Download Salt Lake Community College Geography 1700

Salt Lake Community College
Student Name ___________________________
Geography 1700 – Natural Hazards
Quiz #4 – A. J. Allred, Adjunct Instructor
1. During a vigorous mid-latitude cyclone, sometimes called a frontal storm or “wedge” storm,
buoyant dry air will float over heavy, wet air, causing high winds and barometric pressure
changes of about 300mb at any given location.
True ____
False ____
2. Which of the following safety options should be most economical for preventing storm damage?
a. Maintain adequate insurance
b. Make a family emergency plan for evacuating and meeting somewhere to count heads
c. Collect emergency supplies
d. Ask the government for more funding
e. Live a safe distance from lakes, rivers and the ocean
3. Which of the following statements is false?
a. Water is a great source of energy for violent storms.
b. Utah is too far from the tropics to provide enough heat for severe storms.
c. Evaporation of water hides heat that can come back as clouds that release that heat,
causing powerful low-pressure updrafts.
d. Water helps make climate milder, but makes weather less predictable and sometimes
dangerous.
e. All natural hazards derive their energy from some form of radioactivity.
4. Based on class discussion, which of the following combinations best represents a “dry line” storm?
a. 50° F and 45% humidity on one side and 62° F and 55% humidity on the other side
b. 92° F and 68% humidity on one side and 68° F and 65% humidity on the other side
c. 80° F and 55% humidity on one side and 78° F and 50% humidity on the other side
d. 90° F and 52% humidity on one side and 76° F and 50% humidity on the other side
e. 88° F and 80% humidity on one side and 42° F and 54% humidity on the other side
5. Weather forecasters can now predict tornado touchdowns and hurricane landfalls with great
accuracy, yielding warning times of as much as 11 minutes, compared to just 20 to 25 minutes of
warning in the past.
True ____
False ____
6. Stormy weather in North America typically includes what conditions?
a. Rising air
b. Relatively high humidity
c. Tornadic, cyclonic or counter-clockwise winds
d. Ice in high clouds during summer
e. All of the above
7. Violent winds in mid-latitude tornadic storms are typically associated with:
a. Large amounts of latent heat that cause rapidly descending air
b. Relatively high air pressure and clockwise wind rotation due to Coriolis force
c. Collisions between air masses that differ greatly in temperature and humidity
d. Relatively low atmospheric pressure that causes masses of falling (descending) air
e. All of the above
8. Hurricane storms surge involves high wind, high humidity, high atmospheric pressure and high
rainfall.
True ___
False ___
9. A hurricane condition would be properly represented by about how much difference in sea level
atmospheric pressure across a region where the storm passes?
a. 15mb
b. 80mb
c. 507mb
d. 1013mb
e. None of the above is a reasonable figure
10.
Tornadoes are “fueled” by atmospheric water vapor that contains vast amounts of latent heat.
Even so, some of the worst U.S tornado outbreaks occur when snow and ice storms are still
occurring nearby.
True ___
False ___
11. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina was probably the most anticipated natural disaster in human history.
People who died in Katrina were not necessarily foolish – many of them simply had no means of
evacuating. Others who died had survived previous hurricanes and were complacent.
True ___
False ___
12.
Blizzards contain substantial amounts of atmospheric heat. Freezing temperatures in a blizzard
can enhance the effect of a nearby fading hurricane or other “extra tropical” storm.
True ___
False ___
13.
If U.S. tornadoes tend to track from southwest to northeast, then should public safety services
always provide equal warnings to the broadest possible area anytime a tornado is expected?
Yes ___
No ___
14.
Much of the United States and even parts of Canada are not protected from hurricane effects
that originate in the tropics. Even Utah and Arizona can receive precipitation from hurricanes.
True ___
False ___
15. There is a strong negative correlation between the size of a U.S. hurricane or tornado and how
often such storms occur.
True ___
False ___
16.
During a tornado or hurricane, isolines for rainfall and air pressure tend to be:
a.
Very close together, indicating rapid change in wind or rain
b. Very far apart, indicating rapid change in wind or rain
c.
Close together for rain, and far apart for wind
d. Close together for wind, and far apart for rain
e.
All of the above is a good description of a severe tornadic storm
17.
Storms with lightning and hailstones are caused by greater heat inside a storm center that is
surrounded by less buoyant. Air inside these kinds of storms is often frozen, even in the summer
time.
True ___
False ___
18.
Which of the following characteristics of the atmosphere is the first factor to begin the process of
storing energy a tornado, hurricane, blizzard or other severe storm:
a. sunshine
b. wind
c. rain
d. humidity
e. evaporation
19.
Mid-latitude storms have which two conditions that make them capable of greater severity than
simple convective storms in the tropics?
a.
More heat and more humidity
b. Great contrast in heat and humidity between air masses, and Coriolis effect
c.
More heat and less Coriolis effect
d. More humidity and high elevation above sea level
e.
More heat and less humidity
20. Which of the following statements regarding water vapor is true?
a.
Evaporation does the same thing as condensation because both involve water
b. Severe storms erupt as evaporation forms towering high clouds
c.
Evaporation in Arizona explains why Arizona is hotter than Alabama, Georgia or Florida
d. Severe storms begin with condensation that absorbs vast amounts of energy
e.
Severe storms erupt as condensation releases vast amounts of energy stored in water