Meteorology Test 2

The air temperature is 45°F, the wind is blowing at 30 MPH, and the wind chill temperature is 15°F. These conditions would be equivalent to

a 15°F air temperature and 0 MPH winds.

The most common ice crystal shape is

a dendrite.

Warmer-than-average overnight temperatures are probably not associated with

a strong radiation inversion.

In calm air the air temperature is -10°C, if the wind speed should increase to 30 knots (with no change in air temperature) the thermometer would indicate

a temperature of -10°C.

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

a thick, warm cumulus cloud

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.

Which of the following is not a way of producing clouds?

air motions caused by subsidence

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

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 referred to as

an adiabatic process.

The largest annual range of temperatures are found

at polar latitudes over land.

The greatest variation in daily temperature usually occurs

at the ground.

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.

An example of orographic clouds would be

clouds forming on the windward slope of a mountain.

Cloud seeding using silver iodide only works in

cold clouds composed of ice crystals and supercooled droplets.

Hypothermia is most common in

cold, wet weather.

An inversion represents an extremely stable atmosphere because air that rises into the inversion will eventually become ____ and ____ dense than the surrounding air.

colder, more

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.

colder, warmer

If the environmental air temperature decreases at a rate of 8°C/km, the atmosphere would be considered

conditionally unstable.

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

cumulonimbus

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

cumulonimbus cloud.

If you subtract the daily minimum from the daily maximum temperature you have the

daily range of temperature

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

During the long Arctic winter, radiation inversions are

frequent

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

greater than

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

greater, less

During the ice crystal process of rain formation

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

The deepest radiation inversion would be observed

in polar regions in winter.

Aircraft icing would be heaviest and most severe

in the cloud at just below freezing temperatures.

Lines connecting points of equal temperature are called

isotherms.

A radiation inversion is most commonly observed

just above the ground.

If energy is added to an object, the smallest temperature change will occur when the object has

large mass, large specific heat.

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.

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

lenticular clouds

A thermometer with a small constriction just above the bulb is a

maximum thermometer.

The thermometer most likely to contain alcohol.

minimum thermometer

The thermometer that has a small dumbbell-shaped glass index marker in the tube is called a

minimum thermometer.

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

moist, near

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

most clouds form in cold regions of the atmosphere.

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

On a clear, calm, night, the ground and air above cool mainly by this process.

radiation

The wind-chill index

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

The most latent heat would be released in a ____ parcel of ____ saturated air.

rising, warm

The lowest temperature is usually observed

shortly after sunrise.

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

sinking, warm

A raindrop which freezes before reaching the ground is called

sleet.

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

smaller, lower

If tonight's temperature is going to drop into the middle 20s (°F) and a fairly stiff wind is predicted, probably the best way to protect an orchard against a hard freeze is to (assume that cost is not a factor)

sprinkle the crops with water.

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

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

stable, unstable

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.

Which cloud type would most likely form in absolutely stable air?

stratus

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 dry adiabatic rate is the rate at which

temperature changes in a rising or descending parcel of unsaturated air.

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

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

the moist adiabatic lapse rate.

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

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

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

A thermometer that measures temperature and records it on a piece of chart 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

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

unstable.

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

warm the surface and cool the air aloft

Thermal belts are

warmer hillsides that are less likely to experience freezing conditions.

If a parcel of unsaturated air with a temperature of 30°C rises from the surface to an altitude of 1000 m, the unsaturated parcel temperature at this altitude would be about

10°C colder than at the surface.

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

11°C per 1000 m

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

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