ch 11
If you see a lightning stroke and then, 15 seconds later, hear the thunder, the lightning is about miles away.
3
On the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, a hurricane with winds in excess of 155 mi/hr (135 knots) and a central pressure of 910 mb (26.87 in.) would be classified as a category hurricane.
5
On the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, a hurricane with winds in excess of 155 mi/hr (135 knots) would be classified as a category ____ hurricane.
5
typhoon
A hurricane (tropical cyclone) that forms in the western Pacific Ocean.
hurricane watch
A hurricane watch indicates that a hurricane poses a threat to an area (often within several days) and residents of the watch area should be prepared.
streamlines
A line that shows the wind-flow pattern.
tropical depression
A mass of thunderstorms and clouds generally with a cyclonic wind circulation of between 20 and 34 knots.
tropical wave, or easterly wave,
A migratory wavelike disturbance in the tropical easterlies. Tropical waves occasionally intensify into tropical cyclones. They are also called easterly waves.
hurricane hunters
A popular term for aircraft and/or personnel engaged in the reconnaissance of hurricanes (tropical cyclones).
eye
A region in the center of a hurricane (tropical cyclone) where the winds are light and skies are clear to partly cloudy.
tropical storm
A region of organized thunderstorms over the tropical or subtropical ocean with a closed cyclonic wind circulation between 35 and 64 knots.
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale
A scale relating a hurricane's winds to the possible damage it is capable of inflicting. It is now called the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.
Saffir-Simpson Scale
A scale relating a hurricane's winds to the possible damage it is capable of inflicting. It is now called the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.
eyeball replacement
A situation within a hurricane (tropical cyclone) where the storm's original eyewall dissipates and a new eyewall forms outward, farther away from the center of the storm.
trade wind inversion
A temperature inversion frequently found in the subtropics over the eastern portions of the tropical oceans.
super typhoon
A tropical cyclone (typhoon) in the western Pacific that has sustained winds of 130 knots or greater.
hurricane
A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of at least 64 knots (74 mi/hr).
eyewall
A wall of dense thunderstorms that surrounds the eye of a hurricane.
hurricane warning
A warning given when it is likely that a hurricane will strike an area within 24 hours.
storm surge
An abnormal rise of the sea along a shore; primarily due to the winds of a storm, especially a hurricane.
Which region of the United States will most likely experience thunderstorms, hurricanes and tornadoes during the course of one year?
Gulf Coast states
If a tornado is rotating in a counterclockwise direction and moving toward the northeast, the strongest winds will be on its side.
SE
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
The _____ Scale was developed to evaluate the possible damage a hurricane's sustained winds could do to a coastal area.
Saffir-Simpson
Which environmental conditions are most favorable for hurricane formation?
Winds are light, humidity is high, and surface water temperature is warm.
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 north over the Atlantic
Which event indicates that a hurricane will likely strike your area between 24 to 48 hours before the storm arrives?
a hurricane watch issued by the National Hurricane Center
On a Doppler radar screen, a tornado might appear as a
a region of rapidly changing wind speeds
On the Saffir-Simpson scale, a category 5 storm would indicate ____.
a very strong hurricane
In a hurricane, the eye wall represents
a zone of intense thunderstorms around the center
Hurricanes do not form ____.
along the equator
Hurricanes do not form:
along the equator
Typhoons and hurricanes ____.
are the same type of tropical storm
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
Hurricane energy comes from the latent heat of ____.
condensation
Developing low pressure areas generally have air near the surface and air aloft.
converging, diverging
During a hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere, surface winds increase in speed as they blow ____ and ____ the center.
counterclockwise; inward toward
The first three stages of a developing hurricane are (from first stage to third stage)
disturbance, depression, storm
For cyclogenesis to occur along a frontal wave, the winds aloft directly above the wave should be
diverging
___ measures the speed at which precipitation is moving toward or away from an observer.
doppler radar
Forecasters today are relying on _____ models, some of which take into account the depth of warm ocean water in front of the storm's path to predict the storm's intensity.
dynamical
Occasionally, streamlines will be disturbed by a weak trough of low pressure called a(n) _____, because it tends to move from east to west.
easterly wave
The skies in the center of a hurricane are often cloud free and surface air pressure is very low. This area is referred to as the ____.
eye
Adjacent to the hurricane's eye is the _____, a ring of intense thunderstorms that whirl around the storm's center.
eyewall
During a hurricane, the heaviest rainfall occurs in the ____.
eyewall
Most of the destruction caused by a hurricane is due to
flooding
Most of the overall destruction caused by a hurricane is due to ____.
flooding
The leading edge of a thunderstorm's cold downdraft is known as a
gust front
In the Northern Hemisphere, hurricanes and middle latitude cyclones are similar in that both
have winds that blow counterclockwise around their centers.
As a hurricane's eye passes directly overhead you would not expect to observe:
high winds
The strongest winds in a hurricane are found
in the eyewall
The strongest winds in a hurricane are found ____.
in the eyewall
Climate models predict that, as the world continues to warm, sea-surface temperatures in the tropics will rise. This may in turn ____.
increase the strength of hurricanes
Which of the following would probably be used to infer cloud altitude on a satellite photograph?
intensity of infrared emissions
A hurricane warning ____.
is issued when it becomes more certain that a storm will strike an area
The skies in the center (eye) of a hurricane are often cloud free. This is because the air in the eye
is sinking
Which of the following is not correct concerning a warm front?
it normally moves more slowly than a cold front
Pressure at the center of a hurricane is ____ than the surroundings at the surface and is ____ than the surroundings aloft.
lower; higher
The strongest winds in a hurricane heading westward toward Florida would most likely be found on the ____ side of the hurricane.
northern
When two air masses collide at a front, one air mass is pushed upward by the other. This is because
one air mass is denser than the other
The vertical structure of the hurricane shows an upper-level ____ of air, and a surface ____ of air.
outflow; inflow
An area of North America that would most likely experience thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes during the course of a year is the:
region around the Gulf of Mexico
The primary source of energy for a hurricane is the:
release of latent heat of condensation and warm water
The dissipation of the original eyewall and the formation of a new one farther out from the eye is called eyewall _____.
replacement
The skies in the center of a hurricane are often cloud free. This is because the air in the eye is ____.
sinking
At the periphery of a hurricane, the air is ____.
sinking and warming
At the periphery of a hurricane the air is , and several kilometers above the surface, in the eye, the air is .
sinking, sinking
Just before a storm is classified as a fully developed hurricane, it is in the tropical ____ stage.
storm
Along a coastline, most hurricane damage is caused by ____.
storm surge
An atmospheric condition that is not conducive to the formation of hurricanes is:
strong upper-level winds
Hurricanes cannot form along the equator because ____.
the Coriolis force is too small along the equator
Hurricane winds rotate in a clockwise direction in ____.
the Southern Hemisphere only
Thunder is caused by
the rapid heating of air surrounding a lightning tunner
When an upper-level low lies directly above a surface low:
the surface low will weaken
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
A stationary front does not move because
the wind blows parallel to the front
A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when
the winds exceed 64 knots (74 MPH).
A weather watch would probably be issued for which of the following conditions?
there is a chance for tornadoes tomorrow
The main difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is:
they form over different regions of the tropical ocean
Hurricanes dissipate when ____.
they move over colder water
The three stages of a developing hurricane (from the first stage to the third) are ____.
tropical disturbance, tropical depression, and tropical storm
At which stage during a hurricane's development, does the storm first gets its name?
tropical storm
A weak trough of low pressure found in the tropics and along which hurricanes occasionally form is called a(n) ____.
tropical wave (or easterly wave)
An intense storm that forms in the northern Atlantic is called a hurricane. When the same type of storm forms in the western North Pacific, it is called _____.
typhoon
The main source of energy for a hurricane is the ____.
warm ocean water and release of latent heat energy by condensation
For a surface storm system to intensify, the upper-level low (or trough) should be located to the ___ of the surface low.
west
Which below will not cause a hurricane to dissipate?
when the depth of warm water ahead of the advancing hurricane is relatively deep
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
The main difference between a hurricane and a tropical storm is that
wind speeds are greater in a hurricane
The main feature distinguishing a hurricane from an ordinary tropical storm is that ____.
winds speeds are greater in a hurricane
Which statement accurately describes hurricane naming conventions?
Hurricanes are alternately assigned male and female names.
What hurricane was the most costly to ever hit the United States?
Katrina
Ekman transport
Net surface water transport due to the Ekman spiral. In the Northern Hemisphere the transport is 90° to the right of the surface wind direction.
tropical cyclone
The general term for storms (cyclones) that form over warm tropical oceans.
