Deck 10: Atmosphere and Severe Weather

Question 1

Of the incoming solar radiation that reaches the top of the atmosphere,about how much is absorbed by Earth's surface?

A) 15%
B) 25%
C) 45%
D) 75%
E) 95%

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Tornadoes are common

A) on all continents.
B) in eastern Canada.
C) in southern Alberta.
D) over water.
E) where small differences in atmospheric pressure occur.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

If you were an investigator assessing the damage from a tornado and concluded that severe damage had occurred,how would you classify it on the Enhanced Fujita scale?

A) EF1
B) EF2
C) EF3
D) EF4
E) EF5

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Air at the Earth's surface

A) always flows faster than airflow aloft.
B) moves from regions of high pressure to regions of low pressure.
C) moves from regions of low density to regions of high density.
D) moves from regions of low pressure to regions of high pressure.
E) contains more moisture than air aloft.

Question 5

A linear belt of individual storm cells is called a

A) mesocyclone.
B) tornado.
C) supercell.
D) squall line.
E) dryline.

Question 6

Tornadoes are classified on the basis of

A) maximum width and wind speed.
B) duration and damage.
C) maximum wind speed and damage.
D) maximum width and height.
E) duration and wind speed.

Question 7

In which layer of the atmosphere are clouds abundant?

A) troposphere
B) stratosphere
C) mesosphere
D) thermosphere
E) ionosphere

Question 8

In order to become severe,a thunderstorm must

A) have the ability to maintain itself.
B) not appear in groups.
C) last for less than 1 hour.
D) have low water content.
E) have low vertical wind shear.

Question 9

Deaths from hailstones are common in

A) Manitoba.
B) Florida.
C) Bangladesh.
D) Sumatra.
E) Japan.

Question 10

In the Northern Hemisphere,which of the following describes the likely location of an ice storm?

A) on the south side of a warm front
B) on the east side of a cold front
C) on the west side of a cold front
D) on the north side of a warm front
E) on the south side of a cold front

Question 11

When water evaporates from the ocean,then condenses in the atmosphere

A) the latent heat of evaporation increases.
B) the latent heat of evaporation decreases.
C) energy is transferred from the ocean to the atmosphere.
D) energy is transferred from the atmosphere to the ocean.
E) latent heat turns into kinetic energy.

Question 12

In boiling a pot of water on an electric stove,at what step is conduction the process for heat transfer?

A) when heat from the stove is transferred to the handle
B) when heat is transferred through the bottom of the pot
C) when heated water from the bottom of the pot rises
D) when cooler water at the surface sinks
E) when some of the water evaporates into the air

Question 13

If you wanted to avoid thunderstorms,of the following,where would you choose to live?

A) Vancouver, British Columbia
B) Miami, Florida
C) Edmonton, Alberta
D) Denver, Colorado
E) Hamilton, Ontario

Question 14

A cold front forms when

A) a quickly moving cold air mass catches up with a slowly moving warm air mass.
B) a quickly moving warm air mass catches up with a slowly moving cold air mass.
C) a slowly moving cold air mass meets a warm air mass moving in the opposite direction.
D) a warm air mass and a cold air mass meet and remain stationary.
E) a warm from becomes occluded.

Question 15

Heat waves are a severe weather event that

A) get lots of publicity.
B) take their greatest toll in cities.
C) are not a cause of death in Canada.
D) are associated with ridges of low pressure.
E) are not influenced by humidity.

Question 16

Weather fronts mark the boundary between air masses that have different

A) lengths.
B) densities.
C) heights.
D) temperatures.
E) speeds.

Question 17

If you hold a mug of hot coffee,your hands warms up because heat is transferred via

A) convection.
B) conduction.
C) evaporation.
D) condensation.
E) radiation.

Question 18

Which stage is closest to the end of a tornado's life?

A) wall stage
B) organizational stage
C) mature stage
D) rope stage
E) shrinking stage

Question 19

Under which of the following conditions are you most likely to see clouds?

A) high atmospheric pressure
B) low atmospheric pressure
C) cold surface temperature
D) warm surface temperature
E) low relative humidity

Question 20

On what basis is a blizzard defined?

A) the amount of snowfall and the wind speed
B) the amount of snowfall and the visibility
C) the amount of snowfall and the wind chill
D) the wind speed and the visibility
E) the temperature and the wind speed

Question 21

On Earth,most energy returned to space comes from

A) infrared emissions from the Earth's surface.
B) ultraviolet emissions from the Earth's surface.
C) reflection from clouds.
D) reflection from the Earth's surface.
E) The energy intercepted by Earth is used for life processes and nothing is returned to space.

Question 22

________ refers to the energy absorbed or released when a substance changes phases.

A) Latent heat
B) Sensible heat
C) Kinetic energy
D) Vaporization
E) Albedo

Question 23

To be classified as a blizzard in Canada,a storm must have

A) winds greater than 40 km/h and visibility less than 1 km for three hours.
B) winds greater than 56 km/h and visibility less than 400m for three hours.
C) winds greater than 40 km/h and visibility less than 400m for three hours.
D) winds greater than 56 km/h and visibility less than 1 km for three hours.
E) winds greater than 56 km/h and visibility less than 400m for five hours.

Question 24

Flooding is often directly associated with

A) stalled mesoscale convective systems.
B) quickly moving supercells.
C) squall lines.
D) tornadoes.
E) heat waves.

Question 25

The ice storm of 1998 was associated with a rapidly moving warm front that produced continuous rain over a 24-hour period.

Question 26

Near-freezing temperatures can be considered 'extreme cold' and has resulted in lives lost in

A) Florida.
B) British Columbia.
C) California.
D) Manitoba.
E) Prince Edward Island.

Question 27

The most damaging type of thunderstorm is the

A) supercell.
B) squall line.
C) mesoscale convective complex.
D) derechos.
E) mesocyclone.

Question 28

What weather-related natural hazard affects the most people in North America?

A) floods
B) hurricanes
C) tornadoes
D) lightning
E) drought

Question 29

Essentially,the entire atmosphere lies below ________ altitude.

A) 10 km
B) 20 km
C) 50 km
D) 100 km
E) 150 km

Question 30

Conduction is the only way in which heat is transferred in the Earth's atmosphere.

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT important in understanding severe weather?

A) atmospheric pressure
B) vertical stability
C) Coriolis Effect
D) fronts
E) humidity

Question 32

Reflectivity of a surface is referred to as its

A) albedo.
B) latent heat.
C) sensible heat.
D) absorption factor.
E) emission quotient.

Question 33

The First Law of Thermodynamics states that

A) energy is neither created nor destroyed.
B) all energy ends up as heat.
C) there is no order to the universe.
D) the sun is the source of energy for this planet.
E) when a substance changes phases, energy is lost.

Question 34

Small thunderstorm downbursts are also called microbursts.

Question 35

The major reason the 1998 ice storm was so devastating was

A) the lack of adequate backup systems when the power grid failed.
B) the concentration of people in vulnerable areas.
C) the lack of an adequate warning system.
D) the inability to evacuate due to poor infrastructure.
E) the interaction of the storm with a nor'easter.

Question 36

Doppler radar can detect ________ within a thunderstorm,allowing warnings to be issued up to ________ in advance of a touchdown.

A) mesocyclone, 30 minutes
B) funnel cloud, 30 minutes
C) mesocyclone, 10 minutes
D) tornado, 10 minutes
E) wall cloud, one hour

Question 37

Blizzards on the east coast of Canada commonly occur during

A) nor'easters.
B) Clippers.
C) Arctic highs.
D) mesocyclones.
E) the Coriolis Effect.

Question 38

Human energy consumption is less than 0.01 percent of the solar energy absorbed at Earth's surface.

Question 39

Tornadoes are violent cyclonic funnel clouds

A) that touch the ground.
B) that form where there are large differences in atmospheric pressure over short distances.
C) that have wind speeds of greater than 200 km/hr.
D) all of A, B, C
E) A and B

Question 40

Tornado-prone areas in Canada include southern Alberta,southern Ontario and southeastern Quebec.

Question 41

Climbers at the peak of Mt.Everest are above the stratosphere.

Question 42

A stepped leader needs to form before lightning can occur.

Question 43

A defining characteristic of the stratosphere is the presence of clouds.

Question 44

In thunderstorms,downdrafts are created by falling raindrops.

Question 45

Tornadoes are violent cyclonic funnel clouds that have wind speeds of between 50 and 100 km/h.

Question 46

If dense cold air is overlain by warm light air,the atmosphere is unstable.

Question 47

Without convection,it would take longer for a pot of water to reach the boiling point.

Question 48

"Extreme cold" in Florida is a higher temperature than extreme cold in the Yukon.

Question 49

Nearly all the weight and pressure of the atmosphere is below 50 km altitude.

Question 50

A normal thunderstorm lasts for less than an hour.

Question 51

Heat waves are worse in urban areas than in rural areas.

Question 52

The "Dust Bowl" period was the most severe drought of the past 1000 years in North America.

Question 53

If you see a funnel cloud descending from a wall cloud,a tornado will always form.

Question 54

Cumulonimbus clouds are often associated with thunderstorms.

Question 55

Humidity is independent of air temperature.

Question 56

Supercell storms are the most damaging kind of thunderstorms.

Question 57

Earth's surface emits longer-wave infrared radiation because it is so cool.

Question 58

If you were flying to a destination in the Northern Hemisphere that was due south of your starting point,if your plane headed due south,you would end up to the west of your desired destination.

Question 59

A thunderstorm cell is rarely higher than 1 km.

Question 60

The mature stage of a thunderstorm includes both updrafts and downdrafts.

Question 61

What are clouds made of?

Question 62

What is a water spout?

Question 63

Under what conditions do tornadoes form?

Question 64

What is convection?

Question 65

One of the deadliest natural hazards is heat waves.

Question 66

Wildfires can be a beneficial secondary effect of thunderstorms.

Question 67

What is a front?

Question 68

How likely is it that a person who grew up in North America has experienced a thunderstorm?

Question 69

Fog is hazardous only when it obscures visibility for travel.

Question 70

Violent tornadoes can occur in almost all regions of the planet.

Question 71

Near-freezing temperatures are never considered 'extreme cold' and pose no hazard to people.

Question 72

What does the term 'humidity' describe?

Question 73

Human activity plays no part in extreme weather.

Question 74

What are the requirements for a typical thunderstorm?

Question 75

If you observe cumulus clouds,what's the weather like?

Question 76

What is freezing rain?

Question 77

What two conditions cause air to circulate in the troposphere?

Question 78

Windstorms can directly benefit a forest ecosystem.

Question 79

What are the requirements for a severe thunderstorm?

Question 80

Give an example of (1)something with kinetic energy,and (2)something with potential energy.