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Q:
Fast moving currents of air found near the top of the troposphere are called ________.
Q:
A low pressure center is called a(n) ________.
Q:
Two weather stations lie along a latitude line. The eastern station records a pressure of 1021mb, the western station records 1015mb. The 1020 isobar is closest to which station?
Q:
Two weather stations record air pressure. Weather station 1 is 100km north of weather station 2. The pressure at station 1 is 1023mb and at station 2 it is 1015mb. What is the pressure gradient between the two stations?
Q:
When winds blow parallel to the isobars, which is usually the case for winds aloft, they are called ________ winds.
Q:
The force that generates wind is known as the ________ force.
Q:
Standard sea level pressure is ________ inches of mercury.
Q:
An instrument that measures air pressure using a partially evacuated chamber is called a(n) ________ barometer.
Q:
The first instrument to measure air pressure was the ________ barometer.
Q:
The ultimate cause of a sea breeze is the unequal heating of land and water.
Q:
Most of the people living in the United States are under the influence of the wind belt known as the westerlies.
Q:
The region where the trade winds meet is also called the doldrums.
Q:
The existence of jet streams was first determined by Ben Franklin as a result of his kite experiments.
Q:
Most deserts are associated with the subtropical high.
Q:
If the earth rotated twice as fast as it does, the Coriolis force would be half as much as on Earth.
Q:
If the earth were not rotating, there would be no Coriolis force.
Q:
In the Northern Hemisphere, winds blow clockwise and outward from the center of anticyclones.
Q:
Low pressure at the surface also requires low pressure aloft for air to continue to flow toward the low.
Q:
A surface low pressure system will not strengthen unless there is high pressure aloft.
Q:
Anticyclones characteristically have winds blowing out from their centers.
Q:
Cyclones are usually associated with stormy weather.
Q:
High pressure systems are usually associated with stormy weather.
Q:
Low pressure systems are usually associated with clear weather.
Q:
A southwest wind blows toward the northeast.
Q:
Closely spaced isobars indicate high wind speeds.
Q:
Upper air winds are generally faster than the surface winds directly below.
Q:
An isobar is a line connecting places of equal humidity.
Q:
Horizontal movement of air is called wind.
Q:
Of the various elements of weather, changes in air pressure are probably the most obvious.
Q:
The pressure gradient force is the driving force behind wind.
Q:
The Coriolis effect influences wind speed but not wind direction.
Q:
The Coriolis effect is strongest at the equator and diminishes in strength poleward.
Q:
Torricelli invented the mercurial barometer.
Q:
Standard sea level air pressure is 29.92 inches of mercury.
Q:
Standard sea level air pressure is 1013 millibars.
Q:
If the barometer indicated 1020 millibars, air pressure would be considered high.
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the
relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. sea breeze
Chinook winds
valley breeze
trade winds
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the
relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. trade winds
westerlies
Chinook
polar easterlies
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the
relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. equatorial low
trade winds
polar front
subtropical high
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the
relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. Coriolis effect
jet stream
friction
pressure gradient force
Q:
If you live on the east coast of Florida or the Gulf Coast, why might you hope for an El Nio year?
A) It will decrease the chances of heavy summer thunderstorms and floods.
B) It will decrease the probability of tropical cyclones.
C) It will bring clear, cool summer conditions, albeit dry.
D) It will produce a warmer summer, but with less rain than normal.
Q:
What is the Southern Oscillation?
A) the intermittent switch from El Nio to La Nia conditions in the equatorial Pacific
B) the periodic intense cyclonic storms from Antarctica
C) the weather pattern that changes tropical cyclone activity in the southern ocean
D) the 10-year cycle in winter storm activity in the temperate zone of the Southern Hemisphere
Q:
Where was the El Nio phenomena first recognized?
A) the Caribbean region
B) California
C) Central America
D) Peru and Ecuador
Q:
If you live in southwestern North America and are experiencing drought conditions, what do you hope will happen?
A) A La Nia period will begin.
B) An El Nio period will begin.
C) Conditions will return to a normal, with neither La Nia nor El Nio.
D) The temperatures will decrease in the eastern equatorial Pacific.
Q:
The most precise instrument for measuring wind speed is a ________.
A) cup anemometer
B) wind vane
C) wind sock
D) wet bulb/dry bulb thermometer
Q:
Which of the following devices measures both wind direction and speed?
A) anemometer
B) wind vane
C) wind sock
D) None of these can measure both wind speed and direction.
Q:
When someone says we have a southeast wind, what direction would you look to face into the wind?
A) southeast
B) northwest
C) east
D) west
Q:
The Amargosa Valley in eastern California desert often experiences a cold evening wind that blows downvalley. Which of the following might explain this phenomenon?
A) Daytime heating causes a local low pressure that causes air to rush in by evening.
B) Moist Pacific air rising over the Sierra Nevada Mountains produces mountain precipitation, and as this air spills off the eastern escarpment, it forms the valley wind.
C) Night time cooling upvalley produces a cold, unstable air mass that is funneled down the valley to produce a valley wind.
D) It is a nighttime land breeze and there should be an accompanying daytime seabreeze up valley.
Q:
Why is the Santa Ana wind a danger signal in southern California?
A) It is a cold, dry winter wind that brings danger of hypothermia to people like the homeless living on the streets.
B) It drives people crazy with the howling winds, so crime goes up.
C) It is a warm, humid wind from Mexico that signals El Nio conditions and high potential for flooding.
D) It is a warm, dry wind that can quickly dry out brushlands and spread fires.
Q:
A land breeze usually originates during the ________.
A) evening and flows toward the land
B) day and flows toward the land
C) evening and flows toward the water
D) day and flows toward the water
Q:
A sea breeze usually originates during the ________.
A) evening and flows toward the land
B) day and flows toward the land
C) evening and flows toward the water
D) day and flows toward the water
Q:
You are on a boat in a fiord in Glacier Bay, Alaska. It is a clear sunny day with temperatures near 20C with no wind. Within 5 minutes the sky is still clear but the wind is blowing at 30 knots down valley, the sea is filled with whitecaps, and the temperature drops to 5C. What just happened?
A) You experienced a Chinook wind.
B) You experienced a valley wind, caused by cold air spilling off an ice cap down the valley.
C) You experienced an afternoon sea breeze, blowing cold air off the ocean.
D) A storm front must have passed.
Q:
A Santa Ana (or Chinook or Foehn) wind is a ________.
A) wind associated with a blizzard
B) cold, damp wind blowing off a snow field
C) wind that is common to the world's deserts
D) very dry, warm wind flowing down a mountain slope
Q:
Fast moving currents of air found near the top of the troposphere are called ________.
A) jet streams
B) chinooks
C) mesocyclones
D) El Nio
Q:
Most of the United States is situated in which zone of prevailing winds?
A) trade winds
B) subpolar easterlies
C) westerlies
D) doldrums
Q:
Asia has an intense monsoon, but North America also experiences a low-intensity monsoon. What causes monsoons?
A) Heating of the polar regions in summer due to long days causes air to flow toward the poles in summer, drawing moisture from warm ocean dominated air masses.
B) The heating of the continent during the summer produces a persistent low pressure over the continent that draws warm moist air masses from adjacent oceans.
C) The oceans warm faster than the continents during the summer and spawn cyclonic storms that move toward the continents.
D) The horse latitude high pressure system breaks down in summer, leading to monsoon moisture in desert locations like southwestern North America and India.
Q:
Which of the following is not true for anticyclonic storms systems in the Northern Hemisphere?
A) The outward flow produces a clockwise circulation due to the Coriolis force.
B) The storm system is characterized by high pressure and descending air.
C) The storm system is characteristic of mid-latitude zones and is typically associated with fair weather.
D) The storm system is a low-latitude phenomena associated with outflow from tropical cyclones.
Q:
Why do storm systems move from west to east in mid latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere?
A) The storms are steered by approximately west to east winds aloft that are approximately geostrophic winds produced by Coriolis forces.
B) The prevailing wind is from the west.
C) The prevailing wind is from the east, and the storm systems move toward the surface flow.
D) The continents break up air flow that would normally be south to north and the Coriolis force turns the storms to the right, or toward the east.
Q:
When are upper air winds fastest?
A) in summer
B) in winter
C) whenever the temperature gradient is weak
D) These winds maintain roughly the same speeds throughout the year.
Q:
The subpolar low (polar front) is ________.
A) a zone where the trade winds meet
B) the forward edge of the Antarctic ice cap
C) a zone where the polar easterlies and the westerlies converge
D) the boundary between frozen and liquid
Q:
This pressure zone is associated with abundant precipitation and warm temperatures.
A) subtropical high
B) equatorial low
C) subpolar low
D) polar high
Q:
The Sahara and Australian deserts (among others) are associated with the ________.
A) subtropical high
B) equatorial low
C) subpolar low
D) polar high
Q:
Another name for the area of equatorial low pressure is the ________.
A) subpolar easterlies
B) westerlies
C) doldrums
D) horse latitudes
Q:
High air pressure systems are usually associated with ________.
A) diverging winds
B) descending air
C) clear weather
D) all of these
Q:
In the Northern Hemisphere, winds associated with a high pressure system blow ________.
A) clockwise and toward the center
B) counterclockwise and toward the center
C) clockwise and outward from the center
D) counterclockwise and outward from the center
Q:
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winds associated with a low pressure system (cyclone) blow ________.
A) clockwise and toward the center
B) counterclockwise and toward the center
C) clockwise and outward from the center
D) counterclockwise and outward from the center
Q:
Tropical cyclones (aka hurricanes in the Atlantic) are intense low-pressure systems characterized by heavy rain and high winds. When a tropical cyclone passes an area, however, there are generally several days of clear, dry weather. Why might this occur?
A) The hurricane carries a cold front with it, which carries dry air.
B) The cyclone has sucked up all the moist air around it, leaving dry air behind.
C) The cyclone must have an outflow aloft, which feeds descending air surrounding the storm.
D) The spiral arms of the hurricane are storm fronts, and each carries descending air behind it.
Q:
Tropical cyclones produce the most intense low-pressure systems on earth. To develop and maintain this low pressure, what must happen aloft in this type of storm?
A) A strong jet stream flow must be present to maintain the inward flow.
B) A strong divergent flow (outflow) aloft must keep up with, or exceed, the inflow near the surface.
C) The storm must push the tropopause far into the stratosphere to maintain the low pressure.
D) Rain must fall to force thunderstorms to collapse to keep the air circulation going.
Q:
If stormy weather were approaching, the pressure tendency would probably be ________.
A) steady
B) rising
C) falling
D) none of these
Q:
If "fair" weather were approaching, the pressure tendency would probably be ________.
A) steady
B) rising
C) falling
D) none of these
Q:
In the Southern Hemisphere, the winds associated with a low pressure system blow ________.
A) clockwise and toward the center
B) counterclockwise and toward the center
C) clockwise and outward from the center
D) counterclockwise and outward from the center
Q:
Low air pressure systems are usually associated with ________.
A) diverging surface winds and low pressure aloft
B) descending air and low pressure aloft
C) converging air, precipitation, and high pressure aloft
D) clear weather
Q:
You are watching the local weatherman on TV. You live in mid-latitudes in North America, and the weatherman says the winds aloft are blowing toward the northwest. Is this reasonable?
A) Yes, southeast winds are common at mid latitudes in North America.
B) Yes, northwest winds are common at mid latitudes in North America.
C) No, Northern Hemisphere winds aloft always move from west to east because of the Coriolis force.
D) No, mid-latitude winds always move from east to west because of the Coriolis force.
Q:
A weather system is moving from west to east. You look at a weather map and see that you are in an area of closely spaced isobars with the center just to your east, but the spacing of the isobars increases away from you. What would you forecast for wind conditions?
A) Winds will stay the same.
B) Winds will increase.
C) Winds will decrease.
D) Winds will increase then decrease.
Q:
Upper air winds ________.
A) are generally faster than surface winds
B) are unaffected by the Coriolis force
C) are greatly influenced by friction
D) both A and B
Q:
The Coriolis effect influences ________.
A) only wind speed
B) only wind direction
C) both wind speed and wind direction
D) neither wind speed nor wind direction
Q:
Widely spaced isobars often indicate ________.
A) high winds
B) variable winds
C) light winds
D) cyclonic winds
Q:
A steep pressure gradient ________.
A) would be depicted by widely spaced isobars
B) produces strong winds
C) is only possible in the tropics
D) produces light winds
Q:
Closely spaced isobars indicate ________.
A) high pressure gradient and high winds
B) high pressure gradient and likely gusty winds
C) geostrophic conditions
D) low pressure gradient and weak gusty winds
Q:
Isobars are lines on a weather map representing what?
A) lines of equal air pressure
B) lines of equivalent air speed
C) lines of equal elevation for the tropopause
D) lines showing equal density of bars