ATMS 1002 - Intro to Severe Weather Exam 1

Match each meteorological instrument with its description of what it is used to observe.

Uses a collapsible chamber that expands or contracts proportionally with changes in air pressure: Barometer

Measures wind speed at a fixed point, typically 10 meters high: Cup Anemetoer

Instrument places in the shade to avoid absorbing radiant energy from the sun that may affect its measurement: Thermometer

If Dr. Murphy turns on the oven and opens its door, the relative humidity inside his house should:

Decrease

Match the arrows drawn on the diagram below with their correct forces or winds:

Direction of the pressure gradient force: D

Direction of the Coriolis force (assuming geostrophic balance): B

Direction of the geostrophic wind in the Northern Hemisphere: A

What causes winds at the surface to blow across isobars at an angle?

Frictional force

Oh no, California has declared war on Indiana! But those mean surfers haven't taken ATMS 1002. When they launch their missile attacks from Los Angeles, they don't think about the effects of the Coriolis force, and as a result their missiles that were headed for Indiana land in:

Alabama

The relative humidity is very good at telling us:

how close the air is to saturation

Karsyn and Melena wonders what happens when convergence occurs at the top of the troposphere. To satisfy their curiosity, you tell them:

air piles up, causing an increase in surface pressure.

Given below are temperature and dew point data for four cities. At which location is the air closest to saturation?

Phoenix

Dallys wants to know why temperatures increase with height in the stratosphere. What do you tell her?

An ozone maximum absorbs UV radiation.

Ashlynn has invented a magical helicopter that can fly around the world without needing fuel. She takes off from the North Pole and ascends to the tropopause there. If she maintains a constant altitude off the Earth's surface, where will she be when he arrives in Monroe?

In the troposphere

In what state is the pressure gradient the weakest?

In what state are the winds the weakest?

New Mexico

In what direction is the wind blowing from in Montana?

southeast

Which state is located in a trough of low pressure?

Colorado

Match the weather forecasts given below to the type of front or other surface boundary it is most likely associated with.

Warm and humid today with scattered thunderstorms. Tomorrow expect high temperatures but with drier conditions and clearing skies. Overnight winds will shift from southeasterly to southwesterly: Dryline

Increasing cloudiness and warm today, with the possibility of intense thunderstorms along a squall line by evening. Turning much colder tonight. Winds from the south, becoming gusty from the northwest by tonight: Cold Front

Increasing high cloudiness and cold this morning. Clouds increasing and lowering this afternoon, with a chance of snow or rain tonight. Turning much warmer tomorrow morning with precipitation ending. Light easterly winds today, becoming southeasterly tonight and south/southwesterly tomorrow: Warm Front

The map below shows surface temperature (°F). Which line shows a correctly marked front?

Front D

The dewpoint in Hasten's apartment is the same as the dewpoint in Amiya's apartment. However, the relative humidity in each is very different: Hasten has a RH of 25%, and Amiya has a RH of 75%. Which statement is true?

Hasten's apartment is much warmer.

Consider these two weather observations recently observed

Reported at 3 AM: Freezing Rain

Reported at 6 PM: Heavy Snow, surface temperature 33°F

Using the diagrams below, how did the vertical temperature profile evolve from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m.?

3 AM was Profile 1; 6 PM was Profile 3

If you see a lot of isotherms (lines of constant temperature) close together on a map, you've most likely found:

a front

Angelle launches a weather balloon from her house. She sees that at 2 km above the ground the temperature is -5°C; at 1 km off the ground, the temperature is 5°C; and at the ground the temperature is -5°C. If precipitation were to start occurring, what will Angelle most likely experience?

sleet or freezing rain

Which set of surface observations below best exemplifies a continental tropical (cT) air mass?

Location D

A cold front is analyzed across parts of the eastern United States. Based on this map and your knowledge of how fronts move, which of the following states is the front most likely to move towards?

Florida

Freezing rain is falling in Monroe, and snow is falling in Little Rock. What must be different about the environments at these locations?

The temperatures right at the ground.

Air masses form when air remains over a relatively ___________ region of the Earth.

Flat

Karissa is scheduled to fly from Monroe to Saskatoon, Canada. The weather forecast calls for the flight to be through a winter storm and Karissa is worried that aircraft icing might cause the plane to crash. Is she correct to be worried?

Yes, icing will increase the weight of the aircraft.

Yes, icing will change the airflow characteristics over the wings.

Match the vertical temperature profiles given below with the precipitation type that would most likely occur with each by dragging the precipitation type to the correct profile.

Which of the following is the correct way to represent a stationary front separating a cold air mass from a warm air mass?

Match the descriptions below to when it occurs during the lifecycle of a mid-latitude cyclone at the surface.

1st-Cyclone evolves on a pre-existing stationary boundary

2nd-Disturbance leads to frontal wave (i.e., begins counterclockwise rotation in northern hemisphere)

3rd-Fronts intensify and mid-latitude cyclone matures

4th-Cold front overtakes warm front and the mid-latitude cyclone begins to become occluded

5th-Cyclone becomes cutoff and gradually disappears as warm sector is separated from the storm's center

Looking at weather maps over a 12-hour period, Mercedes sees a pattern and predicts, "the cold front is moving so fast that by tonight, it will overtake the warm front." What happens next?

An occluded front will develop

Which cross section corresponds to the frontal structures (or slope) you would expect, given where the line is drawn on the mature midlatitude cyclone below? (Assume that all answer choices are looking left to right, that is, 1->2.)

On the figure below, where would temperatures are the surface be the warmest?

Location 3

On the figure below, where would you expect to find rising air motions?

Location B

Which of the following pictures best represents winds for a surface low pressure system in the Northern Hemisphere?

Which weather types are misplaced on the midlatitude cyclone show below?

cold/dry AND sleet/freezing rain

Considering a midlatitude cyclone and its fronts, at which location would you expect the warmest temperatures?

South of the warm front