Chapter 3 All Sections Flashcards
1
Q
A humid air mass that forms over oceans
A
Maritime
2
Q
Cut off as the warm air mass at an ________ front is cut off from the ground by the cooler air beneath it
A
Occluded
3
Q
A warm air mass that forms in the tropics and has low air pressure.
A
Tropical
4
Q
A dry air mass that forms over land
A
continental
5
Q
A swirling center of low air pressure
A
Cyclone
6
Q
A high pressure center of dry air
A
Anticlyclone
7
Q
A cold air mass that forms north of 30 degrees north latitude or south of 50 degrees south latitude and has high air pressure
A
Polar
8
Q
The area where air masses meet and do not mix
A
Front
9
Q
How long does it take for air masses to form?
A
About a week
10
Q
A warm moist air mass develops at this location.
A
Southeast US - like Florida area
11
Q
A dry cold air mass develops in this location
A
Northern canada
12
Q
A dry hot air mass develops in this location
A
Southern Texas and Mexico area
13
Q
A cold moist air mass develops in this location
A
Off the coast of Southwest Canada and Northwest USA
14
Q
Scientists classify air masses according to _____ and _____.
A
Temperature and Humidity
15
Q
True or False:
Polar air masses have low air pressure
A
False
16
Q
Describe the Characteristics:
Maritime Tropical
A
Warm and Humid
17
Q
Describe the Characteristics:
Maritime polar
A
Cool and humid
18
Q
Describe the Characteristics:
Continental Tropical
A
Warm and Dry
19
Q
Describe the Characteristics:
Continental Polar
A
Cool and Dry
20
Q
A swirling center of low air pressure is called a _____.
A
cyclone
21
Q
True or False:
Winds spiral inward toward the center of a cyclone.
A
True
22
Q
What type of weather is associated with cyclones?
A
Storms and Precipitation
23
Q
True or False:
Winds in an anticyclone spin clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
A
True
24
Q
What heats up faster and cools off faster?
A
Land
25
What heats up slower and cools off slower?
Oceans
26
This type of air mass is warmer and near the equator
Tropical air mass
27
This type of air mass is colder and near the poles
Polar air mass
28
The measurement of water vapor (humidity) in the air.
Humidity
29
Cold dry air mass that forms over land
Continental/polar air mass
30
Warm dry air mass that forms over land
Continental/Tropical Air Mass
31
Warm humid air mass that forms over water
Maritime/Tropical Air Mass
32
Cold humid air mass that forms over water
Maritime/Polar Air Mass
33
Instrument used to measure the relative humidity
Psychrometer
34
The prevailing _____ are the maor wind belts in the US.
Westerlies
35
The Prevailing Westerlies push air masses from _____ to _____.
west
| east
36
Covers smaller area than other air masses
Dry - Continental Tropical Air masses
37
Hot dry air masses for only in the summer over dry areas of SW USA and Northern Mexico
Dry - Continental Tropical
38
Bring hot dry weather to the south
Dry - Continental Tropical
39
Warm humid air masses from the ocean near tropics
Maritime Tropical - Humid
40
In summer - usually brings hot humid air
Maritime Tropical - Humid
41
Forms over the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic
Maritime Tropical - Humid
42
In winter can bring heavy rain or snow
Maritime Tropical - Humid
43
Forms over central and northern Canada and Alaska
Continental Polar - Dry
44
Brings cool and cold air
Continental Polar - Dry
45
In winter, brings clear cool air and dry air to most of Northern America
Continental Polar - Dry
46
In summer, storms may occur when continental air masses move south and meet maritime tropical that moves north
Continental Polar - Dry
47
Cool humid air mass from icy cold N. Pacific and N. Atlantic
Maritime Polar - Humid
48
Affects the west coast more than the east cost
Maritime Polar - Humid
49
In summer often brings rain fog and cool temps to the w coast
Maritime Polar - Humid
50
A violent disturbance in the atmosphere
Storm
51
The type of clouds in which thunderstorms form
cumulonimbus
52
A sudden energy discharge between parts of a cloud, between nearby clouds, or between a cloud and the ground is called _______.
Lightning
53
True or False:
| A hurricane forms over water
True
54
True or False:
| A hurricane is a tropical storm
True
55
The quiet center of the hurricane
eye
56
True or False:
| Hurricanes do not last as long as other storms
False
57
True or False:
| A "dome" of water that sweeps across the coast where the hurricane lands is called:
a storm surge
58
True or False:
| If you hear a hurricane warning and are told to evacuate, you should just stay where you are and "shelter in place".
False
59
When does snow fall?
When humid air cools below 0 degrees C or 32 degrees F
60
True or False:
| Lake effect snow occurs because land cools more rapidly than water.
True
61
True or False:
| Lake effect snow occurs when humid air rises and cools over land.
True
62
A rapidly whirling funnel-shaped cloud
Tornado
63
True or False:
| Tornadoes develop in the same clouds that produce thunderstorms
True
64
Where is the safest place to be during a tornado
Basement
65
True or False:
| Tornadoes occur often in the Great Plains
True
66
Tornadoes occur more often in the United States than in any other country
True
67
Which of the following is a way to stay safe in a thunderstorm:
a. Avoid touching metal
b. Get into a pool
c. Don't use the phone
d. Get out of your car and run around a tree.
a and c
68
A huge body of air that has similar temperatures, pressure, and humidity throughout.
Air Mass
69
What are the four types of fronts
Cold
Warm
Stationary
Occluded
70
Cold air is dense and tends to _____.
sink
71
Warm air is less dense and tends to ____.
rise
72
When a moving cold air mass runs into a slowly moving warm air mass, the denser cold air ______ under the warmer air.
slides
73
True or False:
| Warm air can hold more water vapor than cool air
True
74
True or false:
| Cold fronts move quickly so they can cause weather changes.
True
75
True or False:
| After a cold front passes, cool, dry air moves in
True
76
A moving warm air mass collides with a slowly moving _____ air mass in a warm front.
cold
77
If the warm air is humid, showers and light rain might fall along the _____ where the warm and ___ air meet.
front
| cold
78
If the warm air is dry, scattered ____ may form.
Clouds
79
What do winter warm fronts bring?
SNOW
80
After a warm front passes through an area, the weather is likely to be warm and ____.
humid
81
Where the warm and cold air meet, water vapor in the warm air turns into rain, snow, fog, or clouds.
Stationary Front
82
Sometimes cold and warm air masses meet but neither one has enough force to move.
Stationary Front
83
A warm air mass is caught between two cooler air masses.
Occluded Front
84
As warm air cools and its water vapor condenses, the weather may turn cloudy, rainy, or snow. This is the result of an ______ front.
Occluded
85
When air masses meet it is called a _____.
Front
86
True or False:
| THe kind of front that develops depends on the characteristics of the air masses and how they move.
True
87
At commercial airports what do the weather stations located there observe?
a. Temperature
b. Dew Point
c. Cloud Cover
d. Visibility,
e. Height of cloud base
f. Amount of precipitation
g. Wind speed
h. Wind Direction
i. Speed of planes
j. All of the above
k. None of the above
l. a through h
l. a through h
88
How often are the measurements made at airport weather stations?
Every hour
89
Wind direction is measured where the wind
originates
90
True or False:
| The stick of the station models points in the direction of where the wind comes from.
True
91
The flags on the stick approximate the speed of the wind, a short flag _____knots, a long flag ___ knots, and a triangle is ____ knots.
5
10
50
92
A knot equals 1.85 km/hr or _____mph
1.2
93
Cloud cover is determined by how much of the visible sky is filled with _____.
Clouds
94
Cloud cover is usually estimated in ____.
10ths
95
An ______ view is when the observer, for some reason, could not see the sky.... like at night.
obstructed
96
Scientists who study the causes of weather and try to predict it are called
Meterologists
97
True or False:
| Radar is choice of weather information for meteorologists.
True
98
True or False:
| Instruments carried by balloons is are good choices of weather information for meteorologists.
True
99
True or False:
Satellites are good choices of weather information for meteorologists.
100
In what two areas have changes in technology occurred in weather forecasting?
Gathering weather data and using computers to make forecasts
101
True or False:
| Weather forecasts for over 3 days into the future are never reliable.
False
102
Weather balloons carry instruments as high as the ______.
Stratosphere
103
True or False:
The butterfly effect refers to the fact that a small change in the weather today can mean a larger change in the weather a week later.
True
104
Lines on a weather map joining places that have the same temperatures.
Isotherms
105
Lines on a weather map joining places that have the same air pressure
Isobars
106
Violent disturbance in the atmosphere
Storm
107
Type of air mass that forms north of 50 degrees north latitude or south of 50 degrees south latitude.
Polar
108
Type of air mass that forms over oceans
Maritime
109
True or False:
| Floods are the most dangerous weather-related events in the USA
True
110
A sudden violent flood that occurs within a few hours or minutes is called a
flash flood
111
Flash floods can be caused by __________ or tropical rainstorms, large amounts of ________, _____ jams breaking free.
Hurricanes
Water
Ice
112
Floods occur when so much ____ pours into a stream or _____ that it overflows its banks and covers the land on either side of the channel.
water
| river
113
People who live along certain rivers know that _______ snow and Spring _____ are likely to bring floods.
melting
| rain
114
_______ floods are the most dangerous.
Unexpected
115
________ _________ can help reduce flood damage and loss of life
Advance Warnings
116
_____ satellites supply information about snow cover so that _____ can estimate how much water will run into rivers when the snow melts.
Weather
| Scientists
117
Radar and river gauges help _________ predict flood heights at different points
forecasters
118
Announcement describing the area in which flooding is possible
Flood Watch
119
Announcement that floods have already been reported or are about to occur
Flood warning
120
When danger becomes too great in a flood or water rises too high, people are usually ______.
Evacuated
121
First rule of flood safety: Move to higher ground and stay away from ______ _______.
flood waters
122
Warm water weather event
El Nino
