Question 1

Multiple Choice: Consider the map of 500-mb geopotential height (shading) shown below. Where would you expect the strongest upper-level divergence to occur?

1. Over West Virginia
2. Over Nevada / Utah
3. Over Arkansas / Missouri
4. Over Kansas / Colorado

Question 2

Multiple Choice: Which of the following is an example of a planetary-scale circulation?

1. Midlatitude cyclone
2. Jet stream
3. Thunderstorm
4. Dust devil

Question 3

Multiple Choice: Why do you hear thunder after you see a flash of lightning?

1. Thunder travels slower through a temperature inversion
2. Thunder travels slower through a humid environment
3. The speed of light is slower than the speed of sound
4. The speed of sound is slower than the speed of light

Question 4

Multiple Choice: During the Northern Hemisphere winter, the southeast Asian monsoon is characterized by high-pressure over land, which leads to ________ conditions and winds that are directed _________.

1. dry ; off-shore
2. wet ; on-shore
3. wet ; off-shore
4. dry ; on-shore

Question 5

Choose All That Apply: Where are thunderstorms most frequently located (choose two)?

1. At latitudes closer to the equator
2. At latitudes closer to the poles
3. Over the ocean
4. Over land areas

Question 6

Multiple Choice: In the single-cell model for Earth’s general circulation, where would precipitation most likely occur?

1. None of the above
2. At the poles
3. At the equator
4. At midlatitudes

Question 7

Multiple Choice: Where do midlatitude cyclones most frequently develop?

1. Near the poles
2. At the poleward edge of the Hadley Cell
3. At the equator
4. Along the polar front

Question 8

Multiple Choice: Consider the map of 850-mb temperature (shading) shown below. What type of air mass is located over northern Canada (black circle)? Assume that warmer temperatures generally are associated with greater amounts of moisture.

1. Maritime polar
2. Continental tropical
3. Continental polar
4. Maritime tropical

Question 9

Multiple Choice: What is the primary driving factor responsible for the Earth’s general circulation in both the single- and three-cell models?

1. The distribution of land and ocean on Earth
2. The Earth’s rotation
3. Uneven heating from the sun between the poles and the equator
4. The Earth’s tilt

Question 10

Multiple Choice: There is no precipitation observed at the surface during what stage of an air-mass thunderstorm?

1. Decay
2. Mature
3. Precipitation is observed during all three stages
4. Cumulus

Question 11

Multiple Choice: What causes a thunderstorm downdraft to accelerate towards the surface?

1. Deposition of falling precipitation cools the air within the downdraft more than the surrounding environment
2. Condensation of water vapor warms air within the downdraft more than the surrounding environment
3. Freezing of liquid cloud droplets warms air within the downdraft more than the surrounding environment
4. Evaporation of falling precipitation cools the air within the downdraft more than the surrounding environment

Question 12

Choose All That Apply: Which locations within the three-cell model for Earth’s general circulation are most frequently associated with clouds and precipitation?

1. The subtropical lows
2. The ITCZ
3. The polar highs
4. The subtropical highs

Question 13

Multiple Choice: Which cell within the three-cell model for Earth’s general circulation is not an accurate representation of reality?

1. Hadley cell
2. Polar cell
3. Ferrel cell
4. Single cell

Question 14

Multiple Choice: Consider the map of 925-mb temperature (shading), 925-mb geopotential height (black contours), and 925-mb wind barbs shown below. The center of a cyclone is indicated by the “L”. The black line to the south of the cyclone corresponds to a _____________.

1. warm front
2. occluded front
3. stationary front
4. cold front

Question 15

Multiple Choice: Consider the map of 925-mb temperature (shading), 925-mb geopotential height (black contours), and 925-mb wind barbs shown below. The center of a cyclone is indicated by the “L”. The black line to the north and east of the cyclone corresponds to a _____________.

1. occluded front
2. warm front
3. stationary front
4. cold front

Question 16

Multiple Choice: Consider a surface low-pressure system located to the west of an upper-level trough. How will this configuration impact the low-pressure system?

1. The low-pressure system will maintain the same intensity
2. The low-pressure system will strengthen and then decay
3. The low-pressure system will decay (its pressure goes up)
4. The low-pressure system will strengthen (its pressure goes down)

Question 17

Multiple Choice: While camping in a mountain valley at night, you notice a cool breeze flowing down the side of the mountain toward your campsite. This wind is an example of what type of circulation?

1. Anabatic flow
2. Turbulent eddies
3. Chinook wind
4. Katabatic flow

Question 18

True or False: The locations of surface high- and low-pressure systems over land within the Earth’s observed general circulation do not vary seasonally.

1. True
2. False

Question 19

Multiple Choice: While observing a thunderstorm off in the distance you see a flash of lightning. 30 seconds later you hear a rumble of thunder. Approximately how far away is the thunderstorm?

1. 6 miles
2. 10 miles
3. 3 miles
4. 30 miles

Question 20

Multiple Choice: Where is the polar jet stream located?

1. At the poleward edge of the Hadley cell
2. In the mesosphere
3. Above the polar front
4. At the equator

Question 21

Choose All That Apply: Which of the following are characteristics of a microscale circulation?

1. Length scales between 1 km and 1000 km
2. Length scales less than 1 km
3. Time scales of seconds to minutes
4. Time scales of minutes to hours

Question 22

Multiple Choice: Which of the following explanations justifies the presence of polar easterlies at the surface in the Northern Hemisphere within the three-cell model for Earth’s general circulation?

1. Air flows equatorward from the poles and is deflected towards the east by the Coriolis force
2. Air flows poleward towards the poles and is deflected towards the west by the Coriolis force
3. Air flows poleward towards the poles and is deflected towards the east by the Coriolis force
4. Air flows equatorward from the poles and is deflected towards the west by the Coriolis force

Question 23

Multiple Choice: The area to the southeast of a cyclone between the warm and cold fronts is often referred to as the _____________.

1. Cold sector
2. Warm sector
3. Moist sector
4. Dry sector

Question 24

Multiple Choice: In the Northern Hemisphere, another name for a low-pressure system is ___________, and another name for a high-pressure system is _______________.

1. a thunderstorm ; a polar low
2. a hurricane ; a tornado
3. an anticyclone ; a cyclone
4. a cyclone ; an anticyclone

Question 25

Multiple Choice: This past winter has been characterized by below-normal sea-surface temperatures within the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean, which is an indicator for what planetary-scale circulation pattern?

1. The prevailing westerlies
2. La Niña
3. El Niño
4. North American Monsoon

Question 26

Multiple Choice: What differentiates the three-cell model from the single-cell model for Earth’s general circulation?

1. The Earth is covered entirely by land in the three-cell model
2. The earth rotates in the single-cell model
3. The earth rotates in the three-cell model
4. The distribution of land and ocean matches reality in the three-cell model

Question 27

Multiple Choice: Imagine that upper-level divergence is observed over Kansas City, KS with no surface convergence or divergence. What will happen to the surface pressure observed in Kansas City?

1. The pressure will become higher
2. The pressure will become lower
3. The pressure will stay constant
4. The pressure will become higher and then lower

Question 28

Multiple Choice: During the decay stage of a midlatitude cyclone ______________.

1. The surface pressure drops since the cyclone is located to the east of an upper-level trough
2. The surface pressure increases since the cyclone is located to the east of an upper-level trough
3. The surface pressure drops since the cyclone is no longer located to the east of an upper-level trough
4. The surface pressure increases since the cyclone is no longer located to the east of an upper-level trough

Question 29

Multiple Choice: Consider the map of 500-mb geopotential height (shading) shown below. Where would you expect the strongest upper-level convergence to occur?

1. Over Arkansas / Missouri
2. Over Kansas / Colorado
3. Over West Virginia
4. Over Nevada / Utah

Question 30

Multiple Choice: Consider the map of 500-mb geopotential height (shading) shown below. Which line corresponds to a trough axis?

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D

Question 31

Choose All That Apply: What two criteria are primarily used to classify an air mass?

1. The latitude at which the air mass originates
2. The rate at which the air mass moves
3. The humidity of the air mass
4. The type of precipitation associated with the air mass

Question 32

Yes or No: A thunderstorm in your area produces wind speeds of 70 mph and hail as large as 0.5 inches in diameter. Is this a severe thunderstorm?

1. Yes
2. No

Question 33

Multiple Choice: What mechanism is often responsible for the development of a Colorado Low?

1. Anticyclogenesis
2. Lee cyclogenesis
3. Bomb cyclogenesis
4. Anabatic flow

Question 34

Multiple Choice: Imagine that strong upper-level convergence is observed over Wisconsin with weak surface divergence. What will happen to the surface pressure observed in Wisconsin?

1. The pressure will stay constant
2. The pressure will become lower
3. There is not enough information to answer this question
4. The pressure will become higher

Question 35

Multiple Choice: The single-cell model for Earth’s general circulation is a type of ______________.

1. Monsoon
2. Thermally-driven circulation
3. Land-sea breeze
4. Jet stream

Question 36

Multiple Choice: Consider a midlatitude cyclone with a minimum pressure of 1000 mb. 24-h later, the minimum pressure of the cyclone has dropped to 970 mb. What type of cyclone is this?

1. Nor’easter
2. Bomb Cyclone
3. Colorado Low
4. Gulf of Alaska Low

Question 37

Multiple Choice: Consider the map of 500-mb geopotential height (shading) shown below. Which line corresponds to a ridge axis?

1. C
2. A
3. B
4. D

Question 38

Multiple Choice: What type of vertical wind shear is favorable for the development of a supercell thunderstorm?

• The wind speed increases with altitude above the Earth’s surface
• The wind direction changes with altitude above the Earth’s surface
• A and B
• Wind shear is not necessary for the development of a supercell thunderstorm

Question 39

Multiple Choice: Which statement best describes the occlusion stage of a midlatitude cyclone’s life cycle?

• The cyclone is located to the west of an upper-level trough
• The cyclone is beginning to intensify
• The cold front has caught up to the warm front
• The warm sector is immediately adjacent to the surface cyclone

Question 40

Multiple Choice: An air mass moves onshore from the North Pacific Ocean to the western U.S., leading to cool weather and precipitation. What type of air mass is this?

1. Maritime polar
2. Continental polar
3. Continental tropical
4. Maritime tropical

Question 41

Choose All That Apply: Which of the features listed below can induce upward motion in the vicinity of a midlatitude cyclone.

1. A warm front
2. A cold front
3. Surface convergence
4. Upper-level divergence

Question 42

Choose All That Apply: Which of the following assumptions apply to the single-cell model for the Earth’s general circulation?

1. The Earth is covered entirely by water
2. The Earth rotates
3. The distribution of land and water on Earth matches reality
4. The sun resides directly over the equator

Question 43

Choose All That Apply: At what latitudes are surface high-pressure systems located in the three-cell model for Earth’s general circulation?

1. 30 degrees
2. 60 degrees
3. 0 degrees
4. 90 degrees

Question 44

Multiple Choice: The observed wind is ____________ in an upper-tropospheric trough and ____________ in an upper-tropospheric ridge.

1. geostrophic ; ageostrophic
2. ageostrophic ; geostrophic
3. supergeostrophic ; subgeostrophic
4. subgeostrophic ; supergeostrophic

Question 45

Multiple Choice: Which of the following is not necessary for the development of a thunderstorm?

1. Lift
2. Wind shear
3. All are necessary
4. Moisture
5. Instability

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