Deck 13: Weather Forecasting

Question 1

Which of the following factors is most important in determining the strength of a tornado?

A)central pressure
B)duration
C)air temperature
D)diameter

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following describes when the low-level jet stream reaches its maximum strength?

A)at night
B)at dusk
C)during the day
D)at dawn

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following defines an ordinary thunderstorm?

A)a storm that does not produce lightning or thunder
B)a scattered or isolated storm that is not severe
C)a storm that has a tilted updraft and downdraft
D)a storm that does not produce hail

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following factors characterizes the main difference between a downburst and a microburst?

A)size
B)strength
C)duration
D)altitude

Question 5

Referring to the figure below, which of the following types of thunderstorms are forming to the right of the line that separates dry and moist air masses? ​

A)adiabatic
B)severe
C)dryline
D)derecho

Question 6

Which of the following gives the name for a group of thunderstorms that develop in a line, one next to the other, where each is in a different stage of development?

A)mature thunderstorm
B)ordinary thunderstorm
C)thunderstorm cluster
D)multicell thunderstorm

Question 7

Which of the following statements describes thunderstorms that produce tornadoes?

A)They have rotating updrafts.
B)They have very little cloud-to-ground lightning.
C)They will not produce hail.
D)They have updraft velocities below 167 km/h.

Question 8

Which of the following terms refers to the rotating updraft inside a severe thunderstorm?

A)mesocyclone
B)funnel cloud
C)mesohigh
D)suction vortex

Question 9

Which of the following is an accurate statement about ordinary cell thunderstorms?

A)They typically last for less than an hour.
B)They are the least common type of thunderstorm.
C)They are often classified as a severe thunderstorm.
D)They are the most destructive type of thunderstorm.

Question 10

Which of the following conditions describes a mesoscale convective complex?

A)tornadoes that cause a great deal of damage
B)a rapidly rotating tornado cyclone inside a massive thunderstorm
C)a complex display of lightning from distant thunderstorms
D)individual thunderstorms that grow into a large, long-lasting weather system

Question 11

Which of the following terms refers to a tornado-like event that forms over water?

A)roll cloud
B)waterspout
C)mesohigh
D)microburst

Question 12

Which of the following atmospheric conditions are required for thunderstorms to occur?

A)rising air
B)hot, humid air
C)divergence of the air aloft
D)surface heating

Question 13

Where does the largest and most severe type of squall line form?

A)above a warm front
B)ahead of a cold front
C)ahead of a warm front
D)above a cold front

Question 14

In which of the following locations do squall lines generally form?

A)ahead of an advancing cold front
B)along a warm front
C)in the cold sector where warm, dry air meets warm, humid air
D)at the centre of low pressure

Question 15

Which of the following describes the process of electrical discharge during cloud-to-ground lightning?

A)The stepped leader travels downward, and the return stroke travels downward.
B)The stepped leader travels upward, and the return stroke travels downward.
C)The stepped leader travels downward, and the return stroke travels upward.
D)The stepped leader travels upward, and the return stroke travels upward.

Question 16

Which of the following is a typical diameter of a tornado?

A)2500 metres
B)50 metres
C)250 metres
D)1000 metres

Question 17

Which of the following regions of the United States tend to have the most tornadoes in winter?

A)Oklahoma
B)southern Gulf states
C)southern Great Plains
D)northern Great Plains

Question 18

A small thunderstorm cloud with virga falling out of its base and blowing dust at the ground can be a warning of a severe hazard to an airplane. Which of the following statements explains what this warning indicates?

A)It is the first indication of a tornado.
B)It is an indication that hail will soon begin to fall.
C)It is an indication that the airplane could be struck by lightning.
D)It is an indication of an intense downdraft or microburst.

Question 19

Which of the following describes the best thing to do when you are caught in a thunderstorm in an open field?

A)run for cover under the nearest tree
B)remove all metallic objects from your pockets
C)crouch down as low as possible but minimize contact with the ground
D)lie down flat on the ground

Question 20

A funnel cloud or tornado may develop from a rotating cloud that extends beneath a severe thunderstorm. Which of the following is the name for this rotating cloud?

A)roll cloud
B)wall cloud
C)mammatus cloud
D)anvil cloud

Question 21

Which of the following is the name given to the radio waves produced by lightning?

A)St.Elmo's fire
B)sferics
C)thunder
D)sonic boom

Question 22

Which of the following is an accurate statement about tornadoes?

A)They cannot occur within hurricanes.
B)They do not occur outside North America.
C)After they dissipate they form a wall cloud.
D)They are associated with mesocyclones.

Question 23

Which of the following terms refers to a tornado vortex that does not touch the ground?

A)roll cloud
B)funnel cloud
C)mesocyclone
D)wall cloud

Question 24

Which of the following conditions can cause damage to structures inflicted by tornadoes?

A)the increase in air pressure above a roof as high winds blow over it
B)the increase in air pressure as a tornado moves overhead
C)flying debris
D)the tornado's weak winds

Question 25

Which of the following describes the electrical charge of electrons?

A)negative charge
B)either positive or negative charge
C)no charge
D)positive charge

Question 26

Which of the following is the name given to a discharge of electricity from or within a thunderstorm?

A)lightning
B)static electricity
C)St.Elmo's fire
D)downburst

Question 27

Which of the following factors is included in the classification of tornado strength according to the Enhanced Fujita Scale?

A)multiple damage indicators and atmospheric stability
B)degree of damage and atmospheric stability
C)multiple damage indicators and the degree of damage
D)wind speed and tornado width

Question 28

Which of the following terms refers to the small, rapidly rotating whirls that sometimes occur within a large tornado?

A)whirlwind
B)mesocyclone
C)microtornado
D)suction vortex

Question 29

Sometimes a cloud-to-ground lightning discharge appears to flicker. Which of the following statements explains why this happens?

A)You can distinguish separate return strokes.
B)You observe entirely different strikes.
C)You can observe the separate steps of the stepped leader.
D)You blink because of the bright light.

Question 30

Which of the following occurs in the cumulus stage of an ordinary cell thunderstorm?

A)Hail is common.
B)Thunder and lightning frequently occur.
C)Cool air near the ground rises.
D)Moist air rushes upward and forms an updraft.

Question 31

Which of the following describes the conditions when ordinary thunderstorms, which last about one hour only, begin to dissipate?

A)The downdraft spreads throughout the cloud and cuts off the updraft.
B)All precipitation particles in the cloud turn to ice.
C)Solar heating at the ground begins to decrease.
D)Lightning neutralizes all the electrical charge in the cloud.

Question 32

Which of the following terms refers to a second surge of electrons that proceeds from the base of a cloud toward the ground during cloud-to-ground lightning?

A)stepped leader
B)dart leader
C)return stroke
D)downstroke

Question 33

According to the Meteorological Service of Canada, which of the following defines a severe thunderstorm?

A)a storm having a tornado
B)a storm having surface wind gusts below 90 km/h
C)a storm having hail less than 2 cm in diameter
D)a storm having misty rain

Question 34

Which of the following terms refers to a relatively narrow downburst, one that is less than 4 km wide?

A)funnel cloud
B)rain shaft
C)narrow burst
D)microburst

Question 35

Which of the following options provides the proper sequence of events in a lightning flash?

A)dart leader, return stroke, stepped leader, return stroke
B)return stroke, stepped leader, return stroke, dart leader
C)stepped leader, dart leader, return stroke, return stroke
D)stepped leader, return stroke, dart leader, return stroke

Question 36

Which of the following is the primary composition of a funnel cloud?

A)hail
B)dust and dirt from the ground
C)raindrops
D)cloud droplets

Question 37

During the summer in the western Prairies, which of the following conditions prevail near the surface and help hailstones survive as ice all the way to the ground?

A)cold, shallow layer of dry air
B)cold, thick layer of moist air
C)warm, thick layer of moist air
D)warm, shallow layer of dry air

Question 38

Which of the following describes the condition of thunderstorms that often result in flash floods?

A)They have weak or non-existent downdrafts.
B)They contain no lightning.
C)They move slowly.
D)They form in a dry air mass.

Question 39

Which of the following produces the LEAST severe weather?

A)supercell thunderstorm
B)squall line
C)ordinary cell thunderstorm
D)mesoscale convective complex

Question 40

In which of the following locations in the United States are dryline thunderstorms most common?

A)Great Plains
B)California
C)Rocky Mountains
D)desert southwest

Question 41

Which of the following factors characterizes the difference between an HP supercell and a LP supercell?

A)maximum hail diameter
B)precipitation amount
C)maximum wind gust
D)the storm width

Question 42

Which of the following statements describes how a strong vertical wind shear relates to thunderstorms?

A)It intensifies the severity of thunderstorms.
B)It initiates the formation of severe thunderstorms.
C)It inhibits the formation of severe thunderstorms.
D)It reduces the severity of thunderstorms.

Question 43

During which of the following stages is an ordinary thunderstorm most intense?

A)dissipating stage
B)multicell stage
C)mature stage
D)cumulus stage

Question 44

Which of the following statements describes what tends to happen when thunderstorms move to the right of the winds aloft?

A)Thunderstorms form over water due to the reduced friction there.
B)Thunderstorms form along warm fronts.
C)Thunderstorms form near mountains where upper-level winds develop into waves.
D)Thunderstorms cut off the supply of humid air to thunderstorms that are north of them.

Question 45

Which of the following actions take place after a tornado is spotted?

A)A tornado watch is issued.
B)An aircraft carefully monitors the tornado's direction of movement.
C)An attempt may be made to change the tornado's direction of movement.
D)A tornado warning is issued.

Question 46

Which of the following processes causes the warm temperatures of a heat burst?

A)compressional warming and evaporative warming
B)evaporative cooling and adiabatic cooling
C)evaporative warming and adiabatic warming
D)adiabatic warming and compressional warming

Question 47

Which of the following clouds is associated with the development of tornadoes?

A)nimbostratus
B)altocumulus
C)cumulonimbus
D)cirrostratus

Question 48

Which of the following describes how the funnel cloud characteristic of a tornado is principally formed?

A)Clouds are funnelled by downward air currents coming out of a cumulonimbus cloud.
B)Dust and dirt is picked up from the atmosphere.
C)Water vapour in the air is condensed and drawn into the low-pressure core of the tornado.
D)Water is drawn up from the sea surface into the cloud.

Question 49

Which of the following areas are NOT suitable for thunderstorm development?

A)areas of strong high pressure
B)along a front
C)areas of orographic uplift
D)areas of surface convergence

Question 50

Which of the following factors is the most likely cause of the wind shear associated with several major airline crashes?

A)drylines
B)microbursts
C)jet stream
D)mesocyclones

Question 51

Which figure comes closest to the estimated number of thunderstorms that occur each year throughout the world?

A)2,000
B)40,000
C)100,000
D)14,000,000

Question 52

Which of the following describes where hail can come from during a severe thunderstorm?

A)It can fall from the top of the anvil.
B)It can remain aloft indefinitely
C)It can be tossed in the sides of a cloud.
D)It can fall from the bottom of a cloud.

Question 53

Which of the following describes the frequency of tornadoes in Canada?

A)most frequent in spring, least frequent in fall
B)most frequent in summer, least frequent in fall
C)most frequent in summer, least frequent in winter
D)most frequent in spring, least frequent in winter

Question 54

In which part of a northeastward-moving thunderstorm does a tornado most likely develop?

A)southwest part
B)northeast part
C)southeast part
D)northwest part

Question 55

Which of the following defines a supercell storm?

A)a thunderstorm that produces a category EF5 tornado
B)an enormous thunderstorm that lasts for several hours
C)a thunderstorm that produces several tornadoes
D)a thunderstorm with an extremely large downburst

Question 56

Which of the following province has the greatest annual frequency of hailstones?

A)Ontario
B)British Columbia
C)New Brunswick
D)Alberta

Question 57

Which of the following best indicates that a severe thunderstorm is about to produce a tornado?

A)a mammatus cloud
B)a gust front
C)a roll cloud
D)a wall cloud

Question 58

Which of the following statements accurately compares the frequency of lightning discharges within a cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning?

A)Discharges within a cloud are more frequent.
B)Discharges within a cloud are about as frequent.
C)Discharges within a cloud occur rarely.
D)Discharges within a cloud are less frequent.

Question 59

During which of the following stages do downdrafts spread throughout a thunderstorm?

A)developing stage
B)precipitating stage
C)cumulus stage
D)dissipating stage

Question 60

Which of the following is an example of a multicell thunderstorm?

A)severe thunderstorm
B)tornado
C)mesoscale convective complex
D)supercell thunderstorm

Question 61

Which of the following terms refers to the small area of high pressure created by the cold, heavy air of a thunderstorm downdraft?

A)gust front
B)anticyclone
C)mesohigh
D)microburst

Question 62

Which of the following statements characterizes most waterspouts?

A)They form in an area where winds are descending from a cloud.
B)They have rotating winds of less than 45 knots.
C)They draw water up into their core.
D)They form in severe thunderstorms.

Question 63

Which of the following describes the signal detected by a Doppler radar?

A)a sound wave produced by wind shear
B)a sound wave produced by thunder
C)a radio wave reflected by precipitation
D)a radio wave emitted by lightning

Question 64

One thunderstorm can spawn several tornadoes. Which of the following describes how these tornadoes occur?

A)in families
B)in repetition
C)in unison
D)in sequence

Question 65

How many rotating updrafts are found within a supercell storm?

A)1
B)2
C)3
D)4

Question 66

Which of the following processes is the main way that the downdraft in an ordinary thunderstorm is created?

A)evaporating raindrops that make the air cold and heavy
B)release of latent heat as water in the cloud freezes
C)electrical attraction between the cloud and ground
D)melting of snow in the anvil

Question 67

Which of the following defines a sonic boom?

A)It is a form of lightning.
B)It is produced by static electricity in the atmosphere.
C)It is caused when an aircraft flies faster than the speed of sound.
D)It occurs with lightning.

Question 68

Which of the following is the name for distant lightning that is so far away you cannot hear the thunder?

A)false lightning
B)heat lightning
C)St.Elmo's fire
D)sheet lightning

Question 69

Which of the following factors distinguishes severe thunderstorms from ordinary thunderstorms?

A)Severe thunderstorms contain hail.
B)Severe thunderstorms have a strong updraft and downdraft.
C)Severe thunderstorms have a tilted updraft in the mature stage.
D)Severe thunderstorms have an anvil-shaped cloud.

Question 70

In which of the following locations would thunderstorms be LEAST likely to form?

A)the tropics
B)mountain ranges
C)the interior of an mT air mass
D)northern Canada

Question 71

Which of the following terms refers to the cloud that forms along the leading edge of a gust front?

A)roll cloud
B)anvil cloud
C)wedge cloud
D)mammatus cloud

Question 72

When do ordinary thunderstorms usually form?

A)just before sunrise
B)around midnight
C)late afternoon
D)just after sunrise

Question 73

Which of the following describes what a Doppler radar does?

A)It determines precipitation size by measuring changes in frequency of the reflected radio wave.
B)It determines precipitation velocity by measuring changes in frequency of the reflected radio wave.
C)It determines precipitation size by measuring changes in intensity of the reflected radio wave.
D)It determines precipitation velocity by measuring changes in intensity of the reflected radio wave.

Question 74

How far away is the lightning when you see a lightning stroke and then, 15 seconds later, hear the thunder?

A)72 km
B)24 km
C)8 km
D)5 km

Question 75

Which of the following terms refers to a line of thunderstorms that forms ahead of an advancing cold front?

A)squall line
B)wall cloud
C)gust front
D)roll cloud

Question 76

Which of the following is often indicated by a hook-shaped echo on a radar screen?

A)a thunderstorm with very frequent lightning
B)the possible presence of a tornado-producing thunderstorm
C)a developing hurricane
D)a rotating anvil cloud at the top of a thunderstorm

Question 77

In a multicell storm, at which stage of development does each new cell start?

A)end
B)cumulus
C)dissipating
D)mature

Question 78

Where is Canada's tornado alley located?

A)southern Ontario
B)southern Quebec
C)southern Alberta
D)southern Manitoba

Question 79

Which of the following describes how a tornado vortex signature appears on a Doppler radar screen?

A)as a region of rapidly changing wind directions
B)as a region of intense precipitation
C)as a region of intense lightning activity
D)as a region of low pressure

Question 80

Which of the following describes a thunderstorm cloud's electrical charge?

A)It is positive in the upper parts and negative in the lower parts.
B)It is negative in the upper parts and negative in the lower parts.
C)It is positive in the upper parts and positive in the lower parts.
D)It is negative in the upper parts and positive in the lower parts.