Physical Weather

Question 1

What is standard temperature and pressure?

Answer 1

• 15 degrees Celsius

- 29.92 inches of mercury or 1013.2 Hg (hectopascals)

Question 2

What are the three main layers of the atmosphere?

Answer 2

• Troposphere
• Tropopause
• Stratosphere

Question 3

What causes all weather?

Answer 3

Heat exchange

Question 4

Wind is the result of?

Answer 4

Changes/differences in pressure

Question 5

Name and explain the 4 types of fog.

Answer 5

Advection - Forms when a warm, moist air mass blows over a colder surface and cools the air to it’s dew point.
Steam - Forms when cold air blows over a warmer body of water. The air mixes and drops the air to it’s dew point and saturation point.
Upslope - Forms when stable air is forced up the side of a mountain until it reaches it’s saturation point
Radiation - Forms during clear, calm, windless nights when the ground cools the nearby air to dew point

Question 6

Compare unstable air and stable air.

Answer 6

Stable
- Calm
- Associated with stratiform clouds, continuous precipitation, smooth air, and fair to poor visibility.
Unstable
- Turbulent
- Associated with cumulus clouds, showery precipitation, good visibility, strong surface winds

Question 7

What is the difference of an air mass and a front?

Answer 7

Air mass
- Large body of air with similar temperature and moisture characteristics
Front
- Transition zone between air masses of different density

Question 8

Name the 4 main types of fronts.

Answer 8

Cold - Colder air replacing warmer air - fast moving
Warm - Warmer air replacing colder air - slow moving
Occluded - Cold front catches up to a warm front
Stationary - Not moving

Question 9

What causes turbulence?

Answer 9

Convective currents, obstructions, wind flow, and wind shear.

Question 10

Name and explain the 3 types of icing.

Answer 10

Clear - Hard and glossy, forms after impact and spreads over the airfoil and freezes “sheet-like”
Rime - Brittle and frost-like, created by small drops and freeze rapidly before the drop has time to spread across the airfoil
Mixed - Hard and rough, forms when drops vary in size or when snow is mixed in with the rain

Question 11

What 3 ingredients must be present for a thunderstorm to form?

Answer 11

• Moisture
• Unstable lapse rate
• Lifting force

Question 12

What are the 3 stages of a thunderstorm?

Answer 12

Cumulus - Updrafts
Mature - Updrafts and downdrafts, beginning of precipitation
Dissipating - Downdrafts

Question 13

What are isobars?

Answer 13

Lines on weather charts showing areas of the same pressure.