Extreme Weather Climate 1st Edition Ahrens Samson -Test Bank
Chapter 11
Thunderstorms
Multiple Choice Exam Questions
1. All thunderstorms require:
a. hot, humid air
b. divergence of the air aloft
c. lifting along some barrier such as a mountain or front
d. surface heating
e. rising air
ANSWER: e
2. Ordinary thunderstorms only last about one hour and begin to dissipate when:
a. lightning neutralizes all the electrical charge in the cloud
b. when all the precipitation particles in the cloud turn to ice
c. when the downdraft spreads throughout the cloud and cuts off the updraft
d. when solar heating at the ground begins to decrease
ANSWER: c
3. An ordinary cell thunderstorm is most intense during the __________ stage.
a. mature
b. multicell
c. cumulus
d. dissipating
ANSWER: a
4. The most likely time for an ordinary call thunderstorm to form is
a. just after sunrise
b. just before sunrise
c. around midnight
d. late afternoon
e. at noon
ANSWER: d
5. A supercell storm is:
a. a thunderstorm that produces several tornadoes
b. a thunderstorm that produces a category F-5 tornado
c. a thunderstorm with an extremely large downburst
d. an enormous thunderstorm that lasts for several hours
ANSWER: d
6. Severe thunderstorms are capable of producing:
a. large hail
b. tornadoes
c. flash floods
d. all of the above
ANSWER: d
7. A Mesoscale Convective Complex is actually:
a. a rapidly rotating tornado cyclone inside a massive thunderstorm
b. another name for a suction vortex
c. a complex display of lightning from distant thunderstorms
d. a family of tornadoes that do a great deal of damage
e. individual thunderstorms that grow into a large, long-lasting weather system
ANSWER: e
8. The downdraft in an ordinary thunderstorm is created mainly by:
a. the melting of snow in the anvil
b. electrical attraction between the cloud and ground
c. the release of latent heat as water in the cloud freezes
d. evaporating raindrops that make the air cold and heavy
e. upper level wind motions
ANSWER: d
9. A small thunderstorm cloud with virga falling out of its base and blowing dust at the ground could warn of a severe hazard to an airplane because:
a. this could be the first indication of a tornado
b. it is likely that hail will soon begin to fall
c. this could indicate an intense downdraft or microburst
d. the airplane could be struck by lightning
ANSWER: c
10. The wind shear associated with several major airline crashes is believed to have been caused by:
a. microbursts
b. dry lines
c. the jet stream
d. mesocyclones
ANSWER: a
11. Squall lines generally do not form:
a. behind a cold front
b. when the air aloft develops waves downwind from a cold front
c. along a dry line
d. in the warm sector where warm, dry air meets warm, humid air
e. ahead of an advancing cold front
ANSWER: a
12. Thunderstorms that move to the right of the winds aloft tend to:
a. form along warm fronts
b. cut off the supply of humid air to thunderstorms to the north of them
c. form in the northern United States and Canada where the Coriolis force is
greatest
d. form near mountains where upper-level winds develop into waves
e. form over water due to the reduced friction there
ANSWER: b
13. Many flash floods, including those that occurred in Rapid City, South Dakota, and in Colorado’s Big Thompson Canyon, are the result of thunderstorms that:
a. contain no lightning
b. form in a dry air mass
c. move slowly
d. have weak or non-existent downdrafts
ANSWER: c
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