Physical Science Exam 1

Front 1

what are the basic ingredients for a thunderstorm?

Back 1

moisture, instability, and a lifting mechanism

Front 2

what defines a severe thunderstorm?

Back 2

hail greater than three-fourths of an inch, wind gusts greater than 50 knots, and/or tornadoes

Front 3

what are the stages of thunderstorm development?

Back 3

cumulus (updrafts), mature (up & down drafts), and dissipation (down drafts)

Front 4

what are the four types of thunderstorms?

Back 4

air mass, multicell, squall lines, and supercells

Front 5

what is a wind shear?

Back 5

the change in direction and speed over a distance

Front 6

what makes supercell thunderstorms unique?

Back 6

they rotate

Front 7

what are the characteristics of supercells?

Back 7

last 4-6 hours, cover 40-60 km, and have wind shear

Front 8

what are the three types of supercells?

Back 8

low precipitation, high precipitation, and classic

Front 9

what is a tornado?

Back 9

a violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground

Front 10

when are tornadoes most likely to form?

Back 10

spring (april-june), during the late afternoon and early evening (4-8 pm)

Front 11

where are tornadic wind speeds strongest?

Back 11

to the right of motion

Front 12

what do vortex breakdowns produce?

Back 12

multiple vorticies

Front 13

what are the life cycle stages of tornadoes?

Back 13

organizing, mature, shrinking, and decaying

Front 14

what is the definition of temperature?

Back 14

the average speed of molecules movement in a substance. (the faster the average speed the high the temp.)

Front 15

what is the definition of pressure

Back 15

the weight of the air above you

Front 16

what is the difference between absolute and relative measures of moisture?

Back 16

absolute has nothing to do with temperature, whereas, relative does.

Front 17

what is the energy called that resides in water molecules?

Back 17

latent heat

Front 18

when does latent energy in water get released and absorbed and how does that affect the atmosphere?

Back 18

when changing states; in a thunderstorm, water is changing phases on a continual basis, therefore, latent heat is added or released on a continual basis

Front 19

how is atmospheric pressure measured?

Back 19

mercury barometers

Front 20

what are the typical units of pressure that are used in meteorology?

Back 20

millibars

Front 21

what is the oklahoma mesonet?

Back 21

a network of environmental monitoring stations.

Front 22

which has a higher heat capacity: water or land?

Back 22

water

Front 23

what are the four different temperature profiles for winter precipitation?

Back 23

rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow

Front 24

what are the five different types of airmasses?

Back 24

continental polar, continental tropical, maritime polar, maritime tropical, and continental arctic

Front 25

which source regions are generally formed in canada in winter and over the ocean in the summer?

Back 25

cold airmass sources

Front 26

which source regions are seen in the desert SW in the summer when typical daytime highs are around 110 degrees fahrenheit?

Back 26

warm airmass sources

Front 27

what is the conveyor belt model of a mid-latitude cyclone?

Back 27

the depiction of three-dimensional structure of a cyclone in terms of three airstreams: warm, cold, and dry

Front 28

what are the four layers of the atmosphere

Back 28

troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere