Weather

Question 1

How fast do warm fronts move?

Answer 1

10 - 25 MPH

Question 2

What type of weather can I expect from a warm front?

Answer 2

• Low Ceilings
• Poor visibility
• Steady Precipitation
• After passage, stratocumlus clouds and rain is possible, visibility improves and temps warms

Question 3

How fast do cold fronts move?

Answer 3

• 25 - 30 mph
• Extreme cold fronts can move up to 60 mph

Question 4

What kind of weather can be expected with cold fronts?

Answer 4

• Rapid lifting forces warm air up and creates cumulus clouds
• Heavy rain, thunder, hail, poor visibility drop in temp and dew
• Severe fronts can produce tornadoes

Question 5

How are cyclones produced?

Answer 5

• It’s dictated by the upper wind flow
• Winds of both sides of an occluded front are blowing parallel, but small disturbances may start a wavelike bend in the front
• If the above occurs and continues, the waves may increase in size and a cyclonic circulation develops

Question 6

Stratiform clouds form at what heights, and how are they kept at that height?

Answer 6

• They are low level clouds
• They form in stable air, the ability for the atmosphere to reist vertical motion keeps clouds at lower levels in the sky

Question 7

How can you tell the difference between a cumulonimbus cloud and a cumulus congestus cloud?

Answer 7

• Cumulonimbus clouds are differentiated by the flat top that forms above the cloud, compared to the bumpy tops of a congestus clouds

Question 8

When are you expected to get radiation fog? What happens when there is cloud cover in the sky at night?

Answer 8

• When winds are calm, cloudless nights
• If clouds are present, they deflect the heat radiated up from the ground. The clouds act as a blanket trapping heat from rising above it

Question 9

How does advection fog form?

Answer 9

• Requires winds up to 15 knots
• When moist warm air moves over a cooler surface

Question 10

How often are TAF’s issued and how long are they good for?

Answer 10

Every 6 hours, and they’re good for 24 to 30 hrs depending on location

Question 11

How often are winds aloft produced?

Answer 11

4x a day

Question 12

What are the different types of AIRMET’s and severity types and how long they’re valid for:

Answer 12

-Valid for 6 hours and issued for moderate conditions

Zulu: Icing
Tango: Turbulence (30kts)
Sierra: Mountain Obscuration

Question 13

How long are Convective SIGMET’s and non-Convective SIGMETS valid for?

Answer 13

Convective SIGMET: 2 hours

SIGMET: 4 hours

Question 14

Explain how land and sea breezes occur:

Answer 14

SEA Breeze
- During the day, the ground heats up faster than the water. As heat rises, cooler air from the water moves in to replace the warm air that has been lifted.

Land Breeze
- At night, land air cools faster than the water, and the warm air over water moves up and cooler air from the land moves to replace the warm air that has been lifted