Exam #3 Flashcards

1
Q

Your instructor said that the bad thing about teaching a course about natural disasters is that there are always new natural disasters, including the one he mentioned at the start of last Wednesday’s lecture. What kind of natural disaster was it?

You Answered
A) An asteroid or comet impact.
B) An earthquake.
C) A volcanic eruption.
D) A severe storm.

A

B) An earthquake.

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2
Q

A volume or parcel of air that begins rising through the atmosphere because it is passing over a mountain range is experiencing what type of lifting mechanism?

A) Convective lifting.
B) Convergent lifting.
C) Frontal lifting.
D) Orographic lifting.

A

D) Orographic lifting.

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3
Q

What type of lifting mechanism is in operation between masses of cold and warm air rotating around the central low of a cyclone?

A) Convective lifting.
B) Convergent lifting.
C) Frontal lifting.
D) Orographic lifting.

A

C) Frontal lifting.

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4
Q

What type of lifting mechanism operates as air from the outside of a tropical cyclone is pulled into the low pressure of the interior of the tropical cyclone?

A) Convective lifting.
B) Convergent lifting.
C) Frontal lifting.
D) Orographic lifting.

A

B) Convergent lifting.

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5
Q

The location of a front on a weather map is where the frontal boundary is on the land surface. Precipitation (rain or snow) can happen that greatest distance from the location of this type of front:

A) A cold front.
B) An occluded front.
C) A warm front.

A

C) A warm front.

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6
Q

What type of front did your instructor say would produce the most precipitation (rain or snow)?

A) A cold front.
B) An occluded front.
C) A warm front.

A

B) An occluded front.

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7
Q

______________ is another name for a mid-latitude cyclone.

A) An exratropical cyclone.
B) A geostrophic wid.
C) A tropical cyclone.

A

A) An exratropical cyclone. (Because the temperate zone is outside the tropics)

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8
Q

A mid-latitude cyclone would move from _____________ across Kansas.

A) East to west.
B) North to south.
C) South to north.
D) West to east.

A

D) West to east.

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9
Q

A mid-latitude cyclone over Kansas would rotate ___________.

A) Clockwise.
B) Counterclockwise.
C) A mid-latitude cyclone over Kansas would not rotate.

A

B) Counterclockwise.

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10
Q

What is convective lifting

A

Air lifting by convection. Convection is when solar energy passes through the atmosphere and heats the surface, where the air becomes less dense than the air around it, making it rise

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11
Q

how a cyclone would move across Australia and how it rotate in the southern hemisphere. Because the temperate zone is outside the tropics.

A

In the southern hemisphere these tropical storms are called cyclones and rotate in a clockwise direction

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12
Q

Where on Earth would you NOT expect a tropical cyclone to develop because of the lack of a Coriolis or Momentum Effect?

A) In the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
B) In the South Atlantic Ocean.
C) In the Indian Ocean.
D) Along the Equator.

A

D) Along the Equator. Because of the lack of a Coriolis or Momentum Effect along the Equator because of the lack of a Coriolis or Momentum Effect along the Equator.

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13
Q

Which of the following organizations compose the annual list of names for tropical storms and tropical cyclones in the various ocean basins of the world?

A) The U. S. National Weather Service.
B) The World Meteorological Organization.
C) The United Kingdom Meteorological Office.
D) The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

A

B) The World Meteorological Organization. The WMO devises the lists from first names (alternating between male and female first names) common it that part of the world

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14
Q

Which of these common first names in the United States would NOT be used in the annual list of Atlantic Basin hurricane names?

A) Arlene.
B) Harold.
C) Ophelia.
D) Zach.

A

D) Zach. First names starting with Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used in the list of 21 named storms that the WMO composes for the Atlantic Basin

These three first names were used in the 2023 list of tropical storm names for the Atlantic Basin. None of these names were retired and will be used again when this list is next used in 2029

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15
Q

The Saffir-Simpson Scale for tropical cyclones is a measure of _____________.

A) Sustained wind speed.
B) Storm surge height.
C) Peak wind speed.
D) All of the above.

A

A) Sustained wind speed. The full name of the Saffir Simpson Scale is the Saffir- Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS)

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16
Q

A tropical cyclone of ____________ or greater on the Saffir-Simpson Scale is considered to be a major tropical cyclone.

A) Category 1.
B) Category 2.
C) Category 3.
D) Category 4.
E) Category 5.

A

C) Category 3. also know that there is some discussion of extending the Saffir-Simpson Scale (currently ranging
from Category 1 to Category 5) to Category 6 to account
for an increasing number of what are now called very
high Category 5 tropical cyclones in our time of warming
ocean surface temperatures

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17
Q

Where are sustained wind speeds heighest in a tropical cyclone?

A) In the center of the eye.
B) Along the eyewall.
C) Along the outer margin of the tropical cyclone.
D) Sustained wind speeds are constant throughout a tropical cyclone.

A

B) Along the eyewall.

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18
Q

Above a certain strength, tropical cyclones that develop in the Atlantic Basin are called hurricanes. The Atlantic Basin consists of _____________,

A) The Atlantic Ocean.
B) The Caribbean Sea.
C) The Gulf of Mexico.
D) All of the above.

A

D) All of the above. Also know what tropical cyclones are called in the various ocean basins of the world

19
Q

In what other ocean basin of the world would a tropical cyclone above a certain strength be called a hurricane and not some other name?

A) The Eastern Pacific Ocean.
B) The Western Pacific Ocean.
C) The Southern Pacific Ocean.
D) The Indian Ocean.

A

A) The Eastern Pacific Ocean. Here, tropical cyclones are called typhoons
In C and D, tropical cyclones are known as cyclones

20
Q

Over the course of the 20th century, deaths from hurricanes along the coastal United States ___________ while property damage from hurricanes along the coastal United States ____________.

A) Deaths from hurricanes decreased while property damage from hurricanes increased.
B) Deaths from hurricanes increased while property damage from hurricanes decreased.
C) Both deaths and property damage from hurricanes along the coastal United States decreased over the course of the 20th century.
D) Both deaths and property damage from hurricanes along the coastal United States increased over the course of the 20th century.

A

A) Deaths from hurricanes decreased while property damage from hurricanes increased.

More and more people moved to the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States over the
course of the 20th century. By the end of the 20th century, weather radar and weather satellites
allowed long-range weather forecasts to alert people to move inland to avoid a tropical cyclone,
but the additional infrastructure built over the course of the 20th century is still in harms way

21
Q

A _____________ cloud is an early-stage thunderstorm cloud.

A) Cirrus.
B) Cumulus.
C) Cumulonimbus.
D) Noctilucent.

A

B) Cumulus.

22
Q

The tendency of wind velocity to increase or wind direction to change with increasing height above the land surface are both types of ____________.

A) Gust fronts.
B) Mesocyclones.
C) Transient Luminous Events.
D) Wind shear.

A

D) Wind shear.

23
Q

___________ are essentially electrical discharges from the top of a thunderstorm cloud upward to the electrically-charged ionosphere.

A) Gust fronts.
B) Mesocyclones.
C) Transient Luminous Events.
D) Wind shear.

A

C) Transient Luminous Events.

24
Q

Located in the trailing edge of a supercell thunderstorm cloud, the ___________ is where a tornado is likely to form.

A) Gust front.
B) Mesocyclone.
C) Transient Luminous Event.
D) Wind shear.

A

B) Mesocyclone.

25
Q

____________ is the state with the most tornadoes per year.

A) Florida.
B) Kansas.
C) Oklahoma.
D) South Dakota.
E) Texas.

A

E) Texas.
Mississippi is second

26
Q

____________ is the state with the most hailstorms per year.

A) Florida.
You Answered
B) Kansas.
C) Oklahoma.
D) South Dakota.
E) Texas.

A

C) Oklahoma.

27
Q

____________ is the state that currently holds the honor of having had the largest hailstone on record fall on it.

A) Florida.
B) Kansas.
C) Oklahoma.
D) South Dakota.
E) Texas.

A

D) South Dakota.

28
Q

Over a seventy year period of time the annual number of tornadoes in the United States has ____________.

A) Decreased.
B) Remained the same.
C) Increased.

A

C) Increased.

29
Q

A_____________ means that conditions are right for a tornado to develop in your area; a _____________ means that a tornado has been sighted in your area either visually or on radar and you must take cover immediately.

A) A tornado warning; a tornado watch.
B) A tornado watch; a tornado warning.
C) A tornado hazard; a tornado risk.
D) A tornado risk; a tornado hazard.

A

B) A tornado watch; a tornado warning.

30
Q

What are cirrus clouds

A

Cirrus clouds are short, detached, hair-like clouds found at high altitudes. These delicate clouds are wispy, with a silky sheen, or look like tufts of hair

31
Q

What are cumulonimbus cloud

A

menacing looking multi-level clouds, extending high into the sky in towers or plumes. More commonly known as thunderclouds

32
Q

What are noctilucent clouds

A

extremely rare collections of ice crystals, occasionally appearing in late clear summer evenings after sunset, but before it gets completely dark

33
Q

___ is the state with the most lightning deaths per year

A

Florida

34
Q

As currently defined, a torando outbreak is defined as_____

A) 6 or more tornadoes from the same storm system over 24 hours of time
B) 6 to 99 tornadoes from the storm system over 24 hours of time
C) 100 or more tornadoes from the same storm system over 24 hours of time

A

B) 6 to 99 tornadoes from the storm system over 24 hours of time

35
Q

As currently defined, a tornado super outbreak is defined as ___

A) 6 or more tornadoes from the same storm system over 24 hours of time
B) 6 to 99 tornadoes from the storm system over 24 hours of time
C) 100 or more tornadoes from the same storm system over 24 hours of time

A

C) 100 or more tornadoes from the same storm system over 24 hours of time

36
Q

When were Manhattan, Kansas, and Topeka, Kansas, both struck by tornadoes in the same day?

A) 1925
B) 1966
C)1974
D)2008
E)2022

A

B) 1966 By two different tornadoes

37
Q
A
38
Q

When was Manhattan, Kansas most recently struck by a tornado?

A) 1925
B) 1966
C)1974
D)2008
E)2022

A

E) 2022

39
Q

Moore, Oklahoma was struck by an ___ tornado in 1999 and by an ___ in 2013.

A) By an F3 tornado in 1999 and by an EF 5 tornado in 2013
B) By an F5 tornado in 1999 and by an EF 3 tornado in 2013
C) By an F3 tornado in 1999 and by an EF 3 tornado in 2013
D) By an F5 tornado in 1999 and by an EF 5 tornado in 2013

A

D) By an F5 tornado in 1999 and by an EF 5 tornado in 2013

40
Q

The first tornado to be rated a maximum EF 5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale was ___.

A) The Moore, Oklahoma tornado of 1999
B) The Grenensburg, Kansas tornado of 2007
C) The Manhattan, Kansas tornado of 2008
D) The Joplin, Missouri tornado of 2011

A

B) The Grenensburg, Kansas tornado of 2007

41
Q

The army caught in the field by a hailstorm at Chartes, France, in 1360 was ___.

A) British
B) English
C) French
D) German

A

B) English

42
Q

What caused the English Windstorm of 1703?

A)A blizzard
B) A mid-latitude cyclone
C) A tropical cyclone
D) Tornado

A

B) A mid-latitude cyclone

43
Q

What did weather maps from the US weather Burreau lack in 1888?

A) Fronts
B) Pressure isobars
C) Temperature contours
D) US Weather Bureau maps in 1888 included fronts, pressure isobars and temperature contours

A

A) Fronts