Meteorology Quiz 10

The initial stage of an ordinary cell thunderstorm is the: mature stage. dissipating stage. cumulus stage. multicell stage.

A discharge of electricity from or within a thunderstorm is called: static electricity. lightning. a downburst. St. Elmo's fire. an atmospheric arc.

__________ measures the speed at which precipitation is moving toward or away from an observer. A radiosonde An anemometer A wind psychrometer Doppler radar

A group of thunderstorms which develop in a line one next to the other, each in a different stage of development, are called: ordinary thunderstorms. a thunderstorm cluster. a multicell thunderstorm. mature thunderstorms.

If a tornado is rotating in a counterclockwise direction and moving toward the northeast, the strongest winds will be on its __________ side. southwestern southeastern northeastern northwestern

A Doppler radar determines precipitation __________ by measuring changes in the __________ of the reflected radio wave. size, intensity velocity, intensity velocity, frequency size, frequency

The most likely time for an ordinary cell thunderstorm to form is: just after sunrise. just before sunrise. around midnight. late afternoon at noon.

You are generally safe inside an automobile during a lighting storm because: the car's radio antenna will act as a lightning rod. the rubber tires insulate you from the ground. metal cars do not become electrically charged. the metal car body will carry the lightning current around the passengers inside.

A small thunderstorm cloud with virga falling out of its base and blowing dust at the ground could warn of a severe hazard to aircraft because: this could be the first indication of a tornado. it is likely that hail will soon begin to fall. this could indicate an intense downdraft or microburst. the airplane could be struck by lightning.

On a Doppler radar screen, a tornado might appear as a: a region of low pressure. a region of intense precipitation. a region of rapidly changing wind speeds. a region of intense lightning activity.

A relatively narrow downburst, less than 4 kilometers wide, is called: a microburst. a funnel cloud. a rain shaft. a narrow burst. a mesocyclone.

The so-called "Tornado Belt" of the United States is located: in Florida in the Central Plains in the Ohio Valley in the middle Atlantic states along the Gulf Coast

Which of the following statements about tornadoes is correct? all tornadoes rotate in a counterclockwise direction tornadoes never strike the same place twice all tornadoes make a distinction roar the United States has more tornadoes that any other country in the world

What would be the proper sequence of events in a lightning flash? stepped leader, dart leader, return stroke, return stroke return stroke, stepped leader, return stroke, dart leader dart leader, return stroke, stepped leader, return stroke stepped leader, return stroke, dart leader, return stroke

Thunder is caused by: the collision between two thunderstorms with opposite electrical charge. the rapid heating of air surrounding a lightning channel. the explosion that occurs when + and - charge collide and neutralize each other. turbulent wind motions inside the thunderstorm.

In cloud-to-ground lightning, the stepped leader travels __________ and the return stroke travels __________. upward, upward upward, downward downward, upward downward, downward

A supercell storm is: a thunderstorm that produces several tornadoes. a thunderstorm that produces a category F-5 tornado. a thunderstorm with an extremely large downburst. an enormous thunderstorm that lasts for several hours.

The top of a thunderstorm is normally __________ charged, and the middle and lower parts are __________ charged. negatively, negatively negatively, positively positively, positively positively, negatively

On a surface weather map, this marks the boundary where a warm, dry air mass encounters a warm, moist air mass. gust front dry line storm front wall cloud

Different tornadoes spawned by the same thunderstorm are said to occur: in unison. in sequence. in repetition. in families.

The rotating updraft inside a severe thunderstorm is called a: mesohigh. mesocyclone. funnel cloud. roll cloud.

If you see a lightning stroke and then, 15 seconds later, hear the thunder, the lightning is about __________ miles away. 45 15 5 3

Ordinary cell thunderstorms only last about one hour and begin to dissipate when: lightning neutralizes all the electrical charge in the cloud. when all the precipitation particles in the cloud turn to ice. when the downdraft spreads throughout the cloud and cuts off the updraft. when solar heating at the ground begins to decrease.

A line of thunderstorms that forms ahead of an advancing cold front is called a: roll cloud. squall line. wall cloud. gust front. dry line.

The Fujita scale pertains to: the size of a tornado producing thunderstorm. the amount of hail that falls from a mature thunderstorm. the size of the thunderstorm image on a radar screen. the strength of a tornado.

The leading edge of a thunderstorm's cold downdraft is known as a: downburst. squall line. gust front. dry line. microburst.

An ordinary cell thunderstorm is most intense during the stage. mature multicell cumulus dissipating

Downdrafts spread throughout a thunderstorm during the stage. cumulus dissipating precipitating developing

In a region where severe thunderstorms with tornadoes are forming, one would not expect to observe: a strong ridge of high pressure over the region. a dry tongue of cold air between the 700 and 500 mb levels. the polar jet stream above the region. moist warm air moving north at about the 850 mb level.

A hook-shaped echo on a radar screen often indicates: a thunderstorm with very frequent lightning. a developing hurricane. the possible presence of a tornado-producing thunderstorm. a rotating anvil cloud at the top of a thunderstorm.