Weather Flashcards
1
Q
What is a front?
A
boundary between to airmasses
2
Q
What are the different types of fronts?
A
Cold, Warm, Occluded and Stationary
3
Q
What can you expect crossing a front?
A
Change in wind direction
4
Q
Describe a warm front
A
- Warm mass of air advancing to replace a body of colder air.
- Moves slowly (10 to 25 mph)
- Stratiform clouds and fog can be expected along the frontal boundary.
- Poor visibility
5
Q
Describe a cold front
A
- Cold, dense mass of air advancing to replace a body of warmer air.
- Moves more rapidly than warm fronts (25 to 30mph)
- It stays close to the ground and acts like a snowplow, sliding under the warmer air and forcing the less dense air aloft.
- tower cumulus or cumulonimbus clouds, with heavy rain, lightning, thunder, and/or hail.
- Good visibility eventually prevails
6
Q
Describe a Stationary front
A
- two air masses are relatively equal, the boundary or front that separates them remains stationary and infulences the local weather for days.
- Weather is a mix that can be found in both warm and cold fronts
7
Q
Describe a Occluded front
A
- fast moving cold front catches up with a slow-moving warm front.
- As front approaches warm front weather prevails but is immediately followed by cold front.
8
Q
What do you need for a thunderstorm to form
A
- Warm moist air
- Unstable atmosphere,
- Lifting action
9
Q
What are the 3 stages of a thunderstorm
A
- Cumulus
- Mature
- Dissipating
10
Q
How do you avoid a thunderstorm
A
- Fly at least 20 miles around the thunderstorms
- Stay out from under the anvil top to avoid hail
- Be careful of microburst
- if you fly into a thunderstorm, use radar or ask ATC to vector you around the heavy cells.
- Don’t set autopilot to hold altitude only attitude
- Turn up cockpit lighting for lightening flashes
- If on approach and you get sudden increase in indicated airspeed expect a decrease to follow.
11
Q
What is wind shear and where are you most likely to encounter it?
A
- Windshear is a sudden, drastic change in windspeed and/or direction over a very small area.
- Windshear is associated with low-level temperature inversion, passing frontal systems, thhunderstorms.
12
Q
Why/where is windshear most dangerous?
A
- During approach and landing.
- Due to the rapid shift in wind direction on takeoff and landing airspeed is slow and abrupt fluctuations in airspeed can induce a stall
13
Q
What are some types of fog?
A
Advection, radiation, upslope, precipitation induced, steam and ice.
14
Q
Radiation fog
A
- occurs on clear nights with relatively little to no wind present
- Ground cools rapidly due to terrestrial radiation and the surrounding air temperature reaches its dew point.
15
Q
Advection fog
A
- warm, moist air moving over a cold surface.
- common in coastal areas
