Please attempt all questions. Fill out all the answers on the scantron. All questions are
multiple choice. One, and only one answer is correct.
1. Storm systems generally move from west to east across the USA, especially east of the Rockies, because:
- a: shortwaves travel from west to east;
- b: the storms are steered by the jet stream, which is westerly;
- c: both a and b;
- d: neither a nor b.
2. Warm advection occurs when:
- a: it is calm and the sun shines;
- b: the air is forced over a mountain and the condensation of droplets releases latent heat;
- c: the wind blows parallel to the isotherms;
- d: the wind blows across the isotherms, from a warm region to a colder region.
3. A developing mid-latitude frontal low at the surface is usually located under:
- a: the poleward branch of a shortwave;
- b: the poleward branch of a long Rossby wave;
- c: the equatorward branch of a shortwave;
- d: the equatorward branch of a long Rossby wave.
4. Thermal advection at 850 mb is larger when all conditions below are satisfied, except one. Which one ?
- a: the 850 mb height contours are more tightly packed;
- b: the 850 mb isotherms are more closely packed;
- c: the 850 mb height contours and isotherms cross each other at an angle closer to 90°;
- d: the 850 mb height contours and isotherms are closer to being parallel.
5. Low level convergence occurs in:
- a: lows and ridges;
- b: lows and trofs;
- c: highs and ridges;
- d: highs and trofs.
6. Upper level (UL) divergence in mid-latitudes occurs
- a: within UL shortwave trofs;
- b: just upstream of UL shortwave trofs;
- c: just downstream of UL shortwave trofs;
- d: within UL shortwave ridges.
7. Baroclinic instability refers to ...
- a: the interaction of low- and upper-level processes that explains the formation and intensification of a frontal disturbance;
- b: the development of thunderstorms;
- c: the growth of hurricanes, from easterly waves;
- d: cyclogenesis.
8. When a weak upper level shortwave trof approaches a weak surface low (which contains a deep, warm, and moist boundary layer ) from the west, what will happen to the surface low ?
- a: it will dissipate
- b: it will intensify and eventually, when it is strongest, it will find itself under the upper level trof
- c: it will intensify and always stay to the east of the upper level trof
- d: it will remain unchanged, and the upper level trof will simply pass by
9. The polar front theory of a developing wave cyclone was conceived in:
- Norway
- Great Britain
- the town of Spickard, Missouri (population 300)
- Germany
10. On a surface weather map that shows an open wave cyclone, the warm sector can be observed:
- ahead of an advancing cold front
- behind an advancing cold front
- ahead of an advancing cold-occluded front
- behind an advancing cold-occluded front
- ahead of an advancing warm front
11. Which below is not a name given to a large cyclonic storm system that forms in the middle latitudes?
- middle latitude cyclone
- extratropical cyclone
- wave cyclone
- anticyclone
- frontal disturbance
12. An extratropical (frontal) low gets most of its energy from........... and a tropical low (hurricane) derives most of its energy from ............:
- the jet stream, latent heat of condensation
- latent heat of freezing, the jet stream
- the Coriolis force, solar heating
- heat energy stored in the ground, heat energy stored in the ocean
13. According to the model of the life cycle of a wave cyclone, the storm system is normally most intense:
- as a frontal wave
- as a dissipating vortex in the cold air
- as an open wave
- as a stationary wave
- when the system first becomes occluded
14. The development or strengthening of a middle latitude storm system is called:
- convergence
- divergence
- cyclogenesis
- frontolysis
15. Which region is not considered to be a region where cyclogenesis often occurs:
- eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
- Atlantic Ocean near Cape Hatteras, NC
- California
- Alberta, Canada
- the coast of Gulf of Mexico
16. For cyclogenesis to occur along a frontal wave, the winds aloft directly above the wave should be:
- diverging
- converging
- blowing straight from west to east
- increasing in speed uniformly over a broad area
17. The convective condensation level corresponds with:
- the cloud top
- the cloud base
- the level of maximum buoyancy in a cumulus cloud
- the PBL inversion (or lid)
18. If the low level inflow of air into a low is greater than the divergence of air aloft, the surface pressure in the center of the low will:
- increase
- decrease
- remain the same
- deepen
19. Which of the following is not associated with rising air motions?
- overrunning over a warm front
- convergence of air at the surface
- convergence of air aloft
- divergence of air aloft
20. When an upper-level low lies directly above a surface low:
- the surface low will probably weaken
- thunderstorms will develop
- a wave cyclone will begin to form
- the pressure of the surface low will decrease
- cyclogenesis will occur
21. An upper-level low (and its pool of cold air below) has broken away from the main circumpolar flow. Such a low is called:
- a cut-off low
- a shortwave
- a wave cyclone
- a lee-side low
22. The cumulus cloud base (in 1000’s of ft) can be estimated from surface temperature data (in C) as follows:
- 125(temperature – dewpoint)
- (temperature – dewpoint)/8
- (temperature – dewpoint)/2.3
- 125(temperature + dewpoint)/8
23. In the above question, the height of the cloud base is measured from:
- the ground (AGL)
- the lid (PBL top)
- sea level (MSL)
- the current flight altitude
24. Rossby longwaves are usually:
- westbound
- eastbound
- equator-bound
- stationary
25. A small, moving disturbance embedded in an upper level longwave is called:
- a lee-side low
- a wave cyclone
- a shortwave
- a UFO