Meteorology

In calm air, the air temperature is -10°F. If the wind speed should increase to 30 mi/hr (with no change in air temperature), the thermometer will indicate ____.

-10

The latitude of the equator is ____.

0°

The temperature of the soil is strongly influenced by solar radiation. At what depth within the soil would you expect to find the smallest annual variation in temperature?

10 centimeters

How many cooling degree-days would there be for a day with a maximum temperature of 95°F and a minimum temperature of 65°F? (Assume a base temperature of 65°F)

15

The diurnal range of temperature is greatest ____

2

Maximum air temperature in a given day usually occurs ____.

2-4 hours after maximum solar heating

The "normal" high temperature for a given day is determined from the ____.

30 year averaged high temperature for that day

How many heating degree-days would there be for a day with a maximum temperature of 30°F and a minimum temperature of 20°F? (Assume a base temperature of 65°F.)

40

Suppose peas are planted in Indiana on May 1. If the peas need 1200 growing degree-days before they can be picked, and if the mean temperature for each day during May and June is 70°F, in about how many days will the peas be ready to pick? (Assume a base temperature of 40°F.)

40

During the summer months at the North Pole, the sun does not set for ____.

6 months

The "ozone hole" is observed above ____.

Antartica (South Pole)

The freezing of pure water is 32° on the ____ scale.

Fahrenheit

The earth is closest to the sun in ____.

January

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

January and summer

Mercury is used in barometers primarily because of which one of the following properties?

Mercury has a high density.

Why is snow challenging to measure?

Snow accumulations vary greatly from one spot to the next.

Which condition would be equivalent to an air temperature of 45°F, a wind speed of 30 mi/hr, and a wind-chill equivalent temperature of 15°F?

a 15°F air temperature and 0 mi/hr winds

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

a trough

Suppose the rising air parcel is warmer and less dense than the air around it. In this case, the atmosphere is ____.

absolutely unstable

A parcel of air expands and cools, or compresses and warms, with no interchange of heat with its outside surroundings. What is this called?

adiabatic process

The movement of smoke in the atmosphere from one area to another by wind is an example of ____

advection

A good example of ____ is observed along the Pacific Coast during summer, when warm, moist air from the ocean is carried over colder coastal waters.

advection fog

Tiny solid or liquid suspended atmospheric particles of various composition are called ____.

aerosols

Radiation fog forms when ____

air next to the ground is cooled

The vertical profile of ____ is variable in each layer of the earth's atmosphere.

air temperature

In a hilly region, the best place to plant crops that are sensitive to low temperatures is ___.

along hillsides

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

altitude

A dim, watery sun visible through a gray sheet-like cloud layer is often a good indication of ____ clouds.

altostratus

Areas of high atmospheric pressure are also known as ____.

anticyclones

The thermosphere is where charged particles from the sun interact with air molecules to produce ____.

auroras

An object that radiates more energy than it absorbs will ____.

become colder

An object at radiative equilibrium temperature is behaving as a

blackbody

Seasons on earth are regulated by ___.

both the length of daylight hours and the angle sunlight strikes the earth's surface

Although water vapor accounts for about 60% of the atmospheric greenhouse effect, it is the increase of ____ in the atmosphere that appears to be the main cause of global warming.

carbon dioxide

The atmospheric greenhouse effect is due primarily to the fact that ___.

carbon dioxide and water vapor absorb infrared radiation

When viewed from the surface, high clouds that are small, rounded, white puffs occurring individually or in long rows are called ____.

cirrocumulus

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

cirrocumulus

Thin, wispy clouds blown by high winds into long streamers, called mare's tails, are ___

cirrus

Nighttime radiation inversions occur on most ____.

clear, calm nights

Orchard heaters and wind machines are most useful in preventing damaging low temperatures from occurring next to the ground on ____.

clear, calm nights

One would expect near-ground temperatures to be coldest when the night is ___.

clear, dry, and calm

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

clockwise and outward from the center

Cold and cloudy nights are warmer than cold and clear nights (other factors being equal) because ____.

clouds absorb outgoing infrared energy and radiate it back to the surface

Most rain at middle latitudes is produced by the ice crystal process. This is because ____.

clouds in these regions can extend into regions where air temperatures are below freezing

Which of the following would you expect to have smaller diurnal temperature ranges (assuming all other factors are equal)?

coastal

Cloud seeding using silver iodide only works in _____.

cold clouds composed of ice crystals and supercooled droplets

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

condensation nuclei

The word "weather" is defined as____.

condition of the atmosphere at any particular time and place

The transfer of heat from molecule to molecule within a substance is called ____.

conduction

We are likely to feel colder on a cold, rainy day than on a cold, dry day because water ____ heat away from the body better than air does.

conducts

The earth emits infrared radiation ____.

continuously

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

cooler; warmer

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

cooling the surface and warming the air aloft

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

counterclockwise; inward

The name given to a towering cloud that produces precipitation that is showery with frequent changes in intensity is ____.

cumulus congetus

If upper-level divergence exceeds surface convergence, the air pressure at the center of the low will ____, and the isobars will become ____ tightly packed.

decrease; more

he 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

Lines of latitude on a map represent the ____.

distance north or south from the equator

Which of the following areas would you expect to find warmer night temperatures (assuming all other factors are equal)?

downtown areas in cities

Which of the following would contribute to higher surface air temperatures?

dry sandy soil with little vegetation

Suppose that the winds aloft in the Northern Hemisphere are geostrophic and blowing from the north. Low pressure is located to the ____.

east

Exhaled breath from your mouth in cold weather produces ____.

evaporation (mixing) fog

Middle-latitude cyclonic storm systems are also known as____.

extratropical cyclones

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

The boundary that separates sharp changes in temperature, humidity, and wind direction is known as a(n) ____.

front

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

geostrophic wind

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

gradient wind

Air molecules are held near the earth's surface by ____.

gravity

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

gravity

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

greater; less

What is responsible for the cold feeling that you experience after leaving a swimming pool on a hot, dry summer day?

heat transport by latent heat

What is used as an index for fuel consumption?

heating degree-days

The albedo of the earth's surface is only about 4%, yet the combined albedo of the earth and the atmosphere is about 30%. Which set of conditions below best explains why this is so?

high albedo of clouds; low albedo of water

What pattern is most likely associated with clear skies and fair weather?

high pressure regions

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

high; low

On a calm, cold day, the sensible temperature is often ____ than the thermometer reading.

higher

Assuming that the night will remain clear, calm, and unsaturated, the predicted minimum temperature is 32°F. Suddenly, the wind speed increases and remains gusty throughout the night. The minimum temperature will most likely be ____.

higher than predicted due to mixing

A tropical storm system with winds in excess of 74 mi/hr is called a(n) ____.

hurricane

The earth's first atmosphere (approximately 4.6 billion years ago) was most likely composed of ____.

hydrogen and helium

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

hydrostatic equilibrium

During the ice crystal process of rain formation, ____.

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

Cirrus clouds are composed primarily of ____.

ice particles

The most practical location for building a wind turbine would be ____.

in a region of moderate, steady winds

Aircraft icing would be heaviest and most severe ____.

in the cloud at just below freezing temperatures

If very cold air is brought indoors and warmed with no change in its moisture content, the saturation vapor pressure of this air will ____ and the relative humidity of this air will ____.

increase; decrease

Average atmospheric CO2 concentrations have ____ over the past 100 years.

increased

Between Christmas and January, at middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, the length of the day ____.

increases

As the temperature of an object ____, the intensity of the radiation emitted by the object ____.

increases increases

In a temperature inversion, air temperature ____.

increases with increasing height

The earth emits radiation with greatest intensity at ____.

infrared wavelengths

The wavelength of radiation is ____ proportional to the energy carried per wave.

inversely

What is a region in the atmosphere where air temperature remains constant with height?

isothermal zone

Lines on a map connecting points of equal temperature are called ____.

isotherms

The difference between the "moist" and "dry" adiabatic rates is due to the fact that ____.

latent heat is released by a rising parcel of saturated air

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

mammatus

A thermometer with a small constriction just above the bulb is a(n) ____.

maximum

A thermometer with a small constriction just above the bulb is a(n) ____.

maximum thermometer

A liquid thermometer that is held in direct sunlight will ____

measure a much higher temperature than that of the air

A radiosonde

measures the vertical distribution of atmospheric temperature, pressure, and humidity (balloon)

The thermometer most likely to contain alcohol is the ____.

minimum thermometer

The thermometer that has a small dumbbell-shaped index marker in the bore is called a(n) ____.

minimum thermometer

Which of the following is usually a liquid-in-glass thermometer?

minimum thermometer

Light or moderate continuous precipitation is most often associated with ____ clouds.

nimbostratus

Near the earth's surface, ____ occupies about 78% and ____ about 21% of the total volume of dry air.

nitrogen and oxygen

The most abundant gases in the earth's present day atmosphere (by volume) are ____.

nitrogen and oxygen

You are facing north and the wind is blowing in your face. This wind would be called a(n) ____.

north wind

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

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

The primary source of water vapor and carbon dioxide to the earth's early atmosphere was most likely ____.

outgassing

Extratropical cyclones are found ____.

outside the tropics

Which gas is responsible for the temperature inversion in the stratosphere?

ozone

Which gases in the upper atmosphere shields the earth's surface from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays?

ozone

Radiation is made of discrete packets of energy called ____.

photons

Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere through the process of ____.

photosynthesis

The largest annual range of temperatures are found at ____.

polar latitudes over land

The letters H and L on a surface weather map refer to regions of high and low ____.

pressure

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

pressure gradient force

The production of dew is mainly the result of ____.

radiational cooling

Which instrument obtains air temperature by measuring emitted infrared energy?

radiometer

The wind-chill index ____.

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

The Heat Index (HI) is based on the apparent temperature, which is a combination of air temperature and ____.

relative humidity

Clouds often form in the ____.

rising air in the center of a low pressure area

Subsidence inversions are best developed with high pressure areas because the ____ air motions associated with them causes the air to ____.

sinking; warm

A raindrop that freezes before reaching the ground is called

sleet

Which instrument uses wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperatures to obtain relative humidity?

sling psychrometer

Which of the following has a higher albedo than thin clouds?

snow

The solid equivalent of drops of drizzle are called ____.

snow grains

The auroras are caused by charged particles originating from ____.

solar wind

For maximum winter warmth, in the Northern Hemisphere, large windows in a house should face ____.

south

If an air parcel is given a small push upward and it falls back to its original position, the atmosphere is said to be ____.

stable

Which of the following is the poorest conductor of heat?

still air

The majority of atmospheric ozone (about 97%) is found in the ____.

stratosphere

The minimum daily temperature typically occurs at ____.

sunrise

The ice crystal process of precipitation formation operates in the mixed ice and water phase region of a cold cloud where there are ice crystals and ____.

supercooled drops

The wavelengths of radiation that an object emits depend primarily on the object's ____.

temperature

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

temperature

An instrument that measures temperature and records it on a piece of record paper is called a ____.

thermograph

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

thick; strong

A towering cloud, or cluster of clouds, accompanied by thunder, lightning, strong gusty winds, and heavy rain is called a(n)____.

thunderstorm

Which area of the human body would be most likely suffer from frostbite first before the others?

toes

Jet streams are found within the ____.

tropopause

All of the weather we are familiar with on the earth occurs in the ____.

troposphere

The proper order from shortest to longest wavelength is ____

ultraviolet, visible, and infrared

The exosphere is ____.

upper limit of our atmosphere (exo=exit)

Thermal belts are ____.

warmer hillsides that are less likely to experience freezing temperatures

The only substance found naturally in the lower atmosphere that can exist as a solid, a liquid, and a gas is ____.

water

Atmospheric concentrations of ____ can vary significantly depending on time and location.

water vapor

What is a measure of how cool skin can become, i.e., the lowest temperature that can be reached by evaporating water into the air?

wet-bulb temperature

An ideal shelter for housing a temperature-measurement instrument should be ____.

white

An object is falling at constant speed. The net force is ____

zero