A VERSION ATOC 1050, Exam II, Fall 2007 Name: ______________________ MARK THE VERSION OF THE TEST ON YOUR SCANTRON. Multiple choice and True/False. Circle the BEST answer on this paper and darken in the corresponding circle on the scantron for the multiple choice, or circle "T" for "True" and "F" for "False" on your paper and on the scantron. DON'T FORGET TO DO BOTH! Each correct answer is worth 2 points. 1. Which of the following lapse rates are measured by a radiosonde/rawinsonde? a. saturated adiabatic lapse rate b. dry adiabatic lapse rate c. environmental lapse rate d. aerological lapse rate e. none of the above 2. If an air parcel is displaced vertically in a NEUTRAL environment, what will the parcel do? a. it will remain in its new position b. it will fall back into place c. it will spread out horizontally d. it will rise e. nothing 3. A conditionally unstable atmosphere is ________ for an air parcel that is unsaturated and _________ for a parcel that is saturated. a. stable, stable b. unstable, unstable c. stable, unstable d. unstable, stable e. cant tell from the information given. 4. As an air parcel sinks, what happens to its size and temperature? a. it expands and cools b. it expands and warms c. it compresses and cools d. it compresses and warms e. it changes size, but the temperature remains the same 5. If you wanted to assess the stability of the atmosphere, which tool would be most helpful? a. 500 mb upper air map b. surface pressure map c. wind profiler data d. Skew-T diagram e. ALL of the above would be useful 6. T. F. A baroclinic atmosphere is one where lines of constant temperature are coincident or parallel to lines of constant pressure.
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Use the diagram below to answer questions 7. and 8.
7. T. F. This is an unstable sounding and considering the available moisture, there could be thunderstorms. 8. T. F. The latitude of this station is 33.17 N. 9. T. F. There are three types of vorticity: the Earths; absolute, and relative. 10. T. F. A cold front is "plowing" through warm, dry air. You should expect thunderstorms. 11. T. F. Hurricane Katrina was a Category 3 hurricane. 12. T. F. Midlatitude cyclones facilitate the sensible heat exchange. 13. T. F. You are most likely to find cumulonimbus clouds associated with warm fronts. 14. Which is NOT a criterion for a severe storm? a. Hail greater than or equal to three-quaters of an inch in diameter b. Funnel cloud c. Tornado d. Wind gusts greater than or equal to 50 knots. e. NONE of the above they are all criteria for severe storms 15. T. F. The single most important way to intensity a midlatitudes cyclone is to ,,funnel" warm air into the core of the cyclone. 16. T. F. The speed of the surface wind is dependent only on the pressure gradient force.
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17. A strong pressure gradient is associated with which the following? a. strong and gusty winds b. nearly calm winds c. weak winds d. higher concentration of ozone e. none of the above 18. Where would the dry line be located? (The numbers are surface weather stations the top number is the air temperature and the bottom is the dew point temperature.) 95 A. 35 a. b. c. d. e. A. B C D E 40 92 B. 40 89 C. 37 95 D. 71 96 E. 75 94
Use the diagram below to answer questions 19 and 20.
19. T. F. Surface high pressures are found under the word "divergence" 20. T. F. Positive vorticity in the areas where it says "slower than geostrophic" 21. T. F. Daytime heating of the surface of the Earth could be considered a mechanical way to "push" air to try and get the air to rise. 22. Extratropical cyclones are likely to form in all of the areas below except one which is: a. Offshore North Carolina near Cape Hatteras b. Offshore New England c. Offshore of the Texas-Louisiana d. Eastern plains of Colorado e. none of the above extratropical cyclones are likely to form in all of the above areas.
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23. From the cloud to just above the ground, a very moist airmass is above freezing but just above the ground the very moist aimass is below freezing. What kind of precipitation might you expect? a. rain b. snow c. sleet d. frozen rain e. freezing rain 24. Large, semi-permanent areas of high pressure at found at approximately 30 N and S latitudes forming large deserts like the Sahara. Why are there deserts at these latitudes? a. The Hadley cell subsides at these latitudes. b. Subsiding air cools and dries c. Subsiding air warms, compresses dries and d. none of the above e. a. and c. only 25. "Acceleration" is: a. a change in speed b. a change in direction c. a change in the pressure d. a vector quantity e. All of the above EXCEPT "c." 26. Which of the force(s) below best describes why the atmosphere doesnt fly off into space? a. pressure gradient force b. Coriolis c. hydrostatic d. gravity e. friction 27. T. F. On a surface map, you can estimate wind speed by the spacing of the isotherms. 28. T. F. Friction acts opposite to the wind and serves to slow the wind. 29. Where is the monetary damage from extratropical East and Gulf coast cyclones the greatest? a. Southeast Canada to Maine b. Boston, Mass. to Washington, D.C. c. Galveston, TX to Tampa, Florida d. New York City to Washington, D. C. e. Houston, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana 30. T. F. The "cold air damming" we studied in Chapter 10 refers to cold air being "dammed" up against the Rockies aiding in the formation of a "bomb" or "Noreaster". 31. Which does NOT pertain to a the formation of a Noreaster or to an East Coast cyclone? a. Central pressure can be as low as the pressure in a hurricane b. The warm waters of the Gulf Stream supplies moisture. c. Convergence aloft in the Polar jet and possibly the Subtropical jet form the surface low pressure. d. Latent heat release adds energy. e. None of the above they ALL pertain to the formation of a Noreaster or East Coast Cyclone. 32. T. F. Thirty to forty-foot snowdrifts created by the Noreaster of March 11-14, 1888 contributed to the building of New York Citys subway system.
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33. Stratiform clouds are: a. usually associated with warm fronts b. usually associated with stable air c. usually associated with unstable air d. usually associated with cold fronts and/or dry lines e. a. and b. only 34. Which is NOT a problem or a limitation of a numerical weather prediction models? a. clouds b. topography (landforms) c. snow cover d. "edge effect" going from an area with a lot of data such as land to an area little data such as an ocean. e. NONE of the above they are all problems with models 35. T. F. In an article Betsy (your instructor) read in class, cores from the Arctic Ocean suggest that the around 55 million years ago, waters of the Arctic were warmer than our research numerical models can predict even with adding a tremendous amount of CO2 to our atmosphere. 36. T. F. Maritime equatorial (mE) air masses are very common in the southern parts of the USA like Florida. 37. T. F. It is common to have cT air masses behind cold fronts. 38. Cold occlusion: a. occurs when the cold front catches up to the warm front and plows under the warm front b. occurs when the warm front catches up to the cold front and plows under the cold front. c. causes the warm moist air of the warm sector to be lifted aloft d. causes a dry line e. a. and c. only 39. T. F. The tornadoes and severe thunderstorms that occurred in Florida during the Blizzard of 1993 (Storm of the Century) were well forecasted that is, the evening sounding indicated an extremely unstable atmosphere and the various stability indices also indicated instability. 40. T. F. Your class meets on MWF from 2:00-2:50. 41. T. F. Thermal (semi-permanent) highs and lows are warm core highs and cold core lows. 42. T. F. A jet streak (jet core/jet max) has areas of both convergence and divergence as well as areas of positive and negative vorticity. 43. T. F. Cut-off areas of low pressure remain in place geographically until friction finally dissipates the system. This means that the area below the cut-off low can receive large amounts of precipitation. 44. T. F. On a sounding, you can recognize a surface "cap" because the temperature near the surface gets warmer with height. 45. T. F. Convergence at the SURFACE could be due to an area of high pressure. 46. T. F. Stationary fronts are areas of wind convergence and therefore if there is moisture, there can be areas of prolonged rain and possibly embedded thunderstorms. 47. T. F. Parts of all major interstate highways were closed due to the "Great White Hurricane" of 1888.
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48. T. F. For a severe thunderstorm, you want as much wind shear with height as possible so that you blow the tops off the thunderstorm. 49. T. F. This is a course in severe and hazardous weather. 50. T. F. The geostrophic wind is the balance of the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force.
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