Deck 7: Atmospheric Circulations

Question 1

When a sea breeze moving west meets a sea breeze moving east, they form a ____.

A) land breeze
B) sea breeze convergence zone
C) monsoon depression
D) valley breeze

Answer 1

B

Question 2

During the summer along the coast, a sea breeze is usually strongest and best developed ____.

A) in the afternoon
B) just after sunrise
C) around midnight
D) just before noon

Answer 2

A

Question 3

"Howling" winds can be caused by ____.

A) jet streams
B) eddies
C) long waves
D) low pressure areas

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which condition most favors the development of dust devils?

A) hot, moist days
B) hot, dry days
C) cold, moist days
D) cold, dry days

Question 5

While fly fishing in a mountain stream, you notice that the wind is blowing uphill. From this you might deduce that the wind is a ____.

A) chinook wind
B) valley breeze
C) Santa Ana wind
D) mountain breeze

Question 6

Cumulus clouds that appear above isolated mountain peaks are often the result of ____.

A) katabatic winds
B) mountain winds
C) valley breezes
D) Santa Ana winds

Question 7

Billow clouds are known to primarily form in areas of ____.

A) mountain wave eddies
B) wind shear
C) thermal highs
D) thermal lows

Question 8

Strong Santa Ana winds develop in Los Angeles during the fall when a ____ pressure center forms to the ____ of Los Angeles over the Great Basin.

A) high; northeast
B) high; southwest
C) low; northeast
D) low; southwest

Question 9

What time of day would you most likely expect thunderstorms to occur on a mountain?

A) early morning
B) early afternoon
C) midnight
D) early evening

Question 10

The nighttime counterpart of the sea breeze circulation is called a ____.

A) chinook
B) Santa Ana
C) land breeze
D) foehn

Question 11

On the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, chinook winds are enhanced when ____.

A) clouds form and precipitation falls on the windward side of the mountains
B) the air aloft is cold
C) the sun is shining
D) the winds are blowing from the east

Question 12

A valley breeze would develop its maximum strength ____.

A) at sunrise
B) in early afternoon
C) about an hour after sunset
D) around midnight

Question 13

A sea breeze circulation is caused by ____ differences.

A) humidity
B) temperature
C) altitude
D) surface roughness

Question 14

Which of the following associations is most accurate?

A) microscale - chinook wind
B) synoptic scale - sea breeze
C) mesoscale - land breeze
D) planetary scale - lake breeze

Question 15

Airpockets are areas of ____ that can form in clear air.

A) descending air
B) ascending air
C) wind shear
D) high pressure

Question 16

The summer monsoon in eastern and southern Asia is characterized by ____.

A) wet weather and winds blowing from land to sea
B) dry weather and winds blowing from land to sea
C) wet weather and winds blowing from sea to land
D) dry weather and winds blowing from sea to land

Question 17

The heat from a chinook wind is generated mainly by ____.

A) compressional heating
B) sunlight
C) warm ocean water
D) convection

Question 18

The winter monsoon in eastern and southern Asia is characterized by ____.

A) wet weather and winds blowing from land to sea
B) wet weather and winds blowing from sea to land
C) dry weather and winds blowing from sea to land
D) dry weather and winds blowing from land to sea

Question 19

A sea breeze circulation will reverse direction and become a land breeze circulation ____.

A) once every few days
B) at the beginning and the end of the summer
C) several times per day
D) once per day

Question 20

What term describes air aloft that changes speed or direction?

A) sea breeze
B) long wave
C) wind shear
D) macroscale circulation

Question 21

In the three-cell model of the earth's general air circulation, areas of surface low pressure should be found at ____.

A) the equator and the poles
B) the equator and 30° latitude
C) the equator and 60° latitude
D) 30° latitude and 60° latitude

Question 22

At Barrow, Alaska (latitude 70°N), you would expect the prevailing wind to be ____.

A) northerly
B) easterly
C) southerly
D) westerly

Question 23

The wind belt observed on the poleward side of the polar front is called the ____.

A) polar easterlies
B) prevailing westerlies
C) northeast trades
D) doldrums

Question 24

In the Northern Hemisphere, ocean currents in the Atlantic and the Pacific move in a generally circular pattern. The direction of this motion is ____ in the Atlantic and ____ in the Pacific.

A) clockwise; counterclockwise
B) counterclockwise; counterclockwise
C) clockwise; clockwise
D) counterclockwise; clockwise

Question 25

The majority of the United States lies within a(n) ____ wind belt.

A) westerly
B) easterly
C) northerly
D) southerly

Question 26

In Honolulu, Hawaii (latitude 21°N), you would most likely experience winds blowing from the ____.

A) northeast
B) south
C) southwest
D) northwest

Question 27

The polar front jet stream blows ____.

A) directly from west to east
B) directly from east to west
C) from the equator towards the poles
D) in a wavy pattern from west to east

Question 28

Chicago, Illinois (latitude 42°N) is located in the ____.

A) northeast trades
B) southeast trades
C) westerlies
D) doldrums

Question 29

On a weather map of the Northern Hemisphere, the northeast trade winds would be observed ____.

A) north of the polar front
B) between the polar front and the subtropical highs
C) south of the subtropical highs
D) between the subpolar lows and the subtropical highs

Question 30

The tropical western Pacific Ocean regions experience ____ during strong ENSO events.

A) lower surface air pressure
B) higher sea levels
C) strong trade winds
D) lower sea levels

Question 31

Jet streams play a major role in the global transfer of heat by directing ____.

A) cold air to the poles
B) cold air equatorward
C) warm air equatorward
D) warm air to the tropics

Question 32

Great Britain typically has warmer winter temperatures than other areas of similar latitude because of the ____.

A) Labrador Current
B) Gulf Stream
C) North Equatorial Current
D) Agulhas Current

Question 33

The polar jet stream is strongest and moves furthest south in the ____.

A) winter
B) spring
C) summer
D) fall

Question 34

The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is a region where the ____.

A) polar front meets the subtropical high
B) northeast trades meet the southeast trades
C) northeast trades converge with the subtropical high
D) polar easterlies converge with the air at the doldrums

Question 35

Summertime weather in Northern California often consists of low clouds and fog due to ____.

A) southerly prevailing winds
B) warm coastal water
C) cold coastal water
D) katabatic winds

Question 36

The cold water observed along the northern California coast in summer is due primarily to ____.

A) evaporation
B) oceanic fronts
C) upwelling
D) the polar front

Question 37

On a weather map of the Northern Hemisphere, one would observe the westerlies ____.

A) north of the subpolar lows
B) south of the subtropical highs
C) between the doldrums and the horse latitudes
D) between the subpolar lows and the subtropical highs

Question 38

During a major El Niño event, ____.

A) record amounts of fish are harvested at the time of the winter solstice
B) extensive ocean warming occurs in the eastern tropical Pacific
C) eastern trade winds increase in strength
D) extensive upwelling occurs in the eastern tropical Pacific

Question 39

Many of the world's deserts are found near 30° latitude because ____.

A) the intertropical convergence zone is located there
B) of sinking air found near the polar front
C) of the convergence of the prevailing westerlies and the northeast trade winds
D) of the sinking air of the subtropical highs

Question 40

In the three-cell model, converging surface winds and rising air motions are found at ____.

A) the equator and 30° latitude
B) the equator and 60° latitude
C) 30° latitude and 60° latitude
D) 30° latitude and the poles

Question 41

Surface air is warmer and drier as a result of compressional heating in a downslope wind.

Question 42

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. In the single-cell model of the earth's general circulation of air, a large thermally driven convection cell is located in each hemisphere. Surface air flows EQUATORWARD | POLEWARD.

Question 43

Differences in ____________________ create pressure gradients that cause sea and land breezes to blow.

Question 44

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. Do the southeastern and northeastern trade winds CONVERGE or DIVERGE at the equator?

Question 45

The serious brush fires that occur in southern California in autumn are often driven by ____________________ winds.

Question 46

____________________ winds are dry, warm winds that occur when strong westerly winds aloft flow over a north-south-trending mountain range, such as the Rockies and Cascades.

Question 47

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. The doldrums are a region of low surface pressure and STRONG | WEAK surface winds.

Question 48

Cumulus cloud formation above a mountain in the early afternoon could indicate a well-developed valley breeze.

Question 49

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. KATABATIC | CHINOOK downslope winds have been called "snow eaters" because they can melt and evaporate snow over a short period of time.

Question 50

A warm northward flowing ocean current is found along the east coast of the United States and a cold southward moving current is found along the west coast.

Question 51

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. Upwelling is strongest and surface water is coolest where wind flows PARALLEL | AWAY FROM the coast.

Question 52

Sea breezes from the east and west coasts of Florida form a sea breeze ____________________ zone that contributes to the state's abundant summertime rainfall.

Question 53

The polar jet stream is strongest in the winter when surface temperature contrasts are greatest.

Question 54

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. Land and sea breezes are SYNOPTIC SCALE | MESOSCALE air circulations.

Question 55

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. During El Niño events, surface waters are COLDER | WARMER in the tropical eastern Pacific.

Question 56

Surface winds and upper-level winds blow in the same direction in a thermal circulation.

Question 57

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. ROTORS | WIND SHEAR form beneath mountain wave crests and have violent vertical motions that produce extreme turbulence.

Question 58

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. The Pacific high drifts northward during the summer. Sinking air on its eastern side produces a strong upper level subsidence inversion, which tends to keep summer weather along the California coast relatively DRY | WET.

Question 59

Wind ____________________ is an abrupt change in wind direction and/or wind speed.

Question 60

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. The term "horse latitudes" refers to a region of high pressure where winds are weak and precipitation is PLENTIFUL | SCARCE.

Question 61

What is clear air turbulence (CAT) and why can it represent a hazard to aviation?

Question 62

Would you expect a well-developed sea breeze circulation to cause clouds to form over the land or over the ocean? Why or why not?

Question 63

List the scales of atmospheric motion from largest to smallest and give an example of each.

Question 64

Briefly describe where each of the following features is found in the earth's general circulation. What meteorological conditions might you find associated with each feature? horse latitudes trade winds ITCZ polar front doldrums

Question 65

Sketch and name the major ocean currents adjacent to the coastlines of the United States. Indicate the direction of motion of each current and indicate whether it is a warm or cold current.