Introduction to Meteorology Test Preparation
Course Introduction
Introduction to Meteorology provides a foundational understanding of the atmosphere and the dynamic processes that influence weather and climate. Students will explore key topics such as atmospheric composition, pressure, temperature, humidity, cloud formation, and precipitation. The course examines how weather systems develop and impact the Earth's surface, while also introducing methods for observing and forecasting weather phenomena. Through practical applications, learners gain insight into severe weather events, global climate patterns, and the role of meteorology in societal planning and environmental stewardship.
Recommended Textbook
Extreme Weather and Climate 1st Edition by C. Donald Ahrens
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15 Chapters
633 Verified Questions
633 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/3773
Page 2
Chapter 1: The Turbulent Atmosphere
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40 Verified Questions
40 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/75272
Sample Questions
Q1) The gas that absorbs most of the harmful ultraviolet radiation in the stratosphere is:
A)water vapor.
B)nitrous oxide.
C)carbon dioxide.
D)ozone.
E)chlorofluorocarbons.
Answer: D
Q2) What causes air pressure? Why does air pressure decrease with increasing altitude?
Answer: no answer
Q3) Why is there very little water vapor above the tropopause?
Answer: no answer
Q4) Where cold surface air is replacing warm air,the boundary separating the different bodies of air is termed a:
A)parallel of latitude.
B)tornado.
C)cold front.
D)warm front.
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Energy That Drives the Storms
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49 Verified Questions
49 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The sun emits its greatest intensity of radiation in:
A)the visible portion of the spectrum.
B)the infrared portion of the spectrum.
C)the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum.
D)the x-ray portion of the spectrum.
Answer: A
Q2) On December 22,the equator (0<sup>o</sup> latitude)would experience fewer hours of daylight than the latitude 60<sup>o</sup> N.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) The fact that solar energy is spread over a larger area in northern latitudes helps to explain why even though these latitudes experience 24 hours of sunlight on June 22,they are not warmer than latitudes further south.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 3: Temperature and Humidity Extremes
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39 Verified Questions
39 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Suppose yesterday morning you noticed ice crystals (frost)on the grass,yet the reported minimum temperature was only 35<sup>o</sup> F.The most likely reason for this apparent discrepancy is that:
A)temperature readings are taken in instrument shelters more than 5 feet above the ground.
B)the thermometer was in error.
C)the newspaper reported the wrong temperature.
D)the thermometer was read before the minimum temperature was reached for that day.
E)the thermometer was read incorrectly.
Answer: A
Q2) In most areas the warmest time of the day close to the ground occurs in the afternoon between 2 and 5 pm.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Hypothermia is most common in cold,dry weather.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Condensation in the Atmosphere
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42 Verified Questions
42 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Stratus clouds are often delicate,fibrous,and white in color.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Frost forms when water vapor changes into ice without first becoming a liquid.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A dim "watery" sun visible through a gray sheet-like cloud layer is often a good indication of stratocumulus clouds.
A)True
B)False
Q4) An air parcel that is warmer than its surroundings will rise.What force accounts for this upward motion?
Q5) At which city might you be able to observe cirrus clouds at an altitude of 3,000 m (10,000 feet)above the surface?
A)Barrow,Alaska
B)Honolulu,Hawaii
C)Miami,Florida
D)Chicago,Illinois
Q6) Under what conditions can a cloud form when air is sinking?
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Chapter 5: Clouds and Stability
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43 Verified Questions
43 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Does radiational cooling at the ground at night act to increase or decrease atmospheric stability? How does daytime heating at the ground during the day affect atmospheric stability?
Q2) If an air parcel is given a small push upward and it falls back to its original position,the atmosphere is said to be:
A)stable.
B)unstable.
C)isothermal.
D)neutral.
E)adiabatic.
Q3) Based on atmospheric stability considerations,do you think it would be best to burn agricultural debris in the early morning or in the afternoon?
Q4) Air which resists vertical displacements is considered to be stable.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Would you expect to find a subsidence inversion to be associated with high or low pressure? What effects might a subsidence inversion have on weather conditions at the ground?
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Chapter 6: Precipitation Extremes
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40 Verified Questions
40 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which type of precipitation would most likely form when the surface air temperature is slightly below freezing and the air temperature increases as you move upward away from the ground?
A)freezing rain
B)hail
C)rain
D)snow
E)drizzle
Q2) What is the main difference between a raindrop and a cloud droplet?
Q3) Which cloud type below will only produce precipitation by the collision-coalescence process?
A)a thick,cold nimbostratus cloud
B)a thick,warm cumulus cloud
C)a thick,cold cumulus cloud
D)a thick,supercooled cumulonimbus cloud with abundant nuclei
E)a supercooled cumulus congestus cloud
Q4) In warm clouds,the cloud droplets are usually all the same size.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Design an automated device for measuring snowfall.How might it work?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Atmospheric Motions
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45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) On an isobaric surface,
A)altitude is constant.
B)temperature is constant.
C)pressure is constant.
D)both a and c
Q2) On an upper-level chart the wind tends to blow:
A)at right angles to the isobars or contour lines
B)parallel to the isobars or contours
C)at an angle between 10 and 30 to the contours and towards lower pressure
D)at constant speed
Q3) The atmosphere around the earth would rush off into space if the vertical pressure gradient force were not balanced by:
A)the Coriolis force.
B)the horizontal pressure gradient force.
C)gravity.
D)the centripetal force.
E)friction.
Q4) Explain why strong upper-level divergence will cause the pressure in the center of a surface low to decrease.
Q5) Under what conditions (if any)might you record a station pressure of 750 mb?
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Wind Systems
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41 Verified Questions
41 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which below would not be considered an onshore wind?
A)sea breeze
B)Santa Ana wind
C)lake breeze
D)none of the above
Q2) How might a knowledge of the direction of the prevailing wind at a given location be used in landscape design or the design of an energy efficient home?
Q3) Low pressure becomes best developed over the Asian continent in:
A)summer.
B)winter.
C)fall.
D)spring.
Q4) Would you expect a well-developed sea breeze circulation to cause clouds to form over the land or over the ocean?
Q5) An extremely strong downslope wind that occurs in parts of Antarctica would be considered a Santa Ana wind.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Will a valley breeze or a mountain breeze produce clouds? Explain.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Air Masses and Fronts
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41 Verified Questions
41 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The greatest contrast in both temperature and moisture will occur along the boundary separating which air masses?
A)cP and cT
B)mP and mT
C)mP and cT
D)mT and cP
E)cT and mT
Q2) Fronts are associated with high pressure.
A)True
B)False
Q3) An upper-air front involves downward motion of the:
A)tropopause.
B)stratopause.
C)low-level jet.
D)both a and c
Q4) In the Southern Hemisphere,
A)air rises steeply ahead of a warm front,and gradually ahead of a cold front.
B)cold,warm and occluded fronts are associated with high pressure systems.
C)precipitation associated with warm fronts tends to be brief and intense.
D)precipitation associated with warm fronts tends to be gentle and prolonged.
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Chapter 10: Mid-Latitude Cyclonic Storms
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40 Verified Questions
40 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/75263
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not associated with rising air motions?
A)overrunning
B)convergence of air at the surface
C)convergence of air aloft
D)divergence of air aloft
Q2) When upper-level divergence of air above a surface low pressure area is stronger than the convergence of surface air,the surface pressure will __________ and the storm itself will __________.
A)increase,intensify
B)increase,dissipate
C)decrease,intensify
D)decrease,dissipate
Q3) When an upper-level low lies directly above a surface low:
A)the surface low will probably weaken.
B)thunderstorms will develop.
C)a wave cyclone will begin to form.
D)the pressure of the surface low will decrease.
E)cyclogenesis will occur.
Q4) What is cyclogenesis? List some of the regions in the United States where cyclogenesis is common.
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Chapter 11: Thunderstorms
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41 Verified Questions
41 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a multicell storm,each of the cells is always in the same stage of development.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A Mesoscale Convective Complex is actually:
A)a rapidly rotating tornado cyclone inside a massive thunderstorm
B)another name for a suction vortex
C)a complex display of lightning from distant thunderstorms
D)a family of tornadoes that do a great deal of damage
E)individual thunderstorms that grow into a large,long-lasting weather system
Q3) The wind shear associated with several major airline crashes is believed to have been caused by:
A)microbursts
B)dry lines
C)the jet stream
D)mesocyclones
Q4) Conditional instability is a favorable condition for thunderstorm formation.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is a squall line? Where would you expect squall lines to form?
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Chapter 12: Tornadoes
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40 Verified Questions
40 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Multi-vortex tornadoes can be created in the laboratory,but they don't exist in nature.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What makes a tornado-producing thunderstorm different from other thunderstorms?
Q3) In the United States,tornadoes are most frequent during the __________,and least frequent during the __________.
A)summer,fall
B)spring,winter
C)spring,fall
D)summer,winter
E)winter,fall
Q4) Which of the following factors is most important in determining the strength of a tornado?
A)diameter
B)air temperature
C)duration
D)central pressure
Q5) Do invisible tornadoes exist? Explain.
Q6) Why do tornadoes have low pressure cores?
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Hurricanes
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41 Verified Questions
41 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/75260
Sample Questions
Q1) Computer models of hurricanes almost always agree on their predictions of a hurricane's movement and evolution.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In order for a hurricane to form,the layer of warm water must extend from the ocean surface to a depth of at least 400 meters.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which below is not an atmospheric condition conducive to the formation of hurricanes?
A)a region of converging surface winds at the surface
B)warm water
C)strong upper-level winds
D)cold air aloft
E)moist,humid surface air
Q4) Very heavy rainfall amounts are often recorded when a hurricane or tropical storm moves over land.Why do these storms produce so much rain?
Q5) Why can't hurricanes form in the midlatitudes?
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Chapter 14: Weather Forecasting
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41 Verified Questions
41 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Suppose there are two cloud layers above you.The lower cloud layer is moving from a westerly direction,while the higher cloud layer is moving from a northwesterly direction.From this observation you conclude that the wind is __________ with height and __________ advection is occurring between the cloud layers.
A)backing,cold
B)backing,warm
C)veering,cold
D)veering,warm
Q2) An analysis is:
A)a forecast chart that shows the atmosphere at some future time.
B)a forecast chart that compares past weather maps with those of the present.
C)a surface or upper-level chart that interprets the present weather patterns.
D)a forecast method used in long range weather prediction.
E)a method used to determine skill in predicting the weather.
Q3) A prog is a chart that interprets the current state of the atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the data and tools that a meteorologist assembles prior to making a weather forecast.
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Chapter 15: The Earths Changing Climate
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50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/75258
Sample Questions
Q1) Explain how analysis of glacial and polar ice cores provide important clues about past climate.
Q2) Indications of past climates in tree rings are determined by examination of the:
A)thickness of growth rings
B)density of growth rings
C)presence of frost rings
D)all of the above
E)only a and b
Q3) What is meant by the term "positive feedback?" What role could positive feedback play in the atmospheric greenhouse effect? Would this enhance or reduce global warming? Can you think of any "negative feedback" mechanisms?
Q4) Where is the Sahel located? Is this a region of scarce,variable or abundant rainfall? Describe the biogeophysical feedback mechanism whereby a reduction in surface vegetation might cause a reduction in precipitation amounts.
Q5) The Milankovitch Theory proposes that climatic changes are due to particles suspended in the earth's atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
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