ATSC 2000 Fall 2001
Final (15%)
A.
Multiple-choice questions (12%, 0.4% each)
There are 30 questions. One
and only one answer is correct.
1. A station shown on a weather chart has
a value of 089 in the upper right corner. What does this mean?
a.
the station
temperature is 89ºF;
b. the station pressure is 1089 mb;
c.
the station
pressure is 1008.9 mb;
d. its pressure, adjusted to sea level, is 1008.9 mb.
2. The wind near
the surface generally is:
a: slower than the geostrophic wind;
b: as fast as the geostrophic wind, but
deflected towards the lower pressure;
c: faster than the geostrophic wind;
d: as fast as geostrophic wind, but deflected towards the higher pressure.
3. In Central Florida in
summer, thunderstorms are more likely inland (like at Orlando) than along the
coast (like at Cape Canaveral). Why?
a. nocturnal land breezes spread in all
offshore directions, causing divergence, and sinking of the air near the coast,
thereby inhibiting thunderstorms;
b. sea breezes converge over the
peninsula in the afternoon, forcing the air up, and triggering inland
thunderstorms;
c. the ocean doesn’t appreciably cool off
at night, while the land does;
d. all of the above.
4. Upper-level divergence occurs in
association with a _____ on the surface weather chart.
a.
low;
b. saddle;
c.
high;
5. The highest air pressure ever measured in
Laramie:
a.
must
be over 1025 mb;
b.
is
less than the lowest pressure ever measured in Chicago;
c.
is
less than the lowest sea level pressure ever measured, i.e. in the eye of a
typhoon;
d.
equals
1038 mb.
6. The atmosphere around the Earth would rush off into space if the vertical pressure gradient force were not balanced by:
a.
the Coriolis force
b.
the horizontal pressure gradient force
c.
gravity
d.
the centripetal force
e.
friction
7. A wind instrument that usually
consists of three or more cups is called a(n):
a.
wind vane
b.
aerovane
c.
wind
profiler
d.
wind sock
e.
Doppler
radar
f.
cup
anemometer
g.
espresso
machine
8. Which circulation is not
thermally direct?
a.
a sea
breeze
b.
a lake
breeze
c.
a land
breeze
d.
a monsoonal
circulation
e.
a Hadley
circulation
f.
a Ferrel
cell
9. Which of the following is not
usually observed as a sea breeze front passes?
a. a drop in temperature
b. a pressure increase
c. a wind shift
d. a decrease in relative
humidity
10. During the summer along the coast, a
sea breeze is usually strongest and best developed:
a. in the afternoon
b. just after sunrise
c. around midnight
d. just before noon
e. when Baywatch is aired
11. A katabatic wind is a ____, ____
wind.
a. cold, upslope
b. warm, upslope
c. cold, downslope
d. warm, downslope
12. The main reason why Santa Ana winds
are warm, is because:
a.
latent heat
is released in rising air
b. sinking air is warmed dry adiabatically
c.
condensation
occurs
d. solar heating warms the air
e.
they are
heated by forest fires in Southern California
f.
the water
off California is relatively warm.
13. You are camping in a valley in the
middle of nowhere, yet you wake up in the morning to the smell of bacon cooking
over a fire. Where are the other campers most likely found?
a.
down the
valley
b. upstream in the valley
c.
in the next
valley over
d. on the mountain ridge between the two
valleys
e.
on the edge
of nowhere, far from the middle
14. The sea breeze blows:
a.
up the
pressure gradient;
b.
down the
pressure gradient;
c.
parallel to
the isobars (ie like the geostrophic wind);
d.
from
land to ocean.
15. A very cold airmass, such as the one
that is found over Siberia in winter, has a _____ at the surface (at sea level)
and a _____ aloft (at 300 mb).
a.
high, high
b. high, low
c.
low, low
d. low, high
16. The contour lines drawn
on a 500 mb chart are lines of constant:
a.
pressure
b.
height
above sea level
c.
density
d.
wind
direction
17. The winds in the mid-latitude upper
troposphere would not blow from the west if:
a. the Earth's
rotation slowed or increased slightly
b. the tilt of the
Earth changed slightly
c. polar air became
warmer than tropical air
d. the direction of
the moon's orbit around the Earth were reversed
18. The top of the friction
layer (aka ‘planetary boundary layer’) is usually found near what altitude?
a.
100
m (330 ft)
b.
500
m (1,640 ft)
c.
1000
m (3,300 ft)
d.
5000
m (16,400 ft)
19. The jet stream flows:
a.
directly
from west to east
b.
directly
from east to west
c.
from
the equator towards the poles
d.
in
a wavy pattern around the pole, counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere
20.
The world's deserts are found at 30° latitude because:
a.
the
ITCZ is located there
b.
of
the sinking air near the polar front
c.
of
the convergence of the prevailing westerlies and the trade winds
d.
of
the sinking air of the subtropical highs
21. Trade winds generally
have a(n) _____ component.
a.
northerly
b.
easterly
c.
southerly
d.
westerly
22. According to the general circulation model presented in class, the prevailing wind at Barrow, Alaska (latitude 70°N) is:
a. northeasterly
b. southeasterly
c. southwesterly
d. northwesterly
23. The intertropical
convergence zone (ITCZ) is a region where:
a. the polar front
meets the subtropical high
b. northeast trades
meet the southeast trades
c. northeast trades
converge with the subtropical high
d. the Ferrel cell
converges with the Hadley cell
e. cold fronts from
opposite hemispheres meet
24. What kind of airmass
occasionally moves south east of the Front Range, down to Texas where its wind
is known as a Texas norther (or blue norther) ?
a.
mT
b.
mP
c.
cP
d.
cT
25. The dryline
separates which two airmasses?
a.
mP
and mT
b.
mT
and cT
c.
cP
and cT
d.
cT
and mP
26. The air mass with the highest actual water vapor content is:
a.
mT
b.
cT
c.
mP
d.
cP
27. On a weather map, the
transition zone between two air masses with contrasting temperature is marked
by:
a.
the
letter "H"
b.
a
ridge
c.
a
front
d.
the
letter "L"
e.
a
trof
28. Which of the following
is not correct concerning a warm front?
a. it is colored red or with half-circles on a weather map
b.
it
has warm air ahead (in advance) of it
c.
it
is usually associated with stratiform clouds, especially in winter
d.
it
normally is less steep than a cold front
29. A frontal inversion would probably be best
observed:
a. with a warm front
in summer
b. with a dryline in spring
c. with a cold front
is summer
d. with a warm front
in winter
31. If the Earth’s gravity
were to double overnight, it would be twice as hard to get up in the morning,
and the ______ winds would blow stronger:
a.
geostrophic
b.
katabatic
c.
jet stream
d.
hurricane
32.
The mercury barometer was invented by:
a.
Isaac
Newton
b.
Gaspard
de Coriolis
d.
Torricelli
e.
Aristotle
f.
Leonardo
da Vinci
g.
Albert
Einstein
h.
A
soft-spoken Univ. of Wyoming professor, who is now retired
33. This inventor used
mercury in his barometer because:
a.
He
did not know it was poisonous;
b.
He
liked the smell and shine of it;
c.
His
wife, a chemistry professor, told him so;
d.
His
tube would have to be a lot longer if he had used water;
e.
Mercury
does not evaporate, unlike water;
f.
Mercury
does not expand or contract with rising/falling temperature.
34. The greatest wind speed
ever recorded at the Earth's surface occurred at:
a.
Mt. Washington, New Hampshire
b.
Miami, Florida
c.
Windy Ridge, Iowa
d.
Cheyenne, Wyoming
e. Long's Peak, Colorado
35. A cold front that moves
into New England from the east or northeast is called:
a.
a
cold occluded front
b.
an
oceanic front
c.
a
nor'easter
d.
a
"back door" cold front
C. Mini-essays (3%, 1.5% each)
Choose one of the following 8 topics. Only two topic
are required. Extra credit: answer up
to two additional topics. A maximum of four answers will be graded.
Answer on separate pieces of paper as needed. Maximum length per answer: one page.
1.
Discuss
and explain wind patterns in Wyoming.
2.
Explain
why closely-spaced contour lines on a weather chart are associated with strong
winds; and why winds can be so strong in he upper troposphere.
3.
Discuss
why, notwithstanding decades of software development and access to the most
advanced computers, weather still cannot be predicted better.
4.
What
is meant by the term monsoon ?
Briefly describe or sketch the wind and pressure pattern during the
summer and winter monsoon in Asia.
5.
What
changes might you expect to see in the Earth's general circulation if the Earth
did not rotate around its own axis?
6.
What
features in the Earth's general circulation help determine where wet conditions
are most likely?
7.
Describe
the typical changes in weather conditions (winds, temperature, clouds,
precipitation, pressure changes) that occur as a cold front approaches and
passes through your location.
8.
Sketch
an occluded frontal system (including isobars, warm front, cold front, low, and
winds) as it would appear on a surface weather map in the Southern Hemisphere.
Answers
1. d
2. a
3. b
4. a
5. b or c
6. c
7. f
8. f
9. d
10. a
11. c
12. b
13. b
14. b
15. b
16. b
17. c
18. c
19. d
20. d
21. b
22. a
23. b
24. c
25. b
26. a
27. c
28. b
29. d
30. b
31. b
32. d
33. d
34. a
35. d