GRG Test 2

Rising and falling of air over large areas is most properly known as ________ and ________.

ascent, subsidence

In the Northern Hemisphere, air converging in a counterclockwise direction, is termed a(n) ________.

cyclone

Circulation in the troposphere is mainly a(n) ________ system.

closed

Sea breezes rarely penetrate more than ________ kilometers inland

30

Which of the following is TRUE concerning the surface westerlies?

cause weather to move from east to west

In which situation would Coriolis effect be GREATEST?

high wind speeds, high latitude

The jet stream of the midlatitudes can usually be found at elevations ranging from ________ kilometers.

9 to 12

Which of the following is associated with the wind moving directly from high pressure to low pressure?

none of the above

The pressure of a gas is proportional to its density and ________.

temperature

The phenomenon most directly responsible for the seasonally moist climate of northern Australia is

monsoon.

________ and ________ both occur at night.

Mountain breezes, land breezes

This part of the global circulation is characterized by rising air, widespread cloudiness, precipitation, and migratory storms.

intertropical convergence

Africa's most prominent monsoon circulation can be found in the ________ part of the continent.

western

The poles are most closely associated with ________.

high pressure

A wet monsoon is associated with high rainfall totals and is caused by ________.

a seasonal reversal of winds

A north wind

is blowing to the south.

La Ni�a

is the opposite of El Ni�o.

The region in which the intertropical convergence can be found is ________.

the Equator

Which of the following occurs closest to the Equator?

doldrums

The polar front and subtropical jet streams are both high-altitude flows which circulate ________.

from west to east

A counterclockwise atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere is known as a/an ________.

cyclone

The major global wind and pressure systems

shift with the seasons

A regular mile an hour is 5,280 feet per hour. A knot is

slightly slower than a regular mile per hour.

At sea level, the atmosphere exerts a force closest to ________ kilograms per square centimeter.

1

El Ni�o received its name because of its association with ________.

Christmas

A large scale vertical downward motion in the atmosphere is a ________.

subsidence

Trade winds are found ________.

between 25� north and south of the Equator

Above the influence of friction, most winds follow a ________ course.

geostrophic

Modern wind farms started appearing on the American landscape in the ________.

1970s

When surface cold air pushes far equatorward and warm air pushes far poleward ________.

the Rossby waves have great amplitude

The leeward slope of a hill or mountain blocking precipitation is called the ________.

rain shadow

The most conspicuous difference between winter and summer precipitation totals is found in

southern and eastern Asia

In the atmosphere, some liquid water exists until the temperature lowers below ________

-40

The saturated adiabatic lapse rate is a lesser lapse rate than the dry adiabatic lapse rate. This is because ________.

latent heat is being released

A precipitation type extremely characteristic of the lower latitudes is ________.

convergent lifting

Conditional instability is when the lapse rate of an air parcel is ________.

between the wet and dry adiabatic lapse rate

One cause of global dimming is ________.

human release of aerosols

Liquid water that has cooled below the dew point becomes ________.

foggy

Buoyant air will rise until it ________.

reaches the temperature of the surrounding air

Clouds of vertical development include ________.

cumulonimbus

The term used in the United States for small raindrops that freeze while falling toward the surface is ________.

sleet

When air is heated enough so that it is warmer than the surrounding air, it is ________.

unstable

Concerning acid rain, which fact is false?

It seems to be equally serious everywhere in the U.S.

The rainiest portion of South America is the ________.

north coast

Grams per cubic meter would be the measurement units used to describe

absolute humidity

Water is unique because no other substance occurs in

all three forms in the atmosphere

GOES imagery has the characteristic of

being taken from fixed points

The altitude at which rising air reaches the dew point temperature is the ________.

lifting condensation level

Most of the wettest areas around the world are located in the ________.

tropics

Downwind of large mountain ranges there is less precipitation; this drier zone is called the ________.

rain shadow

Which of the following occurs least over North America?

maritime polar air from the North Atlantic

The relative humidity would be ________ percent if the actual water vapor in the air was 10 grams per cubic meter, the air's capacity to hold water vapor was 20 grams per cubic meter, and the dew point temperature was 20 degrees Celsius.

50

The hydrologic cycle refers to the ________.

unending circulation of Earth's water supply

Air containing all of the water vapor it can hold is ________.

saturated

Which of the following is most closely associated with midlatitude cyclones

meridional flow in the upper westerlies

Among cloud types, those that occur at the highest altitudes are the ________.

cirrus

Air near the Pacific Coast of the United States is usually more ________ than air over the Gulf Coast of the United States thus preventing hurricanes.

all of the above

The rising and subsequent cooling of air at the rate of 10�C per 1,000 meters is called ________.

the dry adiabatic lapse rate

On a NEXRAD computer screen, indications of strong winds flowing towards the radar adjacent to strong winds flowing away from the radar is evidence of a(n) ________ within a thunderstorm

downdraft

As a middle latitude cyclone goes through its life cycle, the warm sector

gets smaller

Hurricane destruction to land coastlines is made worse when this featurenot prominent in all hurricanesis present: ________.

the eye wall

Concerning midlatitude anticyclones, which of the following is FALSE

They contain air mass conflict

Which type of front typically produces the fastest rise of air

cold

Which of the following rarely affects North America?

equatorial

Extratropical cyclones and anticyclones function as migratory perturbations in the ________.

westerlies

In and near eastern Asia, the place of origin for tropical cyclones is ________.

east of the Philippines

The average directional movement of hurricanes is ________.

east to west

The global westerly wind zone most heavily impacts the ________ latitudes

middle

The movement of middle latitude cyclones is determined by the jet stream and ________.

Rossby waves

The largest and strongest tropical cyclones are associated with the ________.

Pacific Ocean near Hawaii

Which of the following is NOT a climate type found in South America?

D

Which of the following average annual precipitation totals is CLOSEST to that expected in an icecap climate?

< 25 cm

In an Af climate, what time of day is precipitation most likely

at mid-afternoon

At its equatorward margin the ________ climate is bounded by the 0� Celsius isotherm of average annual temperature.

ET

The ________ climatic type has, by far, the smallest annual temperature range of any climatic type

Af

The main reason for the occurrence of subtropical deserts around the world is ________.

locations of anticyclones

desert would be the obvious zone of origin of a ________ air mass.

cT

The climatic type for the desert areas is ________.

BW

Of the list below, the coldest air is bound to be associated with a/an ________ air mass.

cP

Throughout the ET climates, ________ is/are very prevalent

radiation fogs

Geostrophic wind always flows ________.

parallel to the isobars

Most of the broad-scale air-movements that comprise the general circulation are ________.

horizontal

Sinking air that diverges when it reaches Earth's surface is closely associated with ________.

anticyclones

Tornadoes, although erratic in their pathways, are always characterized by ________ pressure.

low

The average directional movement of tornadoes is ________.

southwest to northeast

Thunderstorms accompany ________.

all of the above

Wind speed may be roughly indicated by ________.

spacing of isobars on a weather map

Of those below, the coldest, driest ones are termed ________.

continental polar

The "trigger" of ENSO is

unknown

You are standing on a shoreline with the ocean to your west. The wind is traveling from west to east. The wind would be called

onshore.

The midlatitude steppe fits into the K�ppen classification as ________.

BSk

Global dimming might now be DECREASING because of the lessening of ________ in the atmosphere.

aerosols

Which of the following promotes evaporation

all of the above

The Cs climatic type is usually located on the ________ part of the continents

west

In the United States, fog occurs LEAST often in the ________ states

Southwestern

The lowercase letter symbolizing "moist, with no dry season" in the K�ppen classification system is ________.

f

Cold air moving over a warmer lake surface will result in a(n) ________ type of fog

advection

The most common and widespread form of precipitation is

rain.

Which of the following would be a common diameter for a tornado funnel

500 meters

Which of the following is the least likely zone of formation for a large air mass?

under an oceanic subtropical high

At any moment, approximately ________ lightning storms are occurring around the world

2000

The text makes frequent use of ________ which are charts showing average monthly temperatures and precipitation amounts.

climographs

A climograph

can be used to classify climate

In what year did K�ppen first publish his classification system

1918

City A has an air pressure of 1,000 millibars. City B has an air pressure of 1004 millibars. The distance between the two cities is 100 kilometers. The difference of 4 millibars over 100 kilometers is known as

the pressure gradient

An Earth surface pressure of pressure of 1,005 millibars is associated with ________.

any of the above, depending upon conditions

The capacity of air to hold water

increases as temperature increases

Another designation for the mediterranean climate is ________.

dry summer subtropical

The Enhanced Fujita Scale was adopted in 2007. It is based on estimates of 3-second gusts of wind as estimated by

tornado damage.

The world's highest recorded temperature was in Libya and closest to ________ degrees Celsius.

58

To the Greeks, their land fell within the ________ zone in their early classification of climate.

temperate

In the upper troposphere, where is the region of easterly winds

at 30-50� from the Equator

The desire to simplify, organize, and generalize the vast array of climatic data into a comprehensible system that helps us understand the distribution of climates over Earth leads to ________.

classification

In terms of the lower part of the troposphere, more than ________ percent of all water vapor is found within 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) of the Earth's surface.
114)

50

The beginning of a middle latitude cyclone is known as ________.

cyclogenesis

The world record for greatest precipitation received in a single year is on the order of ________ centimeters.

2,600

In tropical regions the "winter" season is merely the ________ period

low Sun

The K�ppen system of climate classification is based on ________.

temperature and precipitation

Deserts are arid; steppes are ________.

semiarid

In the BS climatic types the "S" stands for ________.

steppe