be:

172.28 mb.

Pedaling a bicycle into a 20 knot wind will require about ______ as much effort as pedaling into a 10 knot wind.

2 times

To see a sundog, you should look about:

22 degrees to the left or right of the sun.

A typical diameter of a tornado would be:

250 meters

If you see a lightning stroke and then, 5 seconds later, hear the thunder, the lightning is about __ miles away

3

In terms of the three-cell general circulation model, the driest regions of the earth should be near:

30 degree latitudes and the polar regions.

Which latitude belt best describes the middle latitudes?

30 to 50 degrees.

If the wind speed doubles, the force exerted by the wind increases by a factor of:

4.

On the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, a hurricane with winds in excess of 55 mi/hr (35 knots) and a central pressure of 90mb (26.87) would be classified as a category __ hurricane.

5

Suppose the wind speed increased from 5 mph to 25 mph. We can conclude that the force exerted by the wind increased by a factor of:

5.

Much of Tibet lies at altitudes over 18,000 feet where the pressure is about 500 mb. At such altitudes, the Tibetans are above roughly:

50 percent of the earth's atmosphere.

On average, about what percentage of solar energy that strikes the outer atmosphere eventually reachers the earth's surface?

50 percent.

If a pilot ballon rises at a rate of 100 meters per minute, and if it disappears into a deck of stratus clouds 500 meters thick in 5 minutes, what is the ceiling of the cloud layer.

500 meters.

At middle latitudes, the base of an altostratus or altocumulus cloud would generally be found between:

6,500 and 23,000 feet.

Which latitude below would experience the fewest hours of daylight on Dec. 22?

60°N (high latitudes).

A wind profiler obtains wind information using:

A Doppler radar.

A probability forecast that calls for a "40 percent chance of rain" means that:

A probability forecast that calls for a "40 percent chance of rain" means that:

The signal detected by a Doppler radar is:

A radiowave reflected by precipitation

On a Doppler radar screen, a tornado vortex signature (TVS) appears as:

A region of rapidly changing wind speeds

The cloud that forms along the leading edge of a gust front is called:

A roll cloud

In a region where severe thunderstorms with tornadoes are forming, one would not expect to observe:

A strong ridge with high pressure over the region

An analysis is:

A surface or upper-level chart that interprets the present weather patterns

If you wanted to make a persistence forecast of minimum and maximum temperatures for a particular city, which type of chart would be most helpful?

A surface weather map

Which cloud type below will only produce precipitation by the collision-coalescence process?

A thick, warm cumulus cloud.

After a tornado is spotted,

A tornado warning is issued

On the Saffir-Simpson scale, a category 5 storm would indicate:

A very strong hurricane

Which below is the best indication that a severe thunderstorm is about to produce a tornado?

A wall cloud

The fog that forms along the Pacific coastline to North America is mainly which type?

Advection fog.

Which of the instruments below indicates both wind speed and wind direction?

Aerovane.

The most likely time for an ordinary thunderstorm to form is:

Afternoon

The largest and most severe type of squall line forms:

Ahead of a cold front

Tornadoes are usually observed:

Ahead of cold fronts

By examining a surface map, the movement of a surface low pressure area can be predicted based upon the:

All of the above

Hurricanes dissipate when:

All of the above

The electrification of a cumulonimbus cloud appears to involve:

All of the above

Which of the following is presently a problem with modern-day weather predictions?

All of the above

Damage to structures inflicted by tornadoes can be caused by:

All of these

Hurricanes do NOT form:

Along the equator

Which of the following pairs of cloud types could be very similar in appearance?

Altocumulus and cirrocumulus.

Which clouds often appear in parallel waves or bands?

Altocumulus.

Which of the following associations is NOT correct?

Altostratus- high cloud.

A weak trough of low pressure found in the tropics, along which hurricanes occasionally form, is called:

An easterly wave

Predicting the weather by weather types employs which forecasting method?

Analogue

Which instrument only measures wind speed?

Anemometer.

Which below is not a name given to a large cyclonic storm system that forms in the middle latitudes?

Anticyclone.

Strong vertical wind shear:

Appear to be responsible for several airline crashes

Electrons

Are negatively charged

According to the National Weather Service definition, a severe thunderstorm is a storm having:

At least one of the conditions described (a), (b), and (c) - ANSWER E- All of the above?

At what time during a 24-hour day would a radiation temperature inversion best be developed?

At sunrise.

According to the gas law, when temperature remans constant, which of the following is TRUE?

At the same temperature, air at a higher density is more dense then air at a lower pressure.

St. Elmo's fire is most likely to occur:

At the top of a tall dead tree

Ordinary thunderstorms typically develop in warm, humid air masses __ significant weather fronts.

Away from

Suppose there are two cloud layers above you. The lower cloud layer is moving from a westerly direction, while the higher cloud layer is moving from a northwesterly direction. From this observation you conclude that the wind is ____ with height and ____ advection is occurring between the cloud layers.

Back; cold

A wind that changes direction in a counterclockwise sense with increasing height is called a(n):

Backing wind

Which of the following instruments measures pressure?

Barometer.

At which city might you be able to observe cirrus clouds at an altitude of 3,000 m (10,000 feet) about the surface?

Barrow, Alaska

For a forecast to show skill it must:

Be better than a persistence forecast or a climatological forecast

Which is NOT characteristic of a thermal low?

Becomes stronger with increasing height.

The appearance of a downdraft marks the __ of the mature stage of a thunderstorm.

Beginnning

Squall lines generally do not form:

Behind a cold front

Which of the scientists below was NOT one of the meteorologists who helped develop the polar front theory of a developing wave cyclone?

C.G. Rossby

Major ocean currents that flow parallel to the coast of North America are:

California, Gulf Stream, and Labrador.

Which region is not considered to be a region where cyclogensis often occurs?

California.

Which of the following can be used to determine the height of cloud bases?

Ceiling ballons, rotating-beam ceilometer, and fixed-beam ceilometer (all of the above).

Which of the following would provide the most accurate method of determining cloud base altitude?

Ceilometer.

Which of the following factors is most important in determining the strength of a tornado?

Central pressure

Which of the following cloud types would be found at the highest elevation above the earth's surface?

Cirriform (cirrostratus).

In middle latitudes, which cloud will have the highest base?

Cirriform clouds.

Which of the following clouds are almost always composed of ice crystals?

Cirriform clouds.

A "mackerel sky" describes what type of clouds?

Cirrocumulus clouds.

When viewed from the surface, the smallest individual cloud elements (puffs) are observed with which cloud?

Cirrocumulus.

Which cloud is LEAST likely to produce precipitation that reaches the ground?

Cirrocumulus.

Which cloud type is composed of ice crystals and can cause a halo to form around the sun or moon?

Cirrostratus clouds.

You would most likely see a halo or sundog with which of the following cloud types?

Cirrostratus clouds.

In winter, which sequence of clouds would you most likely expect to observe as a warm front with precipitation approaches your location?

Cirrus, cirrostratus, altostratus, nimbostratus.

Which of the following is a serious hazard to aircraft?

Clear air turbulence.

Suppose that where you live, the middle of January is typically several degrees warmer than the rest of the month. If you forecast this "January thaw" for the middle of next January, you would have made a:

Climatological forecast

A funnel cloud is composed primarily of:

Cloud droplets

What type of weather front would be responsible for the following weather forecast? "Increasing cloudiness and warm today with the possibility of showers by this evening. Turning much colder tonight. Winds southwesterly becoming gusty and shifting to northwesterly by tonight."

Cold front.

On a weather map where cold air is replacing cool air, what type of front is drawn?

Cold-type occluded front.

What type of weather front would be responsible for the following weather forecast? "Light rain and cold today with temperatures just above freezing. Southeasterly winds shifting to westerly tonight. Turning colder with rain becoming mixed with snow, then changing to snow."

Cold-type occluded front.

The warm temperatures of a heat burst (a very warm thunderstorm downdraft) are caused by:

Compressional heating

The funnel cloud characteristic of a tornado is principally formed by:

Condensation of water vapor in air drawn into the low pressure core of the tornado

The favorable stability condition for hurricane development is:

Conditionally unstable

Which air mass would show the most dramatic change in both temperature and moisture content as it moves over a large body of very warm water?

Continental Polar (cP) in winter.

Which of the following is NOT associated with rising air motions?

Converging air aloft.

Which of the following conditions would be described as the most stable?

Cool the surface and warm the air aloft (radiation inversion).

The instrument that measures the speed at which precipitation is moving toward or away from an observer is:

Doppler radar

The ______ is an apparent force created by the earth's rotation.

Coriolis force

Which of the following can influence wind direction?

Coriolis force, pressure gradient force, centripetal force (all of the above).

The rate of the earth's rotation determines the strength of the:

Coriolis force.

Which of the following CANNOT act to change the speed of wind?

Coriolis force.

When caught in a thunderstorm in an open field, the best thing to do is to:

Crouch down as low as possible while minimizing contact with the ground

Hail is usually associated with what cloud?

Cumulonimbus.

Which cloud type below would most likely form in an unstable atmosphere?

Cumulonimbus.

Which two clouds can produce precipitation?

Cumulus and stratus clouds.

The initial stage of an ordinary thunderstorm is the:

Cumulus stage

Thunderstorms that move to the right of the winds aloft tend to:

Cut off the supply of humid air to thunderstorms to the north of them

A second surge of electrons that proceeds from the base of a cloud toward the ground during cloud-to-ground lightning is called a:

Dart leader

Downdrafts spread throughout a thunderstorm during the ____ stage

Dissipating

The first three stages of a developing hurricane are (from first stage to third stage):

Disturbance, Depression, Storm

The turning of water with depth is known as the:

Ekman Spiral.

The name given to the current of warm water that replaces cold surface water along the coast of Peru and Ecuador during December is:

El Niño

The forecasting technique that produces several versions of a forecast model, each beginning with slightly different weather information to reflect errors in the measurements, is called:

Ensemble forecasting

The mercury barometer was invented by:

Evangelista Torricelli.

Surface winds in hurricanes typically reach a maximum in the:

Eye wall

The process by which a hurricanes innermost ring of clouds dissipates and then strengthens is called:

Eye wall replacement

Most waterspouts would fall into which category of the Enhanced Fujita Scale?

F 0

Computer models of hurricanes almost always agree on their predictions of a hurricane's movement and evolution.

FALSE

In a multicell storm, each of the cells is always in the same stage of development.

FALSE

In order for a hurricane to form, the layer of warm water must extend from the ocean surface to a depth of at least 400 meters

FALSE

Jet streaks are thought to have little to do with the development of severe thunderstorms formation.

FALSE

Most hurricanes have fronts

FALSE

In a severe thunderstorm, hail may:

Fall from the base of the anvil, fall from the bottom of the cloud, be tossed out the side of cloud (all of the above

The National Weather Service system of watches, warnings, and advisories generally don't address weather conditions which limit visibility.

False

At any given time, only one jet stream can be found in the atmosphere.

False.

Because clouds often block their view, instruments onboard satellites cannot regularly make observations of surface winds.

False.

During a reversible adiabatic process, the pressure gradient force is parallel to the isobars.

False.

During some years, the northern hemisphere has more than 10 semi-permanent highs and lows.

False.

Even at high elevations where cirrus clouds are found, liquid water still exists in the clouds.

False.

In an exceptionally cold winter during which the Great Lakes were entirely covered by ice, lake effect snows would be expected in extremely high frequency and intensity.

False.

Stratus clouds are typically puffy and form by convection.

False.

Suppose two unsaturated air masses mix horizontally. The resulting mixture cannot possibly be saturated.

False.

The Coriolis force is the force that causes wind to blow.

False.

When fog is "burning off," the cloud droplets are preventing solar radiation from reaching the ground.

False.

Which of the following produces the strongest Coriolis force?

Fast winds, high latitudes.

Most of the destruction caused by a hurricane is due to:

Flooding

The greatest annual number of thunderstorms in the United States occurs in:

Florida

In the winter you read in the newspaper that a large section of the Midwest is without power due to downed power lines. Which form of precipitation would most likely produce this situation?

Freezing rain.

Which type of precipitation would most likely form when the surface air temperature is slightly below freezing and the air temperature increases as you move upward away from the ground?

Freezing rain.

Warm advection is most likely to occur:

From the surface up to the 500mb level ahead of an advancing warm front

The __ is a measure of hurricane strength based on hurricane winds and central pressure.

Fujita scale

A tornado vortex that does not touch the ground is called a:

Funnel cloud

Which is NOT a characteristic of a "fair weather" waterspout?

Generally indicate stable atmospheric conditions

When comparing an "average" cold front to an "average" warm front, which of the following is NOT correct?

Generally, precipitation covers a much broader area with a cold front.

Names given to satellites:

Geostationary, polar-orbiting, TRIOS, GOES, TRMM

A hurricane warning:

Gives the percent chance of a hurricane's center passing within 65 miles of a community

Which of the following might be mistaken from hail?

Graupel.

Which of the following forces does not have a direct effect on horizontal wind motions?

Gravitational force.

________ holds a planet's atmosphere close to its surface.

Gravity

Which of the following enviornmental lapse rates would represent the most unstable atmosphere in a layer of unsaturated air?

Greater than 10 degrees/1,000 meters.

The two currents, warm and cold, that produce fog off the coast of Newfoundland are:

Gulf Stream and Labrador.

The leading edge of a thunderstorm's cold downdraft is known as a:

Gust front

The large thermally driven convection cell that is driven by convective "hot" towers along the equator is the:

Hadley cell.

Which of the following are caused by the bending of light through ice crystals?

Halos and sun dogs.

Which of the following is NOT true concerning an easterly wave?

Has converging winds on its western side

Severe thunderstorms are different from ordinary thunderstorms in that severe thunderstorms:

Have a tilted updraft in the mature stage

Thunderstorms which produce tornadoes:

Have rotating updrafts

Most waterspouts:

Have rotating winds of less than 45 knots

In the Northern Hemisphere, hurricanes and middle latitude cyclones are similar in that both:

Have winds that blow counterclockwise around their centers

The albedo of the earth's surface is only about 4 percent, yet the combined albedo of the earth and the atmosphere is about 30 percent. Which set of conditions BEST explains why?

High albedo of clouds, low albedo of water.

Which of the following is MOST likely associated with fair weather?

High atmospheric pressure.

As latent heat is released inside the clouds of a hurricane, the warming of the air aloft creates an area of _____ aloft.

High pressure

Which would you NOT expect to observe as the eye of a hurricane passes directly over your area?

High winds

There is a lot of mixing and overturning of air in which of the following atmospheric layers?

Homosphere.

Which of the following conditions favors development of dust devils?

Hot, dry days.

An intense storm of tropical origin that forms over the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the west coast of Mexico would be called a:

Hurricane

Which below only forms over water?

Hurricanes

Which of the following is TRUE?

Hurricanes tend to move from east to west in the tropics

Suppose a very cold parcel of air at 5.5 km (8,000 feet) is compared to a similar (but warm) parcel of air at sea level. Which of the following would be true?

IDK

Which associations below is NOT correct?

IDK

The cells that compose a multicell thunderstorm can be:

In a different stage of development

Most squall line thunderstorms form:

In advance of a cold front

Different tornadoes spawned by the same thunderstorm are said to occur:

In families

Hurricane winds rotate in a clockwise direction:

In the Southern Hemisphere only

The so-called "Tornado Belt" of the United States is located:

In the central plains

The strongest winds in a hurricane are found:

In the eye wall

Which of the following statements is most plausible?

In winter cA source regions have lower temperatures than cP source regions.

Which of the following would you NOT expect to observe during the passage of a gust front?

Increase air temperature

Because of the conservation of angular momentum, air spiraling inward toward the center of a hurricane __ in speed.

Increases

A Mesoscale Convective Complex is actually:

Individual thunderstorms that grow into a large, long - lasting weather system

Which below does NOT describe the polar front jet stream?

Is normally found at a higher elevation than the subtropical jet.

Lines connecting points of equal pressure change are called:

Isallobars

Which of the statements below is NOT correct concerning the Coriolis force?

It causes the wind to blow faster.

"A good absorber of a given wavelength is also a good emitter of that wavelength." This is a statement of:

Kirchhoff's law.

A condition where the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean turns cooler than normal is called:

La Niña.

Severe thunderstorms are capable of producing:

Large hail, tornadoes, flash floods (all of the above)

The low-level jet stream reaches its maximum strength

Late at night or in the early morning

What is released as sensible heat during the formation of clouds?

Latent heat of condensation.

Which of the following cloud types would commonly be found downwind of a mountain?

Lenticular clouds.

Typically, water vapor occupies about what percentage of the air's volume near the earth's surface?

Less than 4 percent.

a discharge of electricity from or within a thunderstorm is called:

Lightning

Pressure at the center of a hurricane is __ than the surroundings at the surface and __ than the surroundings aloft.

Lower; higher

Which of the following clouds form in descending air?

Mammatus.

An ordinary thunderstorm is most intense during the ____ stage.

Mature

An accurate forecast:

May or may not show skill

A single Doppler radar is NOT able to:

Measure the speed at which precipitation is moving parallel to the radar antenna

The "force exerted on an object equals its mass times the acceleration produced" is a description of:

Newton's second law of motion.

The rotating updraft inside a severe thunderstorm is called a:

Mesocyclone

The small area of high pressure created by the cold, heavy air of a thunderstorm downdraft is called:

Mesohigh

Which of the following associations is most accurate?

Mesoscale- land breeze.

A relatively narrow downburst, less than 4 kilometers wide, is called a:

Microburst

The wind shear associated with several major airline crashes is believed to have been caused by:

Microburst

Lightning discharges within a cloud occur __ cloud-to-ground lightning.

More frequently than

Many flash floods, including those that occurred in Rapid City, South Dakota, and in Colorado's Big Thompson Canyon, are the result of thunderstorms that:

Move slowly

Modern computer forecasting models have increasingly smaller grid spacing. This presents which of the following problems?

Much more computations are needed

The Enhanced Fujita Scale for classifying tornado strength is based on:

Multiple damage indicators and the degree of damage

As a northward-moving hurricane passes to the east of an area, surface winds should change form:

NE to N to NW

A surface LOW pressure area that moves from south to north directly east of your home would most likely produce winds that shift from:

NE to N to NW.

A wind reported as 45° would be a wind blowing from the:

NE.

Which of the following clouds would form in the stratosphere?

Nacreous or noctilucent clouds.

How much radiant energy will an object emit if its temperature is at absolute zero?

None.

Average weather winter temperatures in Great Britain and Norway would probably be much colder if it weren't for the:

North Atlantic Drift.

A phenomenon in the Atlantic Ocean, similar to the southern oscillation, is the:

North Atlantic Oscillation.

The strongest winds in a hurricane heading westward toward Florida would most likely be found on the __ side.

Northern

The origin of cP and cA air masses that enter the United States is:

Northern Canada and Alaska.

The polar front theory of a developing wave cyclone was conceived in:

Norway.

Suppose that five of this year's tropical storms develop into hurricanes over the North Atlantic Ocean. The name of the third hurricane would start with the letter ____.

Not able to determine

A strong trade wind inversion __ to the development of a hurricane.

Not conductive

A weather forecast for the immediate future that employs the trend method is called:

Nowcasting

The forecasting of weather by a computer is known as:

Numerical weather prediction

Supercell thunderstorms are much larger than ordinary thunderstorms and have __.

One large cell

What instrument would you use for a rawinsonde observation?

Radiosonde ballon.

Which of the following can be used as a method of protecting an orchard from damaging low temperatures during a radiation inversion?

Orchard heaters, wind machines, and irrigation (all of the above).

The vertical structure of the hurricane shows an upper-level __ of air, and a surface __ of air.

Outflow; inflow

The large semi-permanent surface anticyclone that is normally positioned over the ocean of west California, is called the:

Pacific high.

Which term below describes a situation in which clouds cover between one-tenth and five-tenths of the sky?

Partly cloudy.

The least accurate forecast method of predicting the weather two days into the future during changeable weather conditions is usually the:

Persistence forecast

Weather forecast that predicts that the future weather will be the same as the present weather is called:

Persistence forecasting

In a typical advancing winter storm, which of the following sequences of precipitation types is most likely to occur?

Rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow.

Which of the following processes remove CO2 from the atmosphere?

Photosynthesis.

The upper part of a thunderstorm cloud is normally __ charged, and the middle and lower parts are __ charged.

Positively; negatively

A HP supercell differs from an LP supercell based on the storm's:

Precipitation amount

If an air parcel is completely at rest which of the following forces can make the parcel begin to move?

Pressure gradient force.

The surface pressures at the bases of warm and cold columns of air are equal. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Pressure will decrease with increasing height at the same rate in both columns.

Which of the following weather elements ALWAYS decreases as we climb upward in the atmosphere?

Pressure.

Which of the following expresses the gas law?

Pressure= temperature X density X constant.

Which of the following instruments use wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperature to obtain relative humidity?

Psychrometer.

Satellites measure rainfall from space using which instrument?

Radar.

On a clear, calm night, the ground and air above cool mainly by which process?

Radiation.

Which of the winds below is NOT considered to be a cold wind?

Santa Ana wind or Chinook wind.

Which below would not be considered an onshore wind?

Santa Ana wind.

An ordinary thunderstorm is a:

Scattered or isolated storm that is not severe

A smog fron is most often associated with which wind system?

Sea breeze.

At home, when confronted with an approaching tornado, you should:

Seek shelter immediately

The greatest improvement in forecasting skill during the past 30 years has been made in forecasting:

Sever storm warnings for hurricanes and tornadoes

The radio waves produced by lightning are called:

Sferics

Which of the following is NOT considered a semi-permanent high or low pressure area?

Siberian high.

What are the two main substances used in cloud seeding?

Silver iodide and dry ice.

At the periphery of a hurricane, the air is __, and several kilometers above the surface, in the eye, the air is __.

Sinking; sinking

The fundamental laws of motion were formulated by:

Sir Isaac Newton.

The main difference between a downdraft and a microburst is:

Size

Which statement below best describes the curvature effect?

Small droplets evaporate more quickly than large droplets.

Which below best describes why a fluffy covering of snow is able to protect sensitive plants and their root systems from damaging low temperatures?

Snow is a good insulator.

If a tornado is rotating in a counterclockwise direction and moving toward the northeast, the strong winds will be on its __ side.

Southeastern Side

Which of the following regions would you expect to have the most tornadoes in the winter?

Southern Gulf States

In an eastward moving thunderstorm, the most likely place for a tornado to develop is in the __ part of the storm.

Southwest

In the United States, tornadoes are most frequent during the ____, and least frequent during the ____.

Spring, winter

Light flashes darting upward from the tops of thunderstorms are called:

Sprites and blue jets

A line of thunderstorms that form ahead of an advancing cold front is called a:

Squall line

The bluish halo that may appear above pointed objects underneath a thunderstorm is called:

St. Elmo's fire

Which forecasting method assumes that weather systems will move in the same direction and at the same speed as they have been moving?

Steady state (trend) forecast

What would be the proper sequence of events in a lightning flash?

Stepped latter, return stroke, dart

Which of the following is the poorest conductor of heat?

Still air.

In middle latitudes, which cloud will have the lowest base?

Stratocumulus.

Which cloud would most likely produce drizzle?

Stratus.

Which below is NOT an atmospheric condition conductive to the formation of hurricanes?

Strong upper-level winds

Very short-range forecasts often utilize which of the following forecast methods?

Subjective interpretations of surface observations, satellite imagery and Doppler radar information

Which below best describes the solute effect?

Substances dissolved in a droplet can enhance or retard growth of the droplet.

The small, rapidly rotating whirls that sometimes occur within a large tornado are called:

Suction vortices

When two sets of conditions, working together, will make the atmosphere the most unstable?

Surface air warms and the air aloft cools.

When making a forecast, a meteorologist typically examines:

Surface charts, upper air charts, radar display, satellite imagery (all of the above)

A supercell storm consists of a single rotating updraft

TRUE

Although much is not yet understood about hurricanes, meteorologists have a reasonably complete understanding of how hurricanes form.

TRUE

Conditional instability is a favorable condition for thunderstorm formation

TRUE

Hurricanes have strong divergence at their tops

TRUE

Severe thunderstorms often occur where the dry line intersects a front or an outflow boundary

TRUE

The atmospheric conditions that promote the formation of severe thunderstorms tend to prevent many smaller ones from forming:

TRUE

There is a limit to the intensity of hurricanes

TRUE

Which of the following will increase the relative humidity in a home during winter?

Taking a shower and letting the air circulate throughout the home.

Which of the following determine the kind (wavelength) and amount of radiation that an object emits?

Temperature.

Which of the following provides a measure of the average speed of air molecules?

Temperature.

Which of the following areas in the US would most likely experience thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes during the course of one year?

The Gulf Coast states

The region in the United States with the greatest annual frequency of hailstone is:

The Midwest

Which of the following statements about tornadoes is correct?

The US has more tornadoes than any other country in the world

The most frequent time of day for tornadoes to form is in the:

The late afternoon 4-9pm

A forecast method that compares past weather maps and weather patterns to those of the present is:

The analogue method

Suppose you are outside in very cold temperatures, wearing a winter coat that is effective at keeping you warm. Which of the following is true?

The coat is the source of heat that keeps you warm, the coat prevents your body's heat from escaping to the surrounding

Hurricanes can't form along the equator because:

The coriolis force is too small along the equator

Which of the following would be TRUE if the earth did not have an atmosphere?

The days would be shorter. The sky would be black. The stars would always be visible.

Ordinary thunderstorms only last about one hour and begin to dissipate when:

The downdraft spreads throughout the cloud and cuts off the updraft

Which below is NOT an assumption of the single-cell model of the general circulation of the atmosphere?

The earth rotates once in 24 hours.

Which of the following is not true concerning vorticity?

The earth's vorticity is zero at the poles.

Where are the days and nights of equal length all year long?

The equator.

A prog is:

The final forecast chart representing the atmosphere at a specified future time called a prognostic chart (prog)

In the United States, dry line thunderstorms are most common in:

The great plains

Which of the following is the most accurate description of the principle of a lightning rod?

The lightning rod intercepts the lightning and safely carries the lightning current around the object it protects

You a generally safe inside an automobile during a lightning storm because:

The metal car body will carry lightning currents around the passengers inside

Why is there a minus sign in the hydrostatic equation?

The minus sign indicates that, as pressure decreases, height increases.

Which of the following is NOT an important factor in the production of rain by the collision-coalescence process?

The number of ice crystals in the cloud.

A hook-shaped echo on a radar screen often indicates:

The possible presence of a tornado- producing thunderstorms

Which of the following relationships best describes the gas law?

The pressure of a gas is equal to its temperature times its density times a constant.

Thunder is caused by:

The rapid heating of air surrounding a lightning channel

The Fujita scale pertains to:

The strength of a tornado

The main reason hurricane don't develop over the South Atlantic Ocean adjacent to South America is because:

The surface water temperatures are too cold

An important principle in the electrification of a cumulonimbus cloud is that:

There is a transfer of positive ions from a warmer object to a colder object

In a blinding snowstorm in Vermont, the air temperature and dew-point temperature are both 30°F. Meanwhile, under clear skies in Arizona, the air temperature is 85°F and the dew point temperature is 38°F. From this information, you could conclude:

There is more water vapor in the air in Arizona.

As surface air rushes in toward the eye of a hurricane, the air expands and should cool. The main reason the surface air is not cooler around the eye is because:

The warm water heats the air

Under what circumstances could the relative humidity exceed 100 percent without producing fog?

There are no condensation nuclei.

A weather watch would probably be issued for which of the following conditions?

There is a chance for tornadoes tomorrow

Which of the following is TRUE about rainbows?

To see a rainbow at sunrise, you should look toward the west.

Hurricanes that move into India and Australia are usually called __ in this part of the world.

Tropical cyclones

Just before a storm becomes a fully developed hurricane, it is in the __ stage.

Tropical storm

Clear air turbulence often occurs near a boundary of high wind shear.

True.

Fog is a major hazard to aviation.

True.

Freshly fallen snow can absorb sound waves.

True.

Jet streams sometimes split into two branches.

True.

Like hurricanes, polar lows have a clear area in their center.

True.

On an isobaric weather chart, the spacing of the height contours indicates the magnitude of the pressure gradient force.

True.

Saturation vapor pressure increases as temperature increases.

True.

A storm of tropical origin whose high winds and water cause a great deal of destruction to islands in the western Northern Pacific is (in this part of the world) known as a:

Typhoon

Which of the following has a wavelength shorter than that of violet light?

Ultraviolet radiation.

______ are found beneath fair-weather cumulus (cumulus humilis) clouds, whereas ______ are found between the clouds.

Updrafts; downdrafts

A Doppler radar determines precipitation __ by measuring changes in the __ of the reflected radiowave.

Velocity; frequency

A funnel cloud or tornado may develop from this rotating cloud that extends beneath a severe thunderstorm.

Wall cloud

Suppose it is warm and raining, and a cold front is moving toward your location. Directly behind the cold front, it is cold and snowing. Still further behind the front, the weather is cold and clearing. If the front is scheduled to pass your area in 6 hours, a persistence forecast for your area for 2 hours from now would be:

Warm and raining

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 light easterly today becoming southeasterly tonight and southwesterly tomorrow."

Warm front.

The main source of energy for a hurricane is the:

Warm ocean water and release of latent heat energy by condensation

What type of weather front would be responsible for the following weather forecast? "Cool today with rain becoming heavy by this afternoon. Slightly warmer tomorrow. Winds southeasterly becoming westerly to northwesterly by tomorrow morning."

Warm-type occluded front.

The gas that shows the most variation from place to place and from time to time in the lower atmosphere is which of the following?

Water vapor.

Which of the following is considered a variable gas in the earth's atmosphere?

Water vapor.

A tornado-like event that forms over water is a:

Watersprout

Which of the following equations is correct?

Weight= mass X gravity

The majority of the United States lies within which wind belt?

Westerlies.

At what time of day is the relative humidity normally at a minimum?

When the air temperature is the highest.

Streamlines on a weather map depict:

Wind flow

The main difference between a hurricane and a tropical storm is that:

Wind speeds are greater in a hurricane

Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) measure:

Wind, temperature, pressure, cloud - base height, and runway visibility at various airports

In the Northern Hemisphere, which of the following days has the fewest hours of daylight?

Winter solstice (December 21).

Lightning may occur:

Within a cloud, from a cloud to the ground, from one cloud to another (all of the above)

Thunder will not occur:

Without lightning

A cloud-to-ground lightning discharge will sometimes appear to flicker. This is because:

You are able to distinguish separate return strokes

A persistence forecast could be quite accurate when:

You are positioned in the middle of a large, stationary air mass

A cold front that moves into New England from the east or northeast is called:

a "back door" cold front.

Occluded fronts may form as:

a cold front overtakes a warm lake.

The number or mass of air molecules in a given space or volume is called:

density.

The latitude at which there is a yearly balance between incoming and outgoing radiation is:

about 37 degrees.

At the 500 mb level, the amount of oxygen inhaled in a single breath is ________ of that inhaled at sea level.

about half

On the summer solstice, the altitude of the noonday sun is highest:

above the middle latitudes.

If the environmental lapse rate is less than the moist adiabatic rate, the atmosphere is:

absolutely stable.

When the environmental lapse rate decreases more rapidly with height than the dry adiabatic rate, the atmosphere is:

absolutely unstable.

Clouds ______ infrared radiation and ______ visible radiation.

absorb, reflect

Ozone in the stratosphere:

absorbs ultraviolet radiation and in turn warms the stratosphere causing a temperature inversion.

The atmospheric greenhouse effect is produced mainly by the:

absorption and re-emission of infrared radiation by the atmosphere.

On a clear night, the minimum temperature drops to 34°F. The following night, fog forms early in the evening. It is a good bet the minimum temperature will not be as low because of the:

absorption of infrared energy by the water vapor and fog droplets and the release of latent heat during condensation.

Areas of rising air tend to be associated with ______ precipitation.

abundant

The growth of a precipitation particle by the collision of an ice crystal (or snowflake) with a supercooled liquid droplet is called:

accretion.

Fog that forms off the coast of Newfoundland is mainly a form of:

advection fog.

Suppose two ocean currents with different temperatures are flowing next to one another. If the wind blows perpendicular to the currents, we would expect to find:

advection fog.

In the atmosphere, tiny solid or liquid suspended particles of various compositions are called:

aerosols.

Thermal turbulence above the surface is usually most severe:

at the time of maximum surface heating.

More solar radiation is received:

at the top of the atmosphere.

At night, when the weather is extremely cold and dry,

atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing height.

In the vertical, the pressure gradient force points ______ and gravity points ______.

away from the earth, toward the earth

A chinook wall cloud is a:

bank of clouds forming over the mountains.

On an upper-level chart where the isotherms cross the isobars (contours) and temperature advection occurs, the atmosphere is:

baroclinic.

Since the turn of this century, CO2 in the atmosphere has:

been increasing in concentration.

On a weather map of the Northern Hemisphere, one would observe the westerlies:

between the subpolar lows and the subtropical highs.

An offshore wind:

blows from land to water; also known as a land breeze.

A south wind:

blows from the south.

Another term for explosive cyclogenesis used by meteorologists is:

bomb.

The processes of condensation and freezing:

both release sensible heat into the environment.

Strong winds blowing over vegetation results in:

brush fire.

The coldest of all air masses is:

cA.

A Texas norther (or blue norther) is most often associated with which air mass?

cP

Clear sunny days with very cold nights would be associated with which type of air mass?

cP

Record breaking low temperatures are associated with which air mass?

cP

On a weather map, this front, drawn in blue, represents a region where colder air is replacing warmer air:

cold front.

Squall lines most often form ahead of a:

cold front.

In winter, thunderstorms are most likely to form along:

cold fronts.

A katabatic wind is a ______ wind.

cold, downslope

In the Northern Hemisphere, air found to the north of the polar front is ______ while air further South is ______.

cold, warm

Santa Ana winds warm by ______ as they flow down an elevated desert plateau.

compression

Sinking air warms by the process of:

compression.

The heat from a chinook wind is generated mainly by:

compressional heating.

Particles that serve as surfaces on which water vapor may condense are called:

condensation nuclei.

The transfer of heat by molecule-to-molecule contact is:

conduction.

On a 500 millibar chart, ______ are drawn to represent horizontal changes in altitude which correspond to horizontal changes in pressure.

contour lines

The piling up of air above a region is called:

convergence.

The surface air around a strengthening low pressure area normally ______, while aloft, above the system, the air normally ______.

converges, diverges

If rain falls on one side of a street on one side of a street and not on the other side, the rain most likely fell from a:

cumulonimbus cloud.

An anvil-shaped top is most often associated with:

cumulonimbus clouds.

As Apollo 2 ascended into the atmosphere, the height of the surrounding clouds was noted to be 42,000 feet. A lightning stroke was seen within these clouds, indicating that they must have been:

cumulonimbus.

The cloud with the greatest vertical growth is:

cumulonimbus.

The name given to a towering cloud that has NOT fully developed into a thunderstorm is:

cumulus congestus.

A wind instrument that usually consists of three or more cups:

cup anemometer.

The development or strengthening of a middle latitude storm system is called:

cyclogenesis.

On an infrared satellite image, low, warm clouds appear ______ and high, cold clouds appear ______

dark, light (T)

An increase in albedo would be accompanied by a ______ in radiative equilibrium temperature.

decrease

Suppose it is a winter night and at about 10 PM, the air cools to the dew point temperature and a thick radiation fog develops. If the air continues to cool during the night, in 5 hours the dew point temperature will probably:

decrease as the air becomes drier.

The surface pressures at the bases of warm and cold columns of air are equal. Air pressure in the warm column of air will ______ with increasing height ______ than in the cold column.

decrease, more slowly

As the air temperature increases, with no addition of water vapor, the relative humidity will:

decrease.

If surface air pressure decreases, the height of the column in a mercury barometer would:

decrease.

If the average temperature of the sun increased, the wavelength of peak solar emission would:

decrease.

As the difference between the air temperature and the dew point increases, the relative humidity:

decreases.

The most common ice crystal shape is:

dendrite.

Cyclogenesis is the ______ of mid-latitude cyclones.

development or strengthening

The temperature to which air must be cooled in order to become saturated is the:

dew point.

A sea or land breeze is caused by:

differences in temperature.

For cyclogenesis to occur along a frontal wave, the winds aloft directly above the wave should be:

diverging.

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation is simliar to El Niño/Southern Oscillation, except that it:

doesn't affect fish population.

In order to be effective, fog lamps on cars should be directed:

downward.

The lightest form of rain is:

drizzle.

The winter monsoon in eastern and southern Asia is characterized by:

dry weather and winds blowing from land to sea.

Another name for a small, rotating whirlwind observed at the surface is:

dust devil.

If, at your home in the Northern Hemisphere, the surface wind is blowing from the northwest then the region of lowest pressure will be to the _____ of your home.

east

A katabatic wind on the Oregon coast would most likely blow from the:

east to west downslope.

A "back door" cold front moving through New England would most likely have winds shifting from ______ to ______.

east, west

In south Florida the prevailing winds are northeasterly. Because of this, the strongest sea breeze is usually observed on Florida's ______ coast, and the strongest land breeze occurs on Florida's ______ coast.

east, west

At sunset in the middle latitudes, look for a rainbow toward the:

east.

Suppose that the winds aloft are geostrophic and blowing from the north. Low pressure is located to the:

east.

At Barrow, Aaska (latitude 70°N), you would expect the prevailing wind to be:

easterly.

The howling of wind on a blustery night is believed to be caused by:

eddies.

On a weather map, ridges are:

elongated high pressure areas.

A northeaster along the east coast of the United States is best developed when a low pressure area:

enhances the surrounding pressure gradient.

The rate at which the actual air temperature changes with increasing height above the surface is referred to as the:

environmental lapse rate.

When fog "burns off," it:

evaporates.

Fog that most often forms as warm rain falls into a cold layer of surface air is called:

evaporation (mixing) fog.

When water changes from a liquid to a vapor, we call this process:

evaporation.

Upslope fog forms because air ______ as it flows up a hill or mountain range.

expands and then cools

Rising air cools by the process of:

expansion.

During a major El Niño event,

extensive ocean warming occurs over the tropical Pacific.

Snowflakes or ice crystals falling from high cirriform clouds are called:

fall streaks.

Before the passage of a cold front the pressure normally ______, and after the passage of a cold front the pressure usually ______.

falls, rises

On an upper-level chart, normally we find warm air associated with ______ pressure, and cold air associated with ______ pressure.

high, low

A ridge on an upper-level isobaric chart indicates:

higher than average heights.

Suppose the dew point of cold outside air is the same as the dew point of the air indoors. If the door is opened and cold air replaces some of the warm air, then the new relative humidity indoors would be:

higher than before.

Warm air aloft is associated with constant pressure surfaces that are found at ______ altitudes than normal and ______ than normal atmospheric pressure aloft.

higher, higher

Areas of high atmospheric pressure are also known as:

highs, or anticyclones.

The earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5° with respect to the plane of its orbit around the sun. If the amount of tilt were increased to 40°, we would expect in middle latitudes:

hotter summer and colder winter.

When the upward-directed pressure gradient force is in balance with the downward pull of gravity, the atmosphere is in:

hydrostatic equilibrium.

On humid days, salt in saltshakers sometimes becomes moist and no loner pours out easily. The salt can be described as:

hygroscopic.

During the ice crystal process of rain formation:

ice crystals grow larger at the expense of the surrounding liquid cloud droplets.

Ice nuclei may be:

ice crystals, certain clay minerals, bacteria in decaying plant leaf matter, etc.

Cirrus clouds are compose primarily of:

ice.

After a rainstorm, visibility typically:

improves.

The jet stream flows:

in a wavy pattern west to east.

During the winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the "land of the midnight sun" would be found:

in high latitudes.

The deepest radiation inversion would be observed:

in polar regions in winter.

If the average surface temperature were to increase, the amount of radiation emitted from the earth's surface would ______, and the wavelength of peak emission would shift toward ______ wavelengths.

increase, shorter

As an air parcel aloft moves northward from the equator, it moves closer to the earth's axis of rotation. Because of the conservation of angular momentum, the air parcel's motion should:

increase.

If a liquid with a lower density than mercury were used in a barometer, the height of the column in the barometer would:

increase.

If the earth's gravitational force were to increase, atmospheric pressure at the ground would:

increase.

If the flow of air into a surface low pressure area is greater than the divergence of air aloft, the surface pressure in the center of the low will:

increase.

Suppose a parcel of air has a given temperature, pressure, and density. If the parcel's size remains the same while its temperature increases, then the air pressure inside the parcel will:

increase.

The planetary vorticity of an air parcel moving from low toward high latitude in the Northern Hemisphere will:

increase.

When the air temperature increases, the saturation vapor pressure will:

increase.

Subsidence ______ stability.

increases

In the stratosphere, the air temperature normally:

increases with height.

As the air temperature increases, the air's capacity for water vapor:

increases.

The primary cause of radiation inversion is:

infrared radiation emitted by the earth's surface.

Most of the radiation emitted by a human body is in the form of:

infrared radiation.

The earth emits radiation with the greatest intensity at:

infrared wavelengths.

According to Wein's displacement law, the wavelength at which maximum radiation occurs is:

inversely proportional to the temperature.

Contact nucleation is:

involved in contact freezing. (Can be just about any substance)

The electrified region of the upper atmosphere is called the:

ionosphere.

The annual variation of the earth-sun distance is ______ to seasonal weather changes.

irrelevant

A thermally direct cell is one that:

is driven by the energy of the sun.

A westerly wind means that the atmosphere:

is moving faster than the earth spins.

Lines connecting points of equal pressure are called:

isobars.

Lines connecting points of equal temperature are called:

isotherms.

If directly above you at 10,000 feet the wind is blowing from the south, then it is a good bet that at 10,000 feet, the center of lowest pressure is ______ of you, while the center of highest pressure is to the ______ of you.

left, right

Clouds that have a characteristic lens-shaped appearance are referred to as:

lenticular clouds.

Wet haze forms when the relative humidity is:

less than 100 percent.

A warm, dry gusty wind that blows across North Africa is the:

leste.

The instrument that uses infrared or visible light in the form of a laser beam to determine wind direction is the:

lidar.

Supercooled cloud droplets are:

liquid droplets observed at temperatures below 0 degrees C.

The land/sea breeze, lake breeze, and mountain/valley breeze are examples of:

local winds.

The earth's radiation is often referred to as ______ radiation, while the sun's radiation is often referred to as ______ radiation.

longwave, shortwave

Rossby waves are also know as:

longwaves.

Monsoon depressions are:

low pressure areas that enhance rainfall during the summer monsoon.

Fronts are associated with:

low pressure.

A true blizzard is characterized by:

low temperature, strong winds, reduced visibility, blowing snow.

Without the atmospheric greenhouse effect, the average surface temperature would be:

lower than at present.

If an airplane flies from standard temperature air into warmer than standard temperature air, without making any correction, the altimeter in the warmer air would indicate an altitude:

lower than the aircraft's actual altitude.

Suppose you are a pilot who is flying from warm air into colder air. In the cold air, even though your altimeter is still indicating the same altitude as it did in the warm air, you would be flying:

lower than your altimeter indicated.

The temperature an air parcel would have if it were moved to a pressure of 1,000 mb at the dry adiabatic rate is called the:

potential temperature.

The temperature that unsaturated air would have if it moved from its original altitude to a pressure of 1,000 mb is the:

potential temperature.

The amount of pressure change that occurs over a given horizontal distance is called the:

pressure gradient.

The amount of force exerted over an area of surface is called:

pressure.

The scale on a altimeter indicates altitude, but an altimeter actually measures:

pressure.

The temperature at which water boils depends mainly on:

pressure.

Often before sunrise on a clear, calm, cold morning, ice (frost) can be seen on the tops of parked cars, even when the air temperature is above freezing. This condition happens because the tops of the cars are cooling by:

radiation.

When a plate of hot food is left on the table for a while, it cools by:

radiation.

The cooling of the ground to produce dew is mainly the result of:

radiational cooling.

Winter fog in the Central Valley region of California is mainly due to:

radiational cooling.

Satellite images taken of clouds at night use

radiometers. (T)

The instrument that measures temperature, pressure, and humidity at various altitudes in the atmosphere is the:

radiosonde.

The name commonly used to describe the drier region observed on the downwind (leeward) side of a mountain range is:

rain shadow

The TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite provides information on tropical:

rainfall, sea surface temperatures with a microwave scanner.

The primary method used in preventing the growth of large, destructive hailstones is to inject a thunderstorm with large quantities of:

silver iodide.

Generally, along the polar front, one would not expect to observe:

sinking air aloft.

The main reason Santa Ana winds are warm is because:

sinking air warms by compression.

The main difference between a cloud drop and a rain drop is its:

size.

A raindrop or partially melted snowflake that freezes into a pellet of ice in a deep subfreezing layer of air near the surface is called:

sleet.

In summer, humid regions typically have ______ daily temperature ranges and ______ maximum temperatures than drier regions.

smaller, lower

During the winter as you travel toward a warm front, the most likely sequence of weather you would experience is:

snow, sleet, freezing rain, rain

Condensation onto hygroscopic nuclei is possible at relative humidities less than 100 percent due to the:

solute effect.

On a weather map of the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds would be observed:

south of the subtropical highs.

Generally, on an upper-level (1000 mb) chart in the Northern Hemisphere during July, we would expect to find the tropical easterly jet stream:

south of the upper-level subtropical high.

When a deep upper-level trough is located to the east of a surface anticyclone, the surface anticyclone will tend to move toward the:

southeast.

When cP air moves into western Washington, western Oregon, and California from the east, the air mass is warmer at the surface than it was originally because:

the air sinks, is compressed, and warms.

Meteorology is the study of:

the atmosphere and its phenomena.

On an isobaric surface,

the atmospheric pressure is equal everywhere.

On a humid day, the ______ causes salty potato chips left outside in an uncovered bowl turn soggy.

the attraction of water by hygroscopic condensation nuclei

If the amount of energy lost by the earth to space each year were not approximately equal to that received,

the average surface temperature would change.

As a radiosonde balloon ascends through the atmosphere,

the balloon eventually bursts and the radiosonde returns to earth.

A mirage is caused by:

the bending of light by air of different densities.

Although the polar regions radiate away more heat energy than they receive by insolation in the course of a year, they are prevented from becoming progressively colder each year by:

the circulation of heat by the atmosphere and the oceans.

During the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere,

the day is less than 12 hours long and is increasing with each passing day.

In July, at middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere,

the day is more than 12 hours long and is decreasing with each passing day.

Frost forms when:

the dew point is at or below freezing. When the air temperature cools to the dew point and further cooling occurs (water vapor can change directly to ice without becoming a liquid first, a process called deposition).

For frozen dew to form,

the dew point must be above freezing, the minimum temperature must fall to freezing or below, dew must form and then freeze.

The wind direction is:

the direction from which the wind is blowing.

Refraction of light by the atmosphere is responsible for:

the earlier rising and later setting of the sun, the elliptical shape of the sun at sunset, the visual perspective of stars and planets in the sky etc...

The major process that warms the lower atmosphere is:

the earth's radiation of infrared energy.

The ultimate cause of jet streams is:

the energy imbalance between high and low latitudes.

Conditional instability depends on the condition of:

the environmental lapse rate with respect to both the dry adiabatic rate and the moist adiabatic rate.

In terms of the three-cell model of the general circulation, areas of surface low pressure should be found at:

the equator and 60 degree latitudes.

If huge waves pound against the beach communities of Southern California for several days during clear, calm weather, it is a good bet that:

the winds are strong somewhere over the Pacific ocean.

Clouds are classified by:

their appearance.

In a temperature inversion:

there is an increase in temperature with height.

An important reason for the large daily temperature range over deserts is that:

there is little water vapor in the air to absorb and re-radiate infrared radiation.

Frost typically forms on the inside of a windowpane (rather than the outside) because:

there is more water vapor touching the inside of the pane.

The hottest atmospheric layer is the:

thermosphere.

If you observe large raindrops hitting the ground, you could probably say that the cloud overhead was ______ and had ______ updrafts.

thick, strong

On a cold winter morning, the air near the surface is full of smoke particles. If fog should form in this air, it will probably be ________ fog that forms in cleaner air.

thicker than

Longwaves in the middle and upper troposphere usually have lengths on the order of:

thousands of kilometers.

A towering cloud, or cluster of clouds, accompanied by thunder, lightning, and a strong, gusty wind is a:

thunderstorm.

The lag in daily temperature refers to the time lag between:

time of maximum solar radiation and the time of maximum temperature.

Infrared and visible images are computer enhanced

to increase the contrast between specific features in picture. (T)

A reasonably successful method of dispersing cold fog is:

to seed the fog with dry ice.

Buys-Ballot's law states that, "In the Northern Hemisphere if you stand with your back to the surface wind, then turn clockwise 30°, lower pressure will be:

to your left."

The summer monsoon in eastern and southern Asia is characterized by:

wet weather and winds blowing from sea to land.

An amount of precipitation measured to be less than one hundredth of an inch (0.25 mm) is called:

trace.

An upper-air front involves downward motion of the:

tropopause.

Almost all the earth's weather occurs in the:

troposphere.

The atmospheric layer in which we live is called the:

troposphere.

The sun is directly overhead at Mexico City (latitude 19°N):

twice a year.

Secondary rainbows occur when:

two internal reflections of light occur in raindrops.

The proper order from shortest to longest wavelengths is:

ultraviolet, visible light, infrared.

An altocumulus in the form of parallel waves would be described as an altocumulus:

undulatus.

If an air parcel is given a small push upward and it continues to move upward on it own accord, the atmosphere is said to be:

unstable.

If fog is forming at Denver, Colorado, and the wind is blowing from the east, then the fog is most likely:

upslope fog.

During the winter, easterly winds along the front range of the Rocky Mountains provide excellent conditions for:

upslope snow.

The vertical pressure gradient force is directed:

upward.

The cold water observed along the northern California coast in summer is due mainly to:

upwelling.

Cumulus clouds that appear above isolated mountain peaks are often the result of a:

valley breeze.

While fly-fishing in a mountain stream, you notice that the wind is blowing upstream. From this you could deduce that the wind is a:

valley breeze.

Frontal fog most commonly forms as ______ raindrops fall into a layer of ______ air.

warm, colder

The Santa Ana wind is a ______ wind that blows into southern California.

warm, dry

Chinook winds are:

warm, dry winds that descend the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains.

Compared to a mP air mass, mT air is:

warmer and moist.

Longer days are generally associated with:

warmer weather.

The most abundant greenhouse gas in the earth's atmosphere is:

water vapor.

The only substance near the earth's surface that is found naturally in the atmosphere as a solid, liquid, and a gas is:

water.

For a surface storm system to intensify, the upper-level low should be located to the ______ of the surface low.

west

If in the Northern Hemisphere the upper level winds above you are blowing from the south, then it is a good bet that a trough of low pressure is to the ______ of you.

west

Atmospheric shortwaves usually move from ______ at a speed ______ than longwaves.

west to east, faster

Generally, weather in the middle latitudes tends to move from ______ to ______.

west, east

An upper-level trough that shows retrograde motion would probably be moving toward the:

west.

Chicago, Illinois (latitude 42°N) is located in the:

westerlies.