Deck 19: Weather Patterns and Severe Weather

Question 1

When an area is experiencing several consecutive days of rather constant weather, it is probably ________.

A) warm-front weather
B) cold-front weather
C) air-mass weather
D) occluded front weather

Answer 1

C

Question 2

If an observer sees cirrus clouds, followed later by cirrostratus, and then altostratus, he or she is witnessing the approach of a ________ front.

A) warm
B) cold
C) warm or cold
D) none of these

Answer 2

A

Question 3

This air mass often originates as a different air mass in Siberia and is subsequently altered.

A) cP
B) mP
C) cT
D) mT

Answer 3

A

Question 4

When an active cold front overtakes a warm front ________.

A) the fronts cancel one another out
B) cloud formation ceases
C) an occluded front forms
D) a stationary front is created

Question 5

A wind shift from south or southwest to northwest is commonly associated with the passage of a ________ front.

A) warm
B) cold
C) neither warm nor cold
D) stationary

Question 6

This air mass may produce an occasional "nor'easter" in the winter.

A) cP
B) mP
C) cT
D) mT

Question 7

Cold fronts and warm fronts in the middle latitudes are often associated with a ________.

A) hurricane
B) middle-latitude cyclone
C) low pressure
D) both B and C

Question 8

A cT air mass is ________.

A) cold and dry
B) cold and humid
C) warm and dry
D) warm and humid

Question 9

The air masses that have the greatest influence on weather conditions in the central United States are ________.

A) cP and mT
B) mP and cP
C) cT and cP
D) mP and mT

Question 10

Usually ________ fronts produce several hours of moderate-to-gentle precipitation over a large region.

A) warm
B) cold
C) warm and cold
D) none of these

Question 11

On a weather map, ________ fronts are shown by a line with triangular points on one side.

A) warm
B) cold
C) occluded
D) stationary

Question 12

This air mass is the source of much of the moisture for precipitation in the central and eastern United States.

A) cP
B) mP
C) cT
D) mT

Question 13

Which of the following should have the steepest pressure gradient?

A) tornado
B) middle-latitude cyclone
C) hurricane
D) All should have equally steep pressure gradients.

Question 14

If you were 200 kilometers ahead of the surface position of a warm front, you would find the frontal surface at a height of about ________ km overhead.

A) 0.5
B) 1.0
C) 1.5
D) 2.0

Question 15

After the center of a mature wave cyclone passes, you should expect ________.

A) barometric pressure to rise
B) warmer temperatures
C) barometric pressure to fall
D) barometric pressure to remain steady

Question 16

"Rain long foretold, long last; short notice, soon past." The first five words of this weather proverb ________.

A) refer to a cold front
B) refer to a warm front
C) refer to an anticyclone
D) have no basis in fact

Question 17

On a weather map, ________ fronts are shown by a line with semicircles extending from one side.

A) warm
B) cold
C) occluded
D) stationary

Question 18

An mP air mass is ________.

A) cold and dry
B) cold and humid
C) warm and dry
D) warm and humid

Question 19

Which of the following is considered to be a boundary between two different air masses?

A) warm front
B) cold front
C) both warm front and cold front
D) none of these

Question 20

An air mass from the Gulf of Mexico is labeled ________.

A) cP
B) mP
C) cT
D) mT

Question 21

Hurricanes generally are ________.

A) larger than tornadoes
B) smaller than mid-latitude cyclones
C) areas of heavy rainfall and strong winds
D) all of these

Question 22

Word Analysis. Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern.
A. cP B. mT C. cA D. mP

Question 23

An occluded front is depicted on a weather map as a line with semicircles on one side and triangular points on the other side.

Question 24

A cT air mass is dry and warm.

Question 25

Word Analysis. Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern.
A. tropical storm B. tropical depression C. hurricane D. tornado

Question 26

The eye of a hurricane is ________.

A) the portion with the highest wind speeds
B) warmer than the rest of the storm
C) along the leading edge of the storm
D) the area of most intense rainfall

Question 27

Word Analysis. Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern.
A. tornado B. cyclone C. anticyclone D. hurricane

Question 28

Warm fronts generally have steeper slopes than cold fronts.

Question 29

Precipitation associated with a cold front is usually more intense and shorter in duration than precipitation generated by a warm front.

Question 30

Cold fronts usually move more slowly than warm fronts.

Question 31

When a hurricane moves onto land, it rapidly loses its punch; that is, the storm declines in intensity. Which of the factors listed below contribute to this loss of punch?

A) friction
B) lack of warm, moist air
C) heating from below by the land surface
D) both A and B

Question 32

In a mature middle-latitude cyclone, the warm front precedes the cold front.

Question 33

Typhoon is another name for a ________.

A) wave cyclone
B) hurricane
C) tornado
D) squall line

Question 34

Tornadoes most often move TOWARDS what direction?

A) west
B) southeast
C) northeast
D) northwest

Question 35

Continental polar air masses seldom influence the weather south of the Great Lakes.

Question 36

The precipitation associated with a warm front typically arrives ________ the actual frontal boundary.

A) considerably ahead of
B) considerably behind
C) at about the same time as
D) none of these

Question 37

Air masses that form in the Gulf of Mexico are classified as mT.

Question 38

In the Northern Hemisphere, tornadoes are most frequent during the ________.

A) January-March period
B) April-June period
C) October-December period
D) month of September

Question 39

Which one of the following statements is NOT true of tornadoes?

A) occur most frequently in the spring of the year
B) usually occur along the warm front of a mid-latitude cyclone
C) most common in the Midwest and Great Plains
D) associated with cumulonimbus clouds

Question 40

Word Analysis. Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern.
A. cold front B. stationary front C. warm front D. occluded front

Question 41

A large body of air that is characterized by a homogeneity of temperature and moisture at any given level is a(n) ________.

Question 42

Most severe thunderstorms that occur in the middle latitudes form along or ahead of cold fronts.

Question 43

The boundary between air masses having different densities is called a(n) ________.

Question 44

Tornadoes are most often generated along the cold front of a middle-latitude cyclone.

Question 45

The summer months (June through August in the Northern Hemisphere) is the period of greatest tornado frequency.

Question 46

Doppler radar aids tornado detection.

Question 47

Surface cyclones are accompanied by divergence aloft.

Question 48

Thunderstorms are usually associated with nimbostratus clouds.

Question 49

When an active cold front overtakes a warm front, a(n) ________ front forms.

Question 50

In a hurricane the greatest wind speeds and heaviest rainfall occur in the region called the eye.

Question 51

When conditions appear favorable for tornado formation, a(n) ________ is issued for areas covering about 65,000 square kilometers.

Question 52

Hurricanes form between the latitudes of 5 degrees and 20 degrees.

Question 53

A tornado watch is issued by the National Weather Service after a tornado has been sighted in an area.

Question 54

In some parts of the world hurricanes are called typhoons or cyclones.

Question 55

Tornadoes are cyclonic while hurricanes are anticyclonic.

Question 56

A tropical depression has stronger winds than a tropical storm.

Question 57

Divergence aloft helps maintain surface lows.

Question 58

Thunder is produced by lightning.

Question 59

The electrical discharge of lightning rapidly heats the air, which in turn causes it to expand explosively to produce ________.

Question 60

Hurricanes most often develop in late summer.

Question 61

Why does the central United States from Texas to the Ohio Valley experience the greatest frequency of tornadoes on Earth? What time of year do they occur and why? Is it possible for tornadoes to occur in other areas and at different times throughout the year?

Question 62

Label the air masses on the diagram below.

Question 63

At the center of a hurricane is a relatively calm region called the ________.

Question 64

By international agreement, lesser tropical cyclones are given different names based on the strength of their winds. When a cyclone's strongest winds do not exceed 61 kilometers (38 miles) per hour, it is called a(n) ________.

Question 65

What type of front is illustrated in the diagram below?

Question 66

The new generation of weather radar that is capable of detecting motion directly is called ________ radar.

Question 67

What type of front is illustrated in the diagram below?

Question 68

In the western Pacific, hurricanes are called ________.

Question 69

Compare the characteristics (general weather, movement, etc.) of a cold front to a warm front. Also, briefly explain why they exhibit different characteristics.

Question 70

Discuss the formation and growth of hurricanes. When do they occur, how are they related to low pressure, where do they get their energy, and why do they finally lose strength and dissipate?

Question 71

What type of front is illustrated in the diagram below?