Meteorology Chapter 5

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

11o C per 1000 m

Blowing Snow

Can cause a loss of visibility with snow being blown in the air

Rain

Large raindrops (greater than 0.5 mm) and can be persistent

Flurries

Light snowfall of short duration

Virga

Rain that has not reached the ground

Drizzle

Small raindrops (less than 0.5 mm) and short duration

Graupel

Small snowflakes or ice crystals covered with large amounts of rime

Sleet

Snow that has melted and refrozen

Fallstreaks

Snow that has not reached the ground

Freezing Rain

Supercooled rain that crystallizes on impact

Hail

Transparent or partially opaque particles of ice that range in size

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 90o F, dew point temperature 60o F

A true blizzard is characterized by

all of these

A rising parcel of air that does not exchange heat with its surroundings is referred to as

an adiabatic process.

An example of orographic clouds would be

clouds forming on the windward slope of a mountain.

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

conditionally unstable.

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

cool the surface and warm the air aloft

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

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.

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

You would use a wooden stick to measure rainfall in the

standard rain gauge.

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

the moist adiabatic lapse rate.

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