Deck 10: Weather, Thunderstorms, And Tornadoes

Question 1

How do storm chasers try to avoid being victims of the tornadoes they study?

A) They keep at least 60 km away.
B) They stay in areas that have roads going north, south, east, and west as escape routes.
C) They approach tornadoes from the east.
D) They approach tornadoes from the southwest.
E) They travel in heavily armored vehicles.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What is the jet stream?

A) a high speed stream of high altitude air between warm equatorial air and cool air to the north
B) a high speed stream of air carried east to west by the high-altitude trade winds
C) a stream of air confined between cold air in the upper atmosphere and warm air below
D) an intermittent stream of air generated by unusual cases of warm air masses north of cold air masses
E) a high speed stream of air circulating high-pressure cells

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What creates the electrical charges in clouds that characterize lightning storms?

A) friction between air molecules in turbulent air in the clouds
B) friction between droplets of water falling in clouds and others carried upward in updrafts
C) natural charges on the Earth's surface repel equally charged surface charges on droplets in the cloud base
D) collisions between ice particles rising and falling in turbulent air in the clouds
E) collisions between falling ice particles and water droplets carried in updrafts

Answer 3

E

Question 4

How fast do tornadoes move along the ground?

A) 1 to 2 km per hour
B) 5 to 10 km per hour
C) 50 to 80 km per hour
D) 300 km per hour
E) 700 km per hour

Question 5

Why does a mass of air get cooler as it rises over a mountain?

A) The air gets cooler because it loses heat to its surrounding cool air.
B) The air gets cooler because nearby ice and snow are cold.
C) The air gets cooler because the dry air at high elevations conducts heat away easily.
D) Air with a certain amount of heat expands as it rises so that heat is distributed through a larger volume.
E) The air gets cooler because there is more air pressure at the top of the mountain.

Question 6

Which of the following always decreases as we go upward in the atmosphere?

A) wind
B) temperature
C) pressure
D) moisture
E) oxygen to nitrogen ratio

Question 7

As air temperature rises,its ability to hold water vapor:

A) increases.
B) decreases.
C) stays constant.
D) increases, then remains constant.
E) increases, then decreases.

Question 8

What is the main reason for warmer summers in middle latitudes?

A) The Earth is closer to the sun in summer.
B) The sun is higher in the sky, and we receive more direct solar radiation.
C) Ocean currents transport heat from the tropics to middle latitudes.
D) Plants in the mid-latitudes enhance the greenhouse effect.
E) Global warming causes this.

Question 9

What should you do to avoid being killed by lightning if caught out in the open in a storm with no place to take cover?

A) Lie flat on the ground, so you are as low as possible.
B) Stand very still, so your target is smaller.
C) Run for cover under the nearest dry tree.
D) Crouch down on the balls of your feet with your feet together.
E) Crouch with your feet apart.

Question 10

The main reason Santa Ana winds are warm is because:

A) latent heat is released in rising air.
B) sinking air warms by compression.
C) condensation occurs.
D) solar heating warms the air.
E) they are heated by forest fires in canyons.

Question 11

When air contains the maximum amount of water vapor that it can hold,it is called:

A) its capacity.
B) saturation deficit.
C) relative humidity.
D) precipitation potential.
E) hydrologic cycle.

Question 12

If you do not have a storm shelter or a basement,where is the safest place in a house to be during a tornado?

A) in an interior room with windows
B) lying in a bathtub
C) lying on the floor
D) in your garage
E) under a bed

Question 13

What is the greatest danger (what causes most deaths)from a tornado?

A) being picked up in the funnel and dropped
B) being struck by flying debris
C) being crushed under a collapsing roof
D) being flung against something in the intense winds
E) being in a car crash while trying to escape an oncoming tornado

Question 14

What causes the loud boom that we hear as thunder?

A) supersonic movement of the leading end of a lightning bolt
B) supersonic expansion of air heated by a lightning bolt
C) supersonic movement of air pushed aside by a lightning bolt
D) supersonic vaporization of water droplets as they flash into steam when heated by the lightning
E) sudden generation of the sound wave as the "+" and "-" charges from the lightning connect

Question 15

Where is a relatively safe place to be in a lightning storm?

A) an open field away from a tall tree
B) in a dry area under a tall tree
C) in your house
D) lying under your car
E) driving in your car

Question 16

Which part of a storm is likely to form tornadoes?

A) under the leading edge of the stratocumulus cloud
B) immediately ahead of the heaviest rain.
C) under the left edge of the storm cloud (viewed in the direction of storm travel)
D) in the tailing part of the area of heaviest rain
E) in the rotating winds of the trailing edge of the stratocumulus cloud

Question 17

In what direction do most mid-continent tornadoes travel along the ground?

A) east
B) southwest
C) northeast
D) northwest
E) southeast

Question 18

The rate at which temperature decreases with increasing altitude is called the:

A) temperature slope.
B) adiabatic lapse rate.
C) sounding.
D) thermocline.
E) geothermal gradient.

Question 19

What causes a cold front?

A) The front of an advancing storm is abnormally cold.
B) A cold air mass moves up against the Rocky Mountain Front.
C) A cold air mass moves in under a warm air mass.
D) A warm air mass moves in over a cold air mass.
E) The jet stream moves north into central Canada.

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT distinctive about a cloud that might develop a tornado?

A) a broad anvil-shaped top
B) bulbous pouches drooping from the base of the cloud
C) a narrower, steep-sided, rotating cloud descending below the main cloud base
D) an overall flat base shedding torrential rain and moving rapidly northeast
E) a dark, stationary cloud with a rounded bulbous top

Question 21

Why do clouds have a fairly well-defined base at a particular altitude? Explain.

Question 22

Why is the climate on the east side of the mountains of western Washington and southern British Columbia drier than on the west side?

Question 23

How does desertification occur? How does desertification differ from a period of drought?

Question 24

What creates the electrical charges in clouds that characterize lightning storms? What causes the loud boom that we hear as thunder?

Question 25

Does the atmosphere in the tropics contain more moisture or less? Why?

Question 26

How does the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)differ from the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO)?

Question 27

What is a drought? What negative effects can a drought have on a region?

Question 28

What is distinctive about the shape of a cloud that might develop a severe thunderstorm? (Two very distinctive aspects)

Question 29

What about being in a car generally protects you in a lightning storm?

Question 30

Describe the mechanism that triggers thunderstorm systems.What are some hazards that thunderstorms produce?

Question 31

If a major storm is nearby,what would you watch for as a sign that a tornado might soon develop?

Question 32

If you do not have a basement,where is the safest place to be in a house during a tornado?

Question 33

What is the major weather difference in the southeastern United States during an El Niño weather pattern?

Question 34

What is a heat wave? How do heat waves affect people? Why are people in urban areas in danger during a heat wave?

Question 35

What,if anything,happens to equatorial ocean temperatures and sea levels during an El Niño weather pattern?