ESCI 1101 : Exam Two
What is the surface water circulation pattern in the northern Atlantic Ocean?
A large subtropical gyre exists that flows clockwise in the Atlantic.
What are the atmospheric conditions in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)?
A low pressure system in the northern Atlantic Ocean generally located south of Iceland A high pressure system typically centered near the Azores islands called the Bermuda-Azores High
El Niño (warm), normal (neutral), and La Niña are the three phases of ______ as determined by surface water temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific.
ENSO
The linked responses of El Niño and the Southern Oscillation are known by the acronym
ENSO
The ______ runs approximately east-west across the southern isthmus of Central America and moves north-south during the year. This movement has a major impact on the seasonal weather patterns in the region.
ITCZ
What is hydrogen bonding in water?
It is the bond that forms between the positively charged hydrogen atom of one water molecule and the negatively charged oxygen atom of another.
What is the result of having two hydrogen atoms on one side of a water molecule and an oxygen atom on the other side?
It results in water molecules having a polarity.
What role does Hadley cell circulation play in moving the effects of ENSO around the globe?
It transports the effects north and south by connecting with the east-west Walker cell circulation.
Which of the following changes are likely to take place in the warm phase (El Niño) of ENSO?
Reduced rainfall occurs in the western Pacific. Increased rainfall occurs in the central Pacific.
What are warm pools in the ocean?
Regions where surface water temperatures are higher than adjacent regions and that consistently form and tend to persist
Why are the warmest SST not always found along the equator?
Rising air along the equator forms clouds, and they reduce the amount of insolation received at the surface of the ocean.
Which acronym is used to indicate the temperatures of surface waters in the ocean?
SST
What is the large-scale pattern of SST in the world's oceans?
SST generally decrease from low latitudes to high latitudes.
Why do equatorial regions tend to have warmer ocean waters but lower-than-average salinities?
They are subjected to warm atmospheric temperatures but high rainfall.
What defining change occurs in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)?
a switch between the warm and cool phase of SST occurs in the eastern Pacific
When surface waters are blown out away from a coastline, cold water from deep in the ocean can replace the surface water in a process called
Upwelling
What is the major surface-water circulation in the Indian Ocean?
a counterclockwise gyre south of the equator
Tornadoes are most frequent during the ______.
afternoon
A front is the narrow zone between two different ______.
air masses
Warm pools can set up ______.
an east-west circuit of air through the tropics
Cyclones are rotating zones of low pressure, whereas _____________ are rotating zones of high pressure.
anticyclones
An atom that loans an electron and ends up with a positive charge is called a(n) ___________ , whereas an atom that gains the electron and ends up with a negative charge is called a(n) _________
cation; anion
As a result of the Coriolis effect deflecting moving air to the right in the Northern Hemisphere, tropical cyclones rotate ____________.
counterclockwise
In an occluded front, the moisture is moved ______ around the low, so the area of heaviest precipitation is to the northwest.
counterclockwise
True or false: Salinity and temperature decrease in a rather simple linear fashion with increasing depth in the ocean.
false
Thunderstorms are ______ due to the sharp contrast in temperatures of air masses in the southeastern United States.
frequent
The area between two different air masses is called a ______.
front
What is the name used for the series of interacting circular surface currents in the ocean?
gyres
Downdraft-related dust storms are called _____, derived from an Arabic word for "blasting."
haboobs
A ball of ice that falls toward Earth's surface from a cumulonimbus cloud is called ______.
hail
The Great Plains frequently have thunderstorms accompanied by ______.
hail
An anticyclone forms when upper-level air slows down and is forced to the surface, causing a ____________ -pressure area.
high
Anticyclones are rotating zones of ____________ pressure.
high
The majority of the tornadoes occur ______ of the United States.
in the center
The warm pool of water that moves across the equatorial Pacific during the warm phase of ENSO does so as a ______ wave.
kelvin
Intense snow events called ___________ -effect snows are the result of cold air masses moving over the relatively warm Great Lakes.
lake
As a result of the Coriolis effect deflecting moving air to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, tropical cyclones rotate ____________.
clockwise
Tornadoes usually occur _______ in the day.
later
Cyclones form along the ______ side of the Canadian Rockies, bringing cold air eastward.
leeward
An air ______ is a large body of air with relatively uniform temperature and moisture.
mass
Doppler radar gives us information about ______ and ____________ within individual storm clouds.
mass; movement
______ decide which data and assumptions to put into a weather-forecasting model.
meteorologists
______ design a model to answer a weather-related question at a specific time or place.
meteorologists
A ______ -latitude cyclone is formed when a cold air mass meets a warmer one along a frontal boundary.
mid
Hail is most frequent in the ______ United States.
middle
Air masses are identified by their ______.
moisture content, temperature, and geography
North America has ______ Europe, since North America is supplied with abundant warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, whereas in Europe, there is a lack of contrast between different air masses.
more thunderstorms than
A cluster of thunderstorms is called a ______-cell thunderstorm.
multi
When many thunderstorms occur together, it is called a(n) __________ -cell thunderstorm.
multi
The __________________ waters of the Atlantic will be warmer in July than in January.
northermost
At high latitudes, the ______ cell is influenced by a high-pressure system at the poles and easterly winds.
polar
The ______________ front jet stream is an area of winds running from west to east along the lower latitude edge of the polar cell.
polar
Along the equatorward edge of the polar cell is a belt of westerly winds known as the ______ jet stream.
polar front
The polar cell is formed by air sinking at the ____________ and rising at mid-latitudes.
poles
In the Northern Hemisphere, a bend to the north in the polar front jet stream is called a ______.
ridge
Where upper-level air moves from the _____________ to the _____________ of a Rossby wave, the air converges, slows, and is pushed toward the surface, causing high pressure below.
ridge; trough
Tropical cyclones are characterized by ______.
rotating winds and low atmospheric pressure
Warm fronts, the leading edges of warm air masses, are represented by a red line on weather maps, with ______ oriented in the direction the air mass is moving.
semicircles
______ anticyclones stay in the same general area for entire seasons and year after year, as opposed to migrating anticyclones.
semipermanent
The ________________ waters of the Atlantic will be colder in July than in January.
southernmost
Most tornadoes occur in mesocyclones within ______ thunderstorms.
supercell
What are the main factors that control the motions of water in the oceans?
surface winds, spatial variations in the density of water, and the Coriolis effect
Thunderstorms are frequent in the southeastern U.S. because of the warm seawater, warm air, and a contrast between the land and water in terms of ______.
temperature
Weather balloons travel vertically into the atmosphere reporting data on air _______________, pressure, humidity, and direction and speed.
temperature
A body of air with relatively uniform ______ is called an air mass.
temperature and moisture
After mid-latitude cyclones and an associated ______ front have moved across the Great Lakes, lake-effect snows may occur, bringing large amounts of snowfall to the northeastern United States.
cold
Intense, localized precipitation is common along ______ fronts.
cold
What are ocean gyres?
the series of interacting circular surface currents in the ocean
The photic zone is ______.
the upper layer of the ocean that is lit by the Sun and tends to be warm and less dense than deeper water
Light, widespread, and long-lived precipitation is common along ______ fronts.
warm
Tropical cyclones are intense seasonal storms that form over ______, tropical waters and can cause heavy precipitation.
warm
Tropical storms originate over ______ water.
warm
Most of the damage caused by hurricanes and other tropical cyclones is the result of ______.
wind
The damage that results from hurricanes is caused in large part by _____________, which can reach hundreds of kilometers per hour.
wind
How do winds cause motion in the waters beneath them?
winds transfer some of their momentum onto the surface of the water
Surface waters in the ocean are moved mainly by ______.
winds transferring some of their momentum onto the surface
In ______, Hurricane Sandy combined with a weather front to the west creating a "superstorm" resulting in $75 billion in damages and nearly 150 deaths in the Caribbean and along the East Coast of the United States.
2012
All weather-forecasting models are based on only ______ equations.
7
Which of the following accurately describes the change in climatic conditions between winter and summer for the Pacific coast of Costa Rica?
A rain shadow forms in winter and strong rains return in summer as the ITCZ and cross-equatorial westerlies bring nearly daily rain.
What are the major components of the southern subtropical gyre in the Indian Ocean?
A west-flowing segment along the equator A cool, north-flowing Western Australian current A warm, south-flowing Mozambique current east of Africa
______ are distinguished by their temperature, moisture, and geographic characteristics
Air masses
Which of the following statements is true regarding Walker-like cells outside of the Pacific?
Although they are different sizes, they are all driven by the warm air rising above warm pools.
How are the ENSO effects in the equatorial Pacific spread to higher latitudes?
By Hadley cell circulation
What is the difference between cations and anions?
Cations have a positive charge, and anions have a negative charge.
___________ radar is more precise than traditional weather-forecasting systems, such as weather balloons, giving information about mass and movement from individual storm clouds.
Doppler
What is the impact of continents and other landmasses on the east-west connections in oceans?
Continents cause ocean currents to turn north or south and results in upwelling along coasts.
What is the primary reason ocean circulation runs to the north or south?
Continents interrupt the east-west flow, forcing water to move north or south.
How does the density of water change as salinity increases? (Assume everything else stays the same.)
Density increases.
A(n) ______ occurs when warm water from the western Pacific moves eastward and replaces the cold waters off the coast of South America. This warm water limits upwelling and causes changes to the local ecosystem and weather patterns across Earth.
El Niño
What does ENSO stand for?
El Niño and Southern Oscillation
Rank the phases of ENSO in terms of SST in the equatorial eastern Pacific. (Place the phase with the highest SST in the eastern Pacific at the top.)
El nino Neutral La nina
Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico is responsible for abundant thunderstorms in North America, whereas ______ has fewer thunderstorms due to a lack of contrast between air masses.
Europe
Tornadoes are classified by their wind speed and level of damage according to the Enhanced _______ scale, which ranges from EF0 to EF5.
Fujita
If the Southern Oscillation Index is positive (higher pressure in Tahiti), which of the following will most likely occur?
Higher pressures will exist in the eastern Pacific from southern Chile to California.
______ gives water many of its unique properties. It is the bond that forms between a hydrogen atom of one water molecule and the oxygen atom of another molecule.
Hydrogen bonding
What do the negative and positive phases of NAO index indicate?
If the difference in atmospheric pressure between the Bermuda-Azores High and the Icelandic Low is greater (positive) or less than normal (negative)
Where are the color bands made from SST the least complicated?
In the open ocean
As rains falls on the surface of the ocean, the salinity of the surface water decreases. What happens to the density of the surface water? (Ignore temperature as a factor here.)
It decreases
How does a Kelvin wave contribute to El Niño?
It delivers the warm water to the west coast of South America.
In addition to reduced levels of insolation, what processes lead to the formation of cold water at the poles?
Lack of clouds allows for more outgoing longwave radiation. Sea ice increases the average surface albedo, reducing the amount of energy absorbed from the Sun. Cold, dry air descends.
______________ anticyclones move around, in contrast to semipermanent anticyclones, which stay in the same general area.
Migrating
A moderately deep thermocline, an average-sized warm pool, and rising air in the equatorial western Pacific with surface winds blowing in from the east, characterizes the ______ phase of ENSO.
Neutral
The Bermuda-Azores High and the Icelandic Low combine to form the ______.
North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)
The majority of tornadoes in the world occur in the United States, specifically in a ______ belt through the middle of the country.
North-South
How do color bands made from SST data from the open ocean compare to bands made from the SST data collected near continents?
Open ocean bands mostly follow lines of latitude, but bands near continents are more complicated.
The switch from the warm phase to the cold phase in the Pacific Ocean or from the cold phase to the warm phase is called the ______.
Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)
The warmer, less dense upper portion of the ocean that absorbs energy from the Sun is called the ______ zone.
Photic
Accurately describe global patterns of SST.
Polar regions have the coldest SST. SST are highest at low latitudes and lowest at high latitudes.
How are the changes in air pressure recorded in the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) between Darwin, Australia, and Tahiti correlated with air-pressure changes in other parts of the world?
Pressure changes in Darwin are positively correlated with air pressure changes in other parts of the world.
Why do regions with polar sea ice tend to have higher surface salinities than those of equatorial ocean regions?
Salt is excluded when ice is forming from seawater, increasing the salinity of the remaining water.
In 2012, Hurricane ______ came onshore in New Jersey and affected the U.S. East Coast.
Sandy
Sir Gilbert Walker noticed that when air pressure went up in Darwin, Australia, it went down in Tahiti (in the central Pacific) and that when it went down in Darwin, it went up in Tahiti. This linked change in air pressures is called the ______.
Southern Oscillation
The global equator-to-pole variations in SST are best explained by the ______.
Supply of insolation
How do salinity and temperature vary with depth in the ocean?
Surface waters are generally the most saline, but a complex pattern is observed within the water column. Water temperatures generally decrease with increasing depth.
When climatic conditions in one region affect the climatic conditions in a distant region, the associations between the events are called ______.
Teleconnections
What climatic changes occur on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica between the summer and winter?
The ITCZ moves into the region during summer, bringing additional rain to the area.
How does the warm water off the west coast of South America get there during an El Niño event?
The Kelvin wave brings in warm water from the western Pacific.
The atmospheric circulation across the Indian Ocean is called the Indian Ocean Dipole. Select the best description of that circulation below.
The air rises on the eastern side of the ocean, flows west, and descends over the western equatorial Indian Ocean before returning east.
Polar regions receive less insolation, and that is the major reason cold waters form there. However, what other factors contribute to the formation of cold waters in polar regions?
The clear skies that result from descending air allow for the escape of greater amounts of longwave radiation and more reflected light from sea ice.
How does the greater amount of cloud cover near the equator as compared to the subtropics lead to higher SST in the subtropics?
The clouds near the equator reflect more insolation before it reaches the surface waters.
What is the thermohaline conveyor?
The combined global-scale flow of surface and deep water
What defines the Southern Oscillation?
The correlated reversals in air pressure in Darwin, Australia, and in Tahiti (central Pacific)
What is the NAO index?
The difference in atmospheric pressure between the Bermuda-Azores High and the Icelandic Low
The factors listed below that explain the latitudinal variations in salinity, temperature, and density of seawater.
The direction air masses are moving The amount of precipitation The amount of insolation
What helps drive the east-west circuit of air in the tropics?
The formation of warm pools and the rising air found above them
What are teleconnections?
The links between climatic changes in one region and climatic changes in a distant region
What are the major wind patterns in the region of the southern isthmus of Central America?
The north and south movement of the ITCZ throughout the year Dominant northeast trade winds
What is upwelling?
The rising of deep water to replace surface water that has been pushed farther offshore
Why do water molecules have a polarity?
The two hydrogen atoms with a positive charge align on one side of the molecule, leaving a negative charge on the oxygen atom on the other side.
Which phase of ENSO is associated with colder than normal SST in the western Pacific?
The warm phase
What is a Kelvin wave with respect to an El Niño event?
The warm pool of water that moves across the equatorial Pacific
What is the surface water circulation pattern in the western Pacific Ocean?
There are two large subtropical gyres (one in each hemisphere), both of which flow west along the equator until one heads north and one heads south.
_______________ are the most fundamental of all organized weather systems and are characterized by columns of moist, turbulent air. They have variable amounts of rain, strong wind, lightning, and potentially hail.
Thunderstorms
How do warm pools affect atmospheric circulation in areas outside of the Pacific?
Walker-like circulation patterns develop, but each is modified in size and intensity due to local conditions.
What are the three surface-water temperature-determined phases of ENSO in the eastern equatorial Pacific?
Warm neutral and cold
The regions in the ocean where surface-water temperatures are consistently higher than adjacent regions and that form and re-form from year to year are called ______.
Warm pools
What is El Niño?
Warmer surface waters from the west replacing the colder water off the west coast of South America
Identify conditions associated with the neutral phase of ENSO in the equatorial Pacific.
Westward displacement of surface waters drives upwelling of cold, deep water off the coast of western South America. Warm air rises over the western equatorial Pacific warm pool, producing low pressure and abundant rain.
What type of winter occurs in the southern U.S. during El Niño conditions?
Wet and cool
Weather ______ have sensors that report temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction as they travel vertically through the atmosphere.
balloons
Cold fronts, the leading edges of cold air masses, are represented by a ______ line on weather maps, with triangles pointing in the direction the air mass is moving.
blue
Hot and dry air masses that typically occur over land are ______.
continental tropical
Lightning is associated with ______ clouds, the type that form thunderstorms.
cumulonimbus
Lightning occurs in ____________ clouds.
cumulonimbus
The first stage of single-cell thunderstorm formation is the ______ stage.
cumulus
The initial stage in the formation of a single-cell thunderstorm is called the _______ stage, which occurs when surface air heats up more quickly than the air aloft.
cumulus
Any enclosed area of low atmospheric pressure is a ______.
cyclone
Mid-latitude ______ are formed when a colder air mass meets a warmer one at a stationary front.
cyclones
Encountering cold water ______ the strength of a tropical cyclone.
decreases
Differences in the _____________ of water, which is largely controlled by temperature and salinity, can set water in motion. Once the water is in motion, its path is deflected by the __________ effect.
density; coriolis
When a downdraft in one thunderstorm strengthens an adjacent thunderstorm, a ______ may result.
derecho
Birds are a source of false echoes on _______________ radar; however, ecologists have taken advantage of this to study bird behavior.
doppler
As a thunderstorm collapses, it can cause a very strong ______, which causes a microburst when it reaches Earth's surface.
downdraft
Derechos are caused by ______ in a multi-cell thunderstorm that contribute to the strength of an adjacent thunderstorm.
downdrafts
Continental tropical (cT) air masses are characteristically ______.
dry and hot
A rotating dust storm that is often overlooked as a hazardous weather phenomenon is a ______.
dust devil
A haboob is a severe downdraft-related ______
dust storm
An Alberta Clipper is a cyclone storm formed on the ______, leeward side of the Rockies in Canada.
east
Mid-latitude anticyclones move across hehe United States driven ______ by the westerlies.
east
___________ blow from the poles toward the equator and from the east to the west
easterlies
Lightning is a sudden and large discharge of energy, which is generated naturally within the atmosphere
electric
Ocean currents move warm water poleward. This happens because ______.
energy is moved from areas of energy excess to areas of energy deficit
______ is(are) an essential ingredient for weather.
energy, motion, and atmospheric moisture
In forecasting weather, seven _______ are used, three of which describe atmospheric movement; another three account for air density changes, changes of the state of water, and the rate of change for incoming solar energy; and the last is the Ideal Gas Law.
equations
Anticyclones result from air descending from the upper level, which stabilizes the atmosphere and brings ______ weather.
fair
An anticyclone brings stability to the atmosphere, resulting in ______ weather.
fair and clear
____________ form from wind shear near the water surface and mild updrafts
fair-weather
Hail is a ball of _________ that forms under freezing conditions in a cumulonimbus cloud and may accompany a thunderstorm.
ice
The equator-to-pole decrease in the amount of __________ received is the main reason there is a general equator-to-pole decrease in SST.
insolation
The majority of the world's thunderstorms occur within the ________________ ______________ Zone (ITCZ).
intertropical convergence
Lines on a map that connect areas of equal air pressure are ______.
isobars
The rising air near the equator and the mid-latitudes tends to result in ______ saline water than areas in the subtropics and polar regions that experience descending air. This is because rising air leads to increased levels of ______.
less; precipitation
______________ is a bolt of electricity in the atmosphere.
lightning
A cyclone is any area of closed atmospheric motion around a _________-pressure system.
low
Hurricanes are characterized by strong winds rotating around a(n) __________ -pressure area.
low
In an occluded front, moisture circulates counterclockwise around a _______ -pressure zone, pushing the heaviest precipitation to the northwest of the system.
low
Thunderstorms are most frequent at ______ latitudes, in the Intertropical Convergence Zone.
low
Tropical storms mostly travel at ______.
low latitudes
Dust devils are rotating storms created by instability of the atmosphere and rising air; this upward motion creates a strong ______ gradient, strengthening the system.
pressure
Isobars are lines on maps that connect areas that have equal air ______.
pressure
How do SST patterns in the Atlantic change from July to January? The warmest SST shift to the ______.
south
The combined global scale flow of surface and deep water is called the ______.
thermohaline conveyor
Thunderstorms that cause hail, lightning, and thunder are called _____________ heads.
thunder
Thunderheads are thunderstorms that cause ______.
thunder, hail, and lightning
Columns of moist, turbulent air with variable amounts of rain, strong wind, lightning, and hail are called ______.
thunderstorms
________ form from strong updrafts associated with thunderstorms
tornadic
A ______ is a spinning vortex of air that extends from the base of a cloud to the ground.
tornado
A violently rotating column of air that is in contact with a cumulonimbus cloud and the ground is called a(n) ______________.
tornado
The Enhanced Fujita scale is used to categorize ______ based on both wind speed and damage.
tornadoes
_____________ usually occur within the mesocyclones of supercell thunderstorms but can also occur in tropical cyclones or single-cell thunderstorms.
tornadoes
In what direction do currents in the ocean tend to move warm water?
toward the poles
________ blow toward the equator and from the east to the west
trade winds
Seasonal storms that form over warm, tropical waters are called ______.
tropical cyclones
In the Northern Hemisphere, a bend to the south in the polar front jet stream is called a ______.
trough
In ______ areas, ground clutter such as buildings are a problem because the return signal from stationary objects is received by the Doppler facility and can be confused with weather.
urban
Tropical cyclones increase in strength over ______ waters.
warmer
A storm ______ is when conditions in an area are favorable for life-threatening weather conditions.
watch
When weather conditions are favorable for a storm that could result in loss of life or property, a storm _____________ may be issued.
watch
Identify surface water circulation patterns commonly found in the western Pacific.
water flows westward near the equator; a clockwise gyre exists in the northwestern Pacific water near Japan
A _________ is a rotating vortex of air and water droplets that occurs over water
waterspout
A rotating, columnar vortex of air and water droplets that occurs over a body of water is a ______.
waterspout
___________ blow poleward from the horse latitudes (30ο) and from the west to the east
westerlies
Anticyclones in the mid-latitudes of the United States are pushed east by ______ winds.
westerly