Umbc Ges 110 Exam 2

Front 1

Large regions of low pressure can be created at the surface in two ways: 1. cooling the air at the surface, and 2. air that is forced to descend from jet stream level, in the location downstream of a Rossby wave ridge.

Back 1

FALSE - air descends to areas of high pressure

Front 2

In the northern hemisphere, the geostrophic wind blows parallel to isobars with low pressure located to the right of the wind direction.

Back 2

FALSE

Front 3

In the tropics, there is a deficit of net radiation, because longwave energy emission exceeds solar input at those latitudes.

Back 3

FALSE - tropics get the most solar input

Front 4

In the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), low level westerly trade winds from both hemispheres converge, forcing moist air to rise into a band of cloud and rain.

Back 4

FALSE - these are called the tropical trade winds/easterlies

Front 5

A discontinuous belt of anticyclones (high pressure cells) straddles the Earth at 30 degrees north and south, creating Earth's major desert regions.

Back 5

TRUE

Front 6

A warm, humid and rainy monsoon flow is generated over Southeaset Asia during December-March, from intense solar heating of the continent and formation of a large surface low pressure region.

Back 6

FALSE

Front 7

The thermocline separates the deep ocean, which is just a few degrees above freezing, from a shallow, heated surface water layer.

Back 7

TRUE

Front 8

Fast-flowing currents such as the Kuroshio and the Gulf Stream develop along the western sides of ocean basins, while coastal upwelling zones favor the eastern margins of ocean basins.

Back 8

TRUE

Front 9

The deep ocean thermohaline current is generated by sinking of cold, salty, dense water along the eastern margins of Earth's major ocean basins.

Back 9

FALSE - upwelling along eastern margins

Front 10

During El Nino conditions, heavy rain and storminess shifts over the central-eastern Pacific, while abnormally dry (drought) conditions prevail across tropical Indonesia and Australia.

Back 10

TRUE

Front 11

The polar jetstream in the Northern Hemisphere, blowing FROM the west, is strongest during SUMMER.

Back 11

FALSE - polar jetstream is easterly

Front 12

The polar jetstream contains a series of waves (undulating flow) that becomes unstable, generating regions of low and high pressure (cyclones and anticyclones) at the surface.

Back 12

TRUE - undulating flow causes high/low pressure cell variations

Front 13

During El Nino conditions, a large mass of warm, surface ocean water flows eastward toward Peru.

Back 13

TRUE

Front 14

The latent heat associated with sublimination of frozen water is greater than that associated with deposition of vapor onto ice.

Back 14

FALSE - they're the same (2.83x10^6 J/kg)

Front 15

Holding water vapor content of the air constant, relative humidity decreases as the air temperature is reduced.

Back 15

FALSE - Rh = ratio of [(H2O content/saturation content) x 100] g/kg

Front 16

An adiabatic process such as cooling of air as it rises, occurs simply because the rising volume of air expands, which expends some of its internal energy.

Back 16

TRUE

Front 17

The large volumetric increase between a rain drop and a cloud droplet prohibits the observed rapid formation of rain through pure condensation alone.

Back 17

TRUE

Front 18

In subfreezing clouds, snowflakes form via the process of vapor deposition, followed by aggregation...while hailstones develop from the process of riming.

Back 18

TRUE

Front 19

Growth of large hail is limited to summer, because vigorous cloud updrafts are required, which in turn necessitates an unstable air mass.

Back 19

TRUE - need the large updraft to support the large hail

Front 20

In general terms and averaged over the globe, precipitation exceeds evaporation over oceans, while over land, evaporation exceeds precipitation.

Back 20

FALSE - more water gets absorbed from oceans (evaporation)

Front 21

For the global hydrological cycle to exist in a balanced state, runoff from land to ocean must equal advection of water vapor from ocean to land, on an annual basis.

Back 21

TRUE

Front 22

The formation of extratropical cyclones in midlatitudes is predicated on juxtaposition of mT and cP air masses.

Back 22

TRUE

Front 23

A warm front is characterized by intense, convective showers and thunderstorms...while broad regions of stratoform precipitation develop ahead of and along cold fronts.

Back 23

FALSE - stratoform clouds don't accompany warm fronts

Front 24

Air lifted over a high orographic barrier will arrive warmer and drier on the lee side, than before it was lifted on the windward side.

Back 24

TRUE

Front 25

During the mature phase of a thunderstorm cell, both the updraft and downdraft coexist, along with the generation of heavy rain, lightning and strong wind gusts.

Back 25

TRUE

Front 26

The following sequence describes the proper formation and evolution of an Atlantic hurricane: Tropical depression > tropical easterly wave > tropical storm > hurricane.

Back 26

FALSE - storm over Africa > tropical depression > tropical storm > hurricane

Front 27

Hurricanes are powered primarily by heat in the ocean, which is conveyed to the storm clouds through fluxes of sensible and latent heat.

Back 27

TRUE

Front 28

Migrating, extratropical cyclones develop as a result of Rossby waves in the jetstream, in the presence of a large gradient in surface temperature.

Back 28

TRUE

Front 29

A warm front approaches and moves through Baltimore. We would expect to observe a sudden drop in air temperature and shift in wind direction from southerly to westerly.

Back 29

FALSE - rise in temperature + shift from westerly to southerly

Front 30

Severe thunderstorm definition criteria include generation of flash floods and intense lightning.

Back 30

FALSE - 1"+ hail, >58mph gusts, tornadoes

Front 31

A supercell thunderstorm contains a strong region of rotation that coincides with the cloud updraft, called a mesocyclone, from which most strong and violent tornadoes develop.

Back 31

TRUE

Front 32

A derecho contains a powerful downdraft that spreads ahead of the line of storms, moving at a high speed, leaving a long trail of wind damage that spans hundreds of miles.

Back 32

TRUE

Front 33

Hurricane Sandy (2012) struck the US East Coast as an exceptionally large Nor'easter, after making an anomalous left hand turn into the mainland.

Back 33

TRUE

Front 34

Within the circulation of extratropical cyclones, the favored location for the development of severe local storms is BEHIND (west of) the cold front.

Back 34

FALSE - development of storms is in front of the cold front

Front 35

A cold front approaches Baltimore. We would expect to observe an abrupt drop in pressure, rapidly warming air and a shift in the wind direction from westerly to southerly.

Back 35

FALSE - cooling air

Front 36

Within the eye region of a hurricane, the air is much colder than the surrounding vortex, leading to increased air pressure at the ocean surface.

Back 36

FALSE

Front 37

The three deadly aspects of a hurricane during landfall include storm surge, flooding rain (freshwater flooding) and high, sustained winds.

Back 37

TRUE

Front 38

The minimum speed for a hurricane is 74 mph (cat 1) and minimum speed for a cat 5 is 155mph.

Back 38

TRUE

Front 39

Strong category hurricanes include any storm rated Cat 2 or higher.

Back 39

FALSE - cat 3

Front 40

Two samples of air have temperature = 80 F but the dewpoint in sample A is 55 F and 75 F in sample B. Sample B therefore 1. contains a higher moisture content than A, and 2. sample A will condense after 15 deg F of cooling, vs. 5 deg F for sample B.

Back 40

FALSE

Front 41

Given constant dewpoint temperature throughout the day, relative humidity will typically be lowest during the early morning (sunrise) and highest during the mid-afternoon.

Back 41

FALSE - Rh is opposite of diurnal cycle

Front 42

The Coriolis Effect decreases poleward of the Equator and decreases as the speed of the wind increases.

Back 42

FALSE - increases poleward of the Equator

Front 43

Migrating low pressure systems in the mid-latitudes develop downstream (downwind) of a jetstream ridge.

Back 43

FALSE

Front 44

Stratoform rainfall falls from widespread cloud layers covering large areas, characteristic of winter, whereas convective rain is generally heavier and localized during the summer.

Back 44

TRUE

Front 45

The most violent tornadoes are ranked EF0-EF1 on the enhanced fujita scale.

Back 45

FALSE - EF3s-EF5s are strongest

Front 46

There are many more cat 1/2 hurricanes than cat 4/5 storms each year in the Atlantic.

Back 46

TRUE - law of rare events

Front 47

The Atlantic hurricane season extends from June 1 through the end of September, with the peak activity around Sept. 15.

Back 47

FALSE - June 1 - Nov 30

Front 48

The disproportionate share of tornado fatalities arise from relatively rare EF4/5 tornadoes.

Back 48

TRUE

Front 49

When describing the force balance giving rise to the geostrophic wind, one must consider the three way interaction of three forces: pressure gradient, coriolis effect, and friction.

Back 49

FALSE

Front 50

The NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) is predicated on the difference in sea-level pressure between the Icelandic (subpolar) low and Bermuda high.

Back 50

TRUE