Test 2 Flashcards
The most common trigger for setting off avalanches resulting in loss of life is?
People on the snowpack.
True or False: The five closest planets to the sun are called the terrestrial planets.
False.
True or False: All living things make up the earth’s subsystem we call the lithosphere.
False.
Weak layers in a snowpack can promote slab avalanches. What atmospheric conditions create surface crystals (hoar), which when buried become weak layers?
Cold, calm and humid.
If a companion is caught in an avalanche, what should you do?
You should begin looking for them directly downslope from the point last seen.
If you are caught in an avalanche, what should you do?
Clear an air space as things come to a stop.
The phrase “rain shadow” is associated with which type of precipitation?
Orographic.
True or False: In general, gulleys and drainages are safer places to be than ridges in avalanches.
False.
As the temperature of a parcel of air increases, its ability to hold water vapor _____.
Increases.
If our Earth did not have an atmosphere, temperature extremes between day and night would?
Increase.
True or False: Generally the windward side of a mountain slope is more dangerous than leeward with respect to the avalanche.
False.
What is the order of wavelength arrangements from shorter to longer?
Violet, blue, green, orange, red.
Clouds form at? A. At 100% relative humidity. B. At lifting condensation level. C. At dew point temperatures. D. With condensation, forming water droplets. E. All of the above.
E. All of the above.
Topographic contour maps?
Show elevations of land surface.
The type of clouds most associated with rain are?
Cumulonimbus.
Ways to get warm moist air to move vertically upward do NOT include? A. Convective Cells. B. Orographic Effects. C. Corriolis Effects. D. Frontal Systems.
C. Corriolis Effect.
If a parcel of air is capable of holding 36 grams per cubic meter but it only contains 9 grams per cubic meter, then its relative humidity would be _____ percent.
25.
The process by which plants give up moisture to the air is?
Transpiration.
Sleet is?
Frozen or semi-frozen rain.
Strong updrafts can blow heavy, falling particles back up into clouds where they accumulate layers and become heavier. These particles are called?
Hail.
Safer avalanche terrain includes?
A place with plenty of anchors.
Squall lines form most often ahead of a?
Cold front.
Which of the following characteristics is NOT shared by hurricanes and mid-latitude cyclones?
A. Convergent air flow.
B. An inward directed pressure gradient force.
C. Frontal precipitation.
Frontal precipitation.
Which of the following is NOT true about lightning?
A. It moves with a speed of over 6,000 miles per second.
B. Negative charges from a cloud make connection with positive ground charges.
C. Connection between negative electrons in the clouds and positive charges on land is typically made at ground surface.
D. Takes about 0.02 seconds to connect cloud to ground.
E. There is a return stroke of positive charges.
C. Connection between negative electrons in the clouds and positive charges on land is typically made at ground surface.
True or False: The air immediately around a discharge of lightning is momentarily heated up to temperatures in excess of 45,000 degrees F (hotter than the surface of the sun).
True.
“Tornado Alley” seems to be centered on?
Kansas and Oklahoma.
True or False: Most tornadoes are fairly weak and have wind speeds of 100 miles per hour or less.
True.
Tornadoes?
A. Are often found on the trailing portion of a supercell because of low pressure conditions.
B. Are usually restricted in height to about 1,000 ft. because of Coriolis momentum.
C. Are usually slow enough to easily outrun on foot even if they are traveling directly to you.
D. Often travel from southeast to northwest in America’s “tornado alley”.
E. All of the above.
A. Are often found on the trailing portion of a supercell because of low pressure conditions.
Tornadoes in the early part of the season (January, February, March) are more likely to be?
In the souther part of the US (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia).
True or False: Doppler radar has the ability to detect tornadoes which often exhibit a characteristic “hook” shape.
True.
Hurricanes?
A. Spin clockwise in the northern hemisphere, when viewed from above.
B. Spin the same was as adjacent high pressure areas.
C. Come from tropical storms at the point when wind speeds exceed 65 mph.
D. None of the above.
D. None of the above.
Hurricanes?
A. Form at the equator.
B. Are not as large as tornadoes.
C. Intensify over warm ocean areas.
D. Tend to intensity when they move over land surfaces.
E. Often form and “eye”, which is a region of intense low pressure inside the hurricane.
C. Intensify over warm ocean areas.