Download Exam#3

Name:___________________________________
ATMS 103
8 November 2016
INDIVIDUAL EXAM#03
Choose the single best answer in Questions (1) – (20), each question is worth four points.
Questions (21) and (22) are each worth 10 points. EXAM#03 is worth 100 total points.
(1) Choose the correct order of scales of atmospheric motion starting with the smallest
and ending with the largest.
(a) microscale, synoptic scale, mesoscale, planetary scale
(b) microscale, mesoscale, synoptic scale, planetary scale, p. 178-179 of text
(c) mesoscale, microscale, synoptic scale, planetary scale
(d) microscale, mesoscale, planetary scale, synoptic scale
(2) Eddies that form downwind from mountains in stable air are called ________ when
violent vertical motions and extreme turbulence develops at low altitudes.
(a) rotors, p. 180 of text
(b) a land breeze
(c) von Karman vortices
(d) a sea breeze
(3) Circulations brought on by changes in air temperature, in which warmer air rises and
colder air sinks, are termed ________ circulations and extend at most up to ________ km
into the troposphere.
(a) thermal, 10-12
(b) thermal, 1-3, p. 182 of text
(c) indirect, 10-12
(d) indirect, 1-3
(4) A ________ breeze should be in place when thunderstorms develop offshore and the
lowest pressure should be observed ________ at the surface.
(a) sea, over the water
(b) sea, over the land
(c) land, over the water, p. 182 -184 of text
(d) land, over the land
(5) The monsoon circulation in India is active ________ and is driven in the warm season
by ________ pressure at the surface over land. During a major El Niño, the monsoon
rainfall is likely to be ________.
(a) in both summer and winter, low, below normal, p. 184 -186 of text
(b) in both summer and winter, high, above normal
(c) in the summer only, low, below normal
(d) in the summer only, high, above normal
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Name:___________________________________
ATMS 103
8 November 2016
INDIVIDUAL EXAM#03
(6) Air parcels caught up in a katabatic wind should experience ________ and ________
as they travel ________ the mountain, independent of whether the parcel is cold or warm.
(a) expansion, cooling, up
(b) expansion, cooling, down
(c) compression, warming, up
(d) compression, warming, down, p. 187 - 188 of text
(7) The formation of a dust devil, like a tornado, requires the presence of a thunderstorm.
True
False, p. 191 - 193 of text
(8) When compared to actual observations of winds and pressure, the three-cell model
wind prediction disagrees with observations ________ and in the ________ latitudes.
(a) aloft, tropical
(b) aloft, middle, p. 197 of text
(c) at the surface, tropical
(d) at the surface, middle
(9) The jet stream that is situated along the boundary where cold air lies on its ________
side and warm air lies on its ________ side at an altitude of about 10 km is the ________.
(a) poleward, equatorward, subtropical jet
(b) poleward, equatorward, polar front jet, p. 199 - 202 of text
(c) equatorward, poleward, subtropical jet
(d) equatorward, poleward, polar front jet
(10) The eastern tropical Pacific Ocean surface temperatures are ________ normal during
________ year, when upwelling along the coast of Peru greatly diminishes or ceases.
(a) colder than, an El Niño
(b) colder than, a La Niña
(c) warmer than, an El Niño, p. 204 - 207 of text
(d) warmer than, a La Niña
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Name:___________________________________
ATMS 103
8 November 2016
INDIVIDUAL EXAM#03
(11) Shown above is a winter upper-air pattern than brings ________ air into the west
coast of North America.
(a) cP
(b) cT
(c) mP, see Figure 8.6, p. 221 of text
(d) mT
(12) If the ________ air mass moves outside its source region and into the Great Plains
during the summertime and stagnates over that region for any length of time, a severe
drought may result.
(a) cP
(b) cT, p. 224 of text
(c) mP
(d) mT
(13) A boundary between two air masses in which the surface winds tend to blow parallel
to the boundary, but in opposite directions on either side of it is known as ________.
(a) a cold front
(b) a warm front
(c) a stationary front, p. 225-226 of text
(d) an occluded front
(14) Which of the following is not used to locate a front on a surface weather map:
(a) changes in wind speed, p. 226 - 227 of text
(b) changes in the air’s moisture content
(c) sharp temperature changes over a relatively short distance
(d) shifts in wind direction
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Name:___________________________________
ATMS 103
8 November 2016
INDIVIDUAL EXAM#03
(15) Observations of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain are not uncommon ________ the
surface ________.
(a) behind, cold front
(b) behind, warm front
(c) ahead of, cold front
(d) ahead of, warm front, see Fig 8.18, p. 228 - 231 of text
(16) Air ahead of the warm front being colder than the air behind the cold front is a
condition necessary for the formation of a ________-type occluded front.
(a) warm, see Fig 8.22, p. 231 - 233 of text
(b) cold
(c) stationary
(d) variable
(17) According to the ________ cyclone model, the development of a mid-latitude wave
cyclone begins on the ________.
(a) Norwegian, ITCZ
(b) Norwegian, polar front, p. 233 - 234 of text
(c) Swedish, ITCZ
(d) Swedish, polar front
(18) The typical paths of wintertime mid-latitude cyclones and anticyclones are such that
cyclones generally move ________, whereas anticyclones generally move ________.
(a) southward or southeastward, northwestward
(b) southward or southeastward, northeastward
(c) eastward or northeastward, southwestward
(d) eastward or northeastward, southeastward, p. 236 of text
(19) Air above a low pressure storm center is being removed more quickly than
converging surface winds can supply air to the storm’s center. This storm is ________, a
process known as ________.
(a) weakening, cyclolysis
(b) weakening, cyclogenesis
(c) intensifying, cyclolysis
(d) intensifying, cyclogenesis, p. 238 - 241 of text
(20) The sinking of cold air and the rising of warm air provide energy for the developing
cyclone as ________ energy is transformed into ________ energy.
(a) kinetic, potential
(b) kinetic, electrostatic
(c) potential, kinetic, p. 234, 240 of text
(d) potential, electrostatic
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Name:___________________________________
ATMS 103
8 November 2016
INDIVIDUAL EXAM#03
(21) 10 points
Explain why the polar jet stream is more strongly developed in winter, being
certain to discuss the relevant forces influencing the wind and an explanation for why the
forces are different in winter than in other seasons.
“…jet streams…form…from horizontal differences in air pressure...the polar jet stream
forms along the polar front where sharp contrast in temperature produce rapid horizontal
pressure changes and strong winds. Due to the fact that the north-to-south temperature
contrasts along the [polar] front are greater in winter than they are in summer, the polar
jet stream shows seasonal variations. In winter, the polar jet stream winds are stronger
and the jet moves farther south, sometimes as far south as Florida and Southern
California. In summer, the polar jet stream is weaker and forms over higher latitudes.”
Sharp temperature contrast (warm air equatorward [high pressure], cold air poleward
[low pressure]) sharp slope in pressure surfaces (e.g. 500 mb level, p. 157)  strong
pressure gradient  fast wind speeds  strong Coriolis force  strong westerlies (polar
jet stream)
p. 157, 200 of text
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Name:___________________________________
ATMS 103
8 November 2016
INDIVIDUAL EXAM#03
(22) 10 points
Why is it important that for a surface low in the mid-latitudes to develop or
intensify, its associated upper-level trough must be to the west of the surface low?
“…when an upper-level trough is …sufficiently deep…a region of diverging air forms on
the east side. Aloft, the area of diverging air is directly above the surface low…This
configuration means that, for a surface mid-latitude cyclone to intensify, the upper-level
trough of low pressure must be located behind (or to the west of) the surface low.”
p. 238 - 239 of text, Fig. 8.29
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