Meteorology Final Exam

Front 1

_____ humidity is a bad indicator of the actual amount of water vapor in the air.

Back 1

Relative

Front 2

If a bubble of air is forced to rise, and if the bubble is warmer than the surrounding air, the bubble in considered _____

Back 2

Unstable

Front 3

An instrument that measures humidity is called a(n)____

Back 3

Psychrometer and Hygrometer

Front 4

On a clear sunny day, when the wind is light, the stability of the air will most likely be ____

Back 4

Stable

Front 5

A desert can be found on the _____ side of a mountain.

Back 5

Leeward

Front 6

The clouds that are made up of ice crystal and are very high in the sky are called ____

Back 6

Cirrus

Front 7

The precipitation forming process that gives us most of our precipitation throughout the year is ________.

Back 7

Warm cloud precess and Bergeron process

Front 8

Which stable/unstable process is often associate with thunder snows?

Back 8

Conditionally unstable

Front 9

The actual lapse rate of the air is called the _____ lapse rate

Back 9

Enviromental

Front 10

The type of precipitation that falls and freezes on contact with the ground is called.

Back 10

Freezing rain

Front 11

When warm air moves over a cold snow surface the resulting weather is usually_____

Back 11

Fog

Front 12

The type of precipitation that occurs during the growing season, and is most damaging to crops is _____

Back 12

Hail

Front 13

The prefix for a middle height cloud is called _____

Back 13

Alto

Front 14

A desert found on the downwind side of mountains is called a ______

Back 14

Rainshadow desert

Front 15

Vapor pressure is:

Back 15

The part of atmospheric pressure due to water vapor

Front 16

The effect of humidity and high temperatures is expressed as a ____

Back 16

Heat index

Front 17

A process in which no energy is added or removed form the system is called _____

Back 17

Adiabatic

Front 18

Water vapor forms onto solid particles in the air. These solid particles are called:

Back 18

Condensation Nuclei

Front 19

The major source of humidity and precipitation in the eastern half of the US is ______

Back 19

The Gulf of Mexico

Front 20

The type of fog caused by your breath on a cold day would be considered:

Back 20

Steam fog

Front 21

Which lifting mechanism is caused by air running into a mountain?

Back 21

Orographic

Front 22

An instrument that uses lasers to measure cloud coverage at different heights is called:

Back 22

Ceilometer

Front 23

Which cloud is associated with severe updrafts and downdrafts and is often called a "thunderhead"?

Back 23

Cumulonimbus

Front 24

A situation in which the temperature increases with altitude is called ____

Back 24

Inversion

Front 25

An air parcel ______ when it is warmer than the surrounding air and it _____ when it is cooler than the surrounding air.

Back 25

Rises; Sinks

Front 26

When the ELR is greater than both the dry and wet adiabatic lapse rates for a rising air parcel, then the air is considered:

Back 26

Absolutely unstable

Front 27

At what time of day does an inversion usually begin in the lower levels of the atmosphere?

Back 27

Sunset

Front 28

When droplets combine to form a single, larger droplet, the process is called _____

Back 28

Coalescence

Front 29

Which precipitation process is responsible for producing rain in tropical regions?

Back 29

Collision coalescence

Front 30

Which form of precipitation is associated with black ice?

Back 30

Freezing rain

Front 31

The terminal velocity of an object depends primarily upon the object's:

Back 31

Size

Front 32

Cloud droplets fall slowly because they are:

Back 32

Samll

Front 33

The process by which supercooled water droplets freeze onto falling ice crystals is called:

Back 33

Riming

Front 34

When a lifted air parcel neither sinks nor rises is it:

Back 34

Neutral

Front 35

____ air can result in tornadoes and hail

Back 35

Unstable

Front 36

_____ air produces severed rising motions

Back 36

Unstable

Front 37

___________ air is associated with strong temperature inversions

Back 37

Stable

Front 38

The movement of water between and within the atmosphere and the Earth can be described as the _____ cycle.

Back 38

Hydrologic

Front 39

When making air rise, the height at which condensation occurs is called the _____

Back 39

LCL

Front 40

An abundance of precipitation usually falls on the upwind side of the mountain called the ______ side

Back 40

Windward

Front 41

When a falling rain drop reaches a constant speed, it is said to have reached a ____velocity

Back 41

Terminal

Front 42

The instrument used to measure liquid rainfall reaching the ground is called a ____

Back 42

Rain guage

Front 43

Scientists attempt to make a cloud produce rain or snow with a process called ____

Back 43

Cloud seeding

Front 44

Rain that falls from a cloud, passes through a cold layer, and freezes into ice pellets is known as _____

Back 44

Sleet

Front 45

The gas that constitutes about 78% of all the gases in Earth's atmosphere is called ____

Back 45

Nitrogen

Front 46

As you increase in altitude, the pressure in the atmosphere ______

Back 46

Decreases logarithmically

Front 47

Incoming solar radiation is often referred to as:

Back 47

Insolation

Front 48

The higher the Sun's alt, the the ____

Back 48

More direct the Sun's rays

Front 49

The date of the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere is:

Back 49

March 21st

Front 50

The latitude of the Arctic Circle is:

Back 50

66.5 degrees N

Front 51

The Earth reflects about 30% of the Sun's rays that come into the atmosphere, this reflection is termed:

Back 51

Albedo

Front 52

Which method of light scattering primarily affects shorter wavelength radiation?

Back 52

Rayleigh Scattering

Front 53

Net radiation is:

Back 53

Defined as the difference between absorbed and emitted radiation.

Front 54

Most of the energy emitted by the Earth is in the form of _____ radiation

Back 54

Longwave

Front 55

______ force creates the wind and always points from high to low pressure.

Back 55

Pressure gradient

Front 56

In the Northern Hemisphere, winds associated with a high pressure system blow _____

Back 56

Clockwise outwards from the center

Front 57

What instrument is used to measure air pressure?

Back 57

Mercurial barometer

Front 58

If stormy weather were approaching the pressure tendency would probably be

Back 58

Falling

Front 59

Which instrument measures wind direction and speed at the same time.

Back 59

Aerovane

Front 60

A trough in the upper atmosphere is usually associated with a _____ pressure system.

Back 60

Low

Front 61

On March 21st, an observer at the S. Pole would see the Sun at noon:

Back 61

On the horizon

Front 62

On June 21st, an observer at 23.5 N would see the Sun at noon:

Back 62

At the zenith

Front 63

On June 21st, an observer at the Arctic Circle would see the Sun at noon:

Back 63

At the alt of ~47 about the S point

Front 64

___________ air needs the parcel to reach saturation before air can freely rise

Back 64

Conditionally unstable

Front 65

1800 UTC corresponds to ____ central standard time

Back 65

Noon

Front 66

2135 Z corresponds to ____ central standard time

Back 66

3:35 PM

Front 67

0041 Z corresponds to ____ central standard time

Back 67

6:41 PM

Front 68

The front which is often associated with severe thunderstorms is a:

Back 68

Cold front

Front 69

The front with the steepest slope is a:

Back 69

Cold front

Front 70

The slowest moving frontal zone is a:

Back 70

Stationary front

Front 71

Lake effect snow is associated with which air mass:

Back 71

Continental Pacific

Front 72

The global pressure zone that produces abundant precip and warm temps is the:

Back 72

Equatorial Low

Front 73

Fast moving currents of air found near the top of the troposphere are called:

Back 73

Jet streams

Front 74

If an observer witnesses cirrus clouds, followed by cirrostratus, and then altostratus, then a _____ front must be approaching

Back 74

Warm

Front 75

An air mass originating over the Gulf of Mexico would be considered:

Back 75

Maritime Tropical

Front 76

Which air mass may produce an occasional "Nor'easter" in the winter?

Back 76

Maritime Pacific

Front 77

Usually, ______ produce several hours of moderate to gentle precipitation over a large region.

Back 77

Warm

Front 78

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

Back 78

Warm and Cold fronts

Front 79

An mP air mass is:

Back 79

Humid and Cold

Front 80

A Santa Ana or Chinook wind is a:

Back 80

Very dry, warm wind flowing down a mountain slope.

Front 81

When a cold front catches up to and overtakes a warm front the resulting merger creates:

Back 81

An occluded front

Front 82

A sea breeze usually originates during the:

Back 82

Day and flows toward the land

Front 83

Sea breezes usually don't occur during the winter because:

Back 83

The land is usually colder than the surrounding water during winter

Front 84

When the wind flows basically from west to east with no real prominent rossby waves indicated on the map, the general flow is though of as:

Back 84

Zonal

Front 85

The Bermuda High is an example of a:

Back 85

Semi-permanent cell

Front 86

The polar front is usually located near the location of which pressure zone:

Back 86

Subpolar low

Front 87

The ITCZ would be recongnizable on a satellite map of the globe by observing a zone of:

Back 87

Clouds and precip near the equator

Front 88

When heigh lines on a 500 mb map rise towards the poles during a meridional pattern, these ripples can be thought of as:

Back 88

Ridges

Front 89

In some global locations, it rains for months at a time and then it stops raining for months at a time due to a reversal of the wind regime. These rainy periods are called:

Back 89

Monsoons

Front 90

When air flows up a mountain slope created by pressure differences this is called a _____ breeze

Back 90

Land

Front 91

An air mass is best defined as a large body of air:

Back 91

With similar temperatures and moisture characteristics

Front 92

The dew point is most likely to be highest in a ____ air mass

Back 92

Maritime Tropical

Front 93

Warm air flowing upward along the boundary between a warm and cold front leading to extensive cloud cover is referred to as:

Back 93

Overrunning

Front 94

Drylines are best describes as boundaries separating:

Back 94

Humid air from dry air

Front 95

The numerical pressure difference between Darwin and Tahiti is indexed by the:

Back 95

Souther Oscillation

Front 96

During an El Nino event, the equitorial ocean temperatures in the Eastern Pacific:

Back 96

Are much warmer than normal

Front 97

Maps of the global distribution of 500 mb heights show lower values at the pole, which is due primarily to:

Back 97

Lower temps at the pole

Front 98

Usually the pressure gradient force would be strongest at the:

Back 98

700 mb level

Front 99

The warm ocean current located adjacent to the East coast of the US is called:

Back 99

Gulf Stream

Front 100

The fastest moving front:

Back 100

Cold

Front 101

The front associated with squall lines:

Back 101

Cold

Front 102

The front that produces the same weather over a long period:

Back 102

Stationary

Front 103

The front that is usually preceded by high cirrus clouds

Back 103

Warm

Front 104

The boundary between two differing air masses is called a ____

Back 104

Front

Front 105

Another name for the sub polar low is the ________

Back 105

Polar front

Front 106

A ridge is considered ___ pressure

Back 106

high

Front 107

Cold, dense air flowing down a mountain slope is called a ______ wind

Back 107

Katabatic