Q&A Hero

Q: Which of the following is not used to estimate potential evapotranspiration (POTET) using Thornthwaite's method? A) average daily temperature B) average day length C) average wind speed D) average monthly temperatures

Q: Which of the following would decrease the rate at which evapotranspiration occurs? A) increased temperatures B) increased wind speed C) increased humidity D) increased water availability

Q: Which of the following is true of evapotranspiration in North America? A) The lowest amounts occur in the Southwest and southern Texas. B) The lowest amounts occur in northern Canada. C) The highest amounts are received in the Midwest. D) The highest amounts are received in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Q: Which of the following is true of precipitation in North America? A) The highest amounts occur in the Southwest and Midwest. B) The highest amounts occur in the Southeast and extreme South. C) The lowest amounts are received in the Midwest. D) The lowest amounts are received near Hudson Bay.

Q: Potential evapotranspiration refers to A) the average amount of evapotranspiration over an area per unit time. B) the amount of evapotranspiration measured from an evaporation pan. C) the amount of evapotranspiration that would occur if available water was not limited. D) a precise measurement of evapotranspiration using a lysimeter.

Q: To what extent was Hurricane Katrina a natural disaster? To what extent was it caused by humans?

Q: Examine the typical conditions that spawn hurricanes in the Atlantic. Describe the physical characteristics of a hurricane and examine why it can be so devastating to land.

Q: What are the spatial and temporal conditions that create Tornado Alley? What are the specific weather conditions are necessary to create a tornado?

Q: Write an essay that discusses the formation of mesocyclones and tornadoes, and also examines how scientists rank the intensity of tornadoes.

Q: Discuss the formation, physical characteristics, and typical precipitation patterns of thunderstorms.

Q: Describe the typical life cycle of a mid-latitude cyclone in North America, beginning with cyclogenesis and ending with the cyclone's dissolution.

Q: Present the typical conditions and activities associated with both a cold front and with a warm front.

Q: Using regional examples, explain how orographic precipitation and rain shadows are related.

Q: Follow a parcel of warm, moist air eastward up and over the Sierra Nevada of California, discussing where and why precipitation forms and what happens to the air parcel on the eastern slope of the Sierra.

Q: Describe the four types of atmospheric lifting and give typical geographic characteristics associated with each.

Q: Describe the formation of a cP air mass and then discuss the typical weather it produces and the changes it undergoes as it travels across the Great Lakes and moves southward.

Q: Describe the typical air masses that affect North America. Give their source regions, physical characteristics and properties, and typical directions of motion.

Q: How do air masses form? What are their general characteristics?

Q: Extreme snowfall events, such as blizzards, may increase in intensity during the coming century.

Q: Sea-level rise is increasing hurricane storm surge activity on the U.S. east coast.

Q: Severe weather events associated with midlatitude cyclones have little impact on humans since they largely occur in scarcely populated areas.

Q: The cyclonic movement of tropical cyclones begin with slow-moving easterly waves of low pressure in the trade wind belt of the tropics.

Q: Most tornadoes in the United States occur west of the Continental Divide.

Q: Derechos are slow moving, curved-line winds.

Q: Warmer-than-average surface water temperatures between Africa and the Caribbean are associated with a greater frequency of Atlantic hurricanes.

Q: Sea level rises associated with climate change can lead to increased hurricane-related damage.

Q: Most Atlantic Basin hurricanes occur during the months of June to November.

Q: The flooding of much of New Orleans associated with Hurricane Katrina was the result of the heavy precipitation associated with the hurricane.

Q: Prior to making landfall, the characteristics of Hurricane Sandy changed and it was, therefore, reclassified as a post-tropical storm.

Q: The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale includes estimates from related storm surges, flooding, and tornadoes.

Q: Hurricane Catarina, which made landfall in Brazil in 2004, rotated clockwise.

Q: The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is based on damage estimates from hurricane force winds.

Q: Tropical cyclones have steep pressure gradients that generate inward-spiraling winds.

Q: The eye of a hurricane is the zone of the most intense precipitation.

Q: Pacific super typhoons can have wind speeds over 241 kmph (150 mph).

Q: Hurricanes are more likely to develop when sea surface temperatures are slightly below 26.

Q: Hurricanes originate entirely within tropical air masses.

Q: A typhoon and a hurricane are identical in physical structure and properties, although they occur in different parts of the world.

Q: The Enhanced Fujita scale classifies tornadoes based on wind speed as indicated by related property damage.

Q: No tornadoes have been recorded in the United States during the months of November, December, and January.

Q: Europe experiences more tornadoes than anywhere on Earth.

Q: The frequency of tornadoes in the United States has been increasing over the last twenty years.

Q: Thunder results from the sudden expansion of heated air through the atmosphere caused by a lightening strike.

Q: During hail formation, rain drops circulate repeatedly above and below the freezing level in clouds, adding layers of ice until they fall under the force of gravity.

Q: Lightening is an infrequent event, only occurring during frontal lifting.

Q: Thunderstorms are most often associated with cirrostratus clouds.

Q: During a thunderstorm, you should never seek shelter from lightning under a tree.

Q: Thunderstorms and hail are associated with cumulonimbus cloud development.

Q: Weather prediction will soon be almost 100 percent accurate because weather systems act in a linear fashion.

Q: Advances in technology, such as in weather satellites, Doppler radar, computing, and automated observation systems have helped increase the accuracy of weather forecasts.

Q: Weather data necessary for forecasting includes barometric pressure, surface air temperature, dew-point temperature, wind speed and direction, and precipitation patterns.

Q: Cyclonic storms develop along the polar front.

Q: In the open stage of a midlatitude cyclone in the Northern Hemisphere, warm air begins to move northward along an advancing front, while cold air advances southward to the west of the center.

Q: Cyclogenesis refers to the last stage of a midlatitude cyclone life cycle.

Q: In the Southern Hemisphere, a migrating center of low pressure, with converging, ascending air that spirals clockwise, is a wave cyclone.

Q: The topography and latitudinal position of North America are important factors in air mass interactions.

Q: The direction of travel of midlatitude wave cyclones is controlled largely by the polar jet stream.

Q: A line on a weather map that is marked with small triangular spikes designates a warm front.

Q: Orographic lifting produces the world's highest precipitation amounts and averages.

Q: Urban heat islands can contribute to convectional lifting.

Q: Convectional lifting results when air from different directions flows toward an area of low pressure.

Q: Convergent lifting is common all along the equatorial region.

Q: A rainshadow is a zone of dark clouds and heavy rainfall.

Q: The term "rain shadow" is assigned to windward slopes.

Q: Chinook winds are cold, dry winds.

Q: Chinook winds form on the leeward side of mountains.

Q: Along an advancing cold front, warm, moist air is abruptly lifted, often resulting in the formation of cumulonimbus clouds.

Q: In terms of stability, mT air masses formed over the Gulf of Mexico are quite similar to the mT air masses formed over the Pacific.

Q: Continental polar air masses of cold, dry air are more developed during the summer over North America than in winter.

Q: Air masses that migrate far from their source regions become modified in physical characteristics and form secondary air masses.

Q: Cool, moist, and unstable mP air masses average 4.4 g/kg of specific humidity.

Q: An air mass is a mass of air that may extend through the lower half of the troposphere and is homogenous in terms of temperature and humidity.

Q: Yearly weather-related damage costs have risen 500% since 1975.

Q: Weather is the long-term average conditions and extremes in a region.

Q: Which of the following is predicted to occur in the 21st Century as a result of climate change?A) An increase in global snowfall due to an increase in atmospheric moisture.B) Increased frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones due to increased ocean temperatures.C) Less lake-effect snowfall due to warming waters.D) Decrease in extreme snowfall events (blizzards).

Q: Which of the following is false of tropical cyclones? A) Sea surface temperatures must exceed 26C (79F) for one to form. B) They form around an intense high pressure center at the surface. C) Storm surges often account for the greatest damage from tropical cyclones. D) They have hit Brazil, France, and Oman.

Q: Which of the following is incorrect? A) The most severe weather in a hurricane occurs in the spiral bands. B) By definition, hurricanes have sustained winds that exceed 65 knots (119 kmph or 74 mph). C) Mature hurricanes develop a central eye of calm conditions (in which it is often possible to see the sky) that is surrounded by a swirling eyewall. D) Tropical cyclones range in diameter from 160 km (100 mi. to 1,000 km (600 mi).

Q: Which of the following is false regarding tornados? A) Wind speeds can exceed 322 kmph (200 mph). B) Since 1990 the United States has averaged over 1000 per year. C) The air pressure inside a tornado funnel is 10% greater than the surrounding air. D) The peak months are May and June.

Q: A tornado classified as an EF-5 would have A) windspeeds greater than 322 kmph (200 mph) with incredible damage. B) windspeeds less than 137 kmph (85 mph) with light damage. C) windspeeds between 218-26 kmph (136-165 mph) with severe damage. D) windspeeds between 178-217 kmph (111-135 mph) with considerable damage.

Q: Which of the following is not associated with the development of a tornado? A) squall lines and supercells B) a strong updraft C) a mesocyclone D) minimal wind shear