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Salt Lake Community College – Meteorology 1010
Mid-term Exam
J. Allred, Adjunct
Student Name: ____________________
1. What weather condition is likely to be the greatest killer of people these days:
a. Tornado
b. Flood
c. Hurricane
d. Atmospheric heat
e. Atmospheric cold
2. Condensation forms on a cool surface that reduces the adjacent air to below the “dew” point.
True _X__
False ___
3. X-rays and gamma rays exhibit very small wave lengths and small amplitudes but deliver a combined
total of more actual electromagnetic power or energy than do sunlight and microwaves.
True ___
False _X__
4. Air that is descending will tend to get warmer due to generally higher air pressure at lower elevation.
True _X__
False ___
5. Generally, the quickest way to produce a cloud of condensed moisture is by:
a. Raising the temperature of the air parcel
b. Lowering the temperature of the air parcel
c. Compressing the air parcel
d. Taking the air parcel to a higher elevation
e. Taking the air parcel to a lower elevation
6. Which of the following parcels of air is most directly able to produce fog:
a. Descending air
b. Rising air
c. Cooling air
d. Warming air
e. Air moving in a clockwise, or anti-cyclonic direction
7. An air mass can become unstable and then move, or can move and become unstable.
True _X__
False ___
8. Chlorofluorocarbons destroy atmospheric ozone. Atmospheric ozone helps keep the surface of the earth
cooler.
True _X__
False ___
9. What condition is most likely to result in reducing the risk of skin cancer:
a. Increasing industrial and automotive ground-level ozone
b. A world-class volcanic eruption of dust and water vapor
c. Accidental emissions of carbon compounds containing fluorine and chlorine
d. None of the above
e. All of the above
10. When clouds form heat is absorbed, or becomes latent or ‘hidden’ and thus cooling the surrounding air.
True ___
False _X__
11. The term “Conduction” refers to the way energy moves by direct contact between substances.
True_X__
False___
12. Located at 20 degrees north latitude, Salt Lake City receives most of its weather from the West.
True ___
False _X__
13. Rain is more likely to occur after moist air flows over the top of mountains and cools and condenses on its
way down the other side.
True ___
False _X__
14. At 40 degrees North latitude a city near the east coast of a continent will likely have a milder climate than
a city on the west coast of that continent.
True ___
False _X__
15. For the earth to avoid overheating, which of the following processes is most important:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Conduction
Convection
Advection
Radiation
None of the above
16. In a place with very wet air at 100° F there should be frost at a location 9,000 feet higher in altitude.
True ___
False _X__
17. The daily weather news will report absolute humidity rather than percent vapor saturation.
True ___
False _X__
18. Which of the following options is/are represented by this generalized chemical relationship?
[H2O + CO2 + electromagnetic energy = HC + O2]
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Green plant growth
Conversion of sunshine into a form that could someday become fossil fuel
A cooler planet than otherwise
Reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide
All of the above
19. All precipitation events fall into three categories: orographic, convective and convergent.
True ___
False _X__
20. Severe surface heating can cause air to become unstable but tall clouds and severe weather are not likely
to develop if a great deal of moisture is present.
True ___
False _X__
21. The occurrence of virga should make the surrounding air a little bit cooler than otherwise.
True _X__
False ___
22. The ‘lapse rate’ of air temperature generally implies weather stability and mostly clear skies, because any
parcel of air will ordinarily tend to cool down with altitude, become more dense and sink back to where it
was.
True _X__
False ___
23. In contrast to Question #22 above, adiabatic cooling and warming can mean instability and potential
cloudiness and precipitation because of latent heat held in humidity. Rising air might get warmer and
thereby keep rising.
True _X__
False ___
24. The presence of mountains can cause ordinarily stable air to become unstable.
True _X__
False ___
25. Super-saturated air (greater than 100 percent humidity) is most likely to occur in:
a. very clean air
b. very dirty air
c. very dry air
d. Stable (no wind) air.
e. Any air below freezing
26. The rate at which air pressure decreases with altitude also decreases with altitude.
True _X__
False ___
27. In the northern hemisphere, the Coriolis force will make east-bound objects appear to deflect to the right.
True _X__
False ___
28. By itself, the pressure gradient force moves objects in a direction perpendicular to isobars.
True _X__
False ___
29. Which of the following is not true of the earth’s spin:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
causes wind to deflect away from the pressure gradient
creates the jet streams and other westerly flows in the northern hemisphere
causes complex wind patterns when encountering randomly shaped land masses
creates Rossby waves that help mix cool and dry with warm and wet air
helps prevent storminess by spreading solar energy more evenly around the earth’s surface.
30. The “urban heat island” effect can pull cooler air from the countryside but can also concentrate air
pollution over big cities.
True _X__
False ___
31. The term “monsoon” refers to a strong seasonal reversal of wind from to and from continents and
adjacent oceans. A side effect is the potential for great variation in precipitation between seasons.
True _X__
False ___
32. During summer, intense heating of continental interiors can produce strong high pressure.
True ___
False ___
33. The “westerlies” are winds moving to the east, caused by the Coriolis force pulling opposite from the
generally north-bound pressure gradient.
True _X__
False ___
34. The northern hemisphere jet streams help provoke storminess by north-south undulations or waviness
along its flow from the west.
True _X__
False ___
35. During a strong “El Nino” event, the easterly trade winds may not succeed in pushing warm equatorial
water away from South America, resulting in more-than-usual precipitation in parts of the Western
Hemisphere.
True _X__
False ___
36. Air masses take on the characteristics of their source regions and provoke storminess when they move to
other regions.
True _X__
False ___
37. Continental air masses tend to be more humid than maritime (ocean-based) air masses.
True ___
False _X__
38. During a “lake effect” storm, which community should receive the most snow:
a. Park City
b. Bountiful
c. Wendover
d. Elko
e. All of the above should be affected more-or-less equally.
39. Compared to a cold front, a warm front will tend to produce more stratus clouds and steady precipitation
with less thunder and wind.
True _X__
False ___
40. A “dry line” storm is usually mild, because it occurs in between a cold front and warm front and lacks
moisture needed for heavy precipitation.
True ___
False _X__
41. Humid air:
a. will tend to rise because it is less dense than dry air
b. is more likely to rise because it contains water
c. is more likely to be stable due to heaviness and latent heat
d. is more likely to prevent lightning by providing a conduit of dampness to the ground.
e. answers ‘a’ and ‘b’ above are best
42. As a “frontal wedge” storm dissipates, warm air will be layered above cold air.
True _X__
False ___
43. In the United States, persistent high pressure in one region can result in weather elsewhere in the nation
that may include drought, flood, or extremes of heat or cold.
True _X__
False ___
44. An “air mass” thunderstorm tends to be isolated and brief, caused by local variation in heating and
humidity that quickly extinguish themselves by their own down-drafts.
True _X__
False ___
45. In contrast to #44 above, “supercell” thunderstorms:
a. often occur in groups or along squall lines or in clusters;
b. can include substantial mesocyclonic wind rotation;
c. are associated with severe weather, including tornadic winds;
d. are often promoted by temporary temperature inversions;
e. all of the above are true
46. In a wind pressure map of a tornado, isobars will appear unusually far apart, showing a strong pressure
gradient.
True ___
False _X__
47. Tornadoes are more likely to occur when an entire region consists of uniformly warm, wet air with no
compensating cold, dry air to shut off cyclonic winds.
True ___
False _X__
48. A hurricane consists of waves or bands of aligned thunderstorms rather than just one big mesocyclone.
True _X__
False ___
49. Cross-section of a hurricane will typically show about how much variation in air pressure:
a. 250 mb
b. 500 mb
c. 1000 mb
d. 50 mb
e. five mb
50. Which factor below is not related to where and how hurricanes initially form:
a. Cold water above 30° N and in the South Atlantic;
b. Lack of Coriolis effect at the equator;
c. High air pressure
d. Convective and convergent conditions
e. Trade winds