Exam 2 Review

Multiple Choice

Hurricanes

1. What area is most threatened by cyclones?

North America

2. Hurricanes that are impacting the gulf coast – what region of the world are they being
developed in?

Western coast of Africa

3. Hurricanes do not form close to the equator because ______

The absence of the Coriolis effect

4. Is the United States at a greater risk for a tropical cyclone or an extratropical cyclone?

Extratropical

5. Which hurricanes effect causes the greatest damage?

6. Which area of a hurricane causes the greatest amount of storm surge?

Right quadrant

7. What scale do we use to measure the magnitude of hurricanes?

Saffir-Simpson scale

8. The strongest winds ever recorded in the united states, were they caused by a tropical or
extratropical cyclone?

Extratropical

9. How many gallons of water does a hurricane produce per day?

trillion

10. Which of these does not make flooding worse?

Flooding is affected by Storm speed, land elevation, interaction with other weather systems,
amount of water in soil, streams and lakes

11. What mechanism causes storm surges to be more severe and travel further inland?

Global Sea Rise

12. Why has human interaction with hurricanes increased in recent years?

Population growth greatest in coastal areas

13. What do humans do that makes coastal areas more vulnerable to hurricane winds?

Urbanization

14. If the temperature of the ocean rises, what will happen to hurricanes?

Increased intensity

15. Can humans prevent cyclones from occurring?

No

16. Choose all that apply; Which of the following are tools for hurricane forecasts?

Weather satellites, aircraft, Doppler radar, weather buoys, computer models

17. Define evacuation plan

Atmosphere

18. Define work

Work is done when energy is expended, measured in Joules

19. Example and identify potential energy

Stored energy – water being held behind a dam

20. Define latent heat

amount of heat absorbed or released when a substance changes phases

21. Characteristics of unstable air masses

Air is unstable when lighter, warm or moist air is overlain by denser cold or dry air
22. Define thunderstorm

23. Define watch vs. warning as defined by NWS (national weather service)

watch – possibility
warning – severe weather has been spotted, take action

24. Define air mass thunderstorm

majority of storms, less than one hour, minimal damage

25. Define speed shear

26. Define directional shear.

27. Define mesoscale convective system (MCS)

most common type of severe thunderstorm. Large clusters of self-propagating storms in which
downdrafts from one cell leads to the formation of another nearby.

28. Where are thunderstorms most common?

Equatorial regions

29. Define bomb cyclone

Hurricane force winds + blizzard

Matching

 Nor’easter
o Extratropical cyclone that moves along northward along East Coast U.S.
o Produce blizzards

 Hurricane
o Atlantic and eastern pacific

 Typhoon
o Pacific ocean west of international dateline and north of equator

 Tropical disturbance
o Typically 200 to 600 km
o An organized mass of thunderstorms persisting for 24 hours

 Tropical depression
 o Wind speeds increase and begin to spin
o Eye of the storm is formed

 Tropical storm
o Winds increase to 63 km per hour
o Storm is given a name

 Rain band
o Clouds that spiral inward around center

 Eye wall
o Innermost band of clouds

 Eye (of the storm)

o Area of calm at center of hurricane

Fill in the Blank

 Coriolis effect
o An apparent deflection in the path of a moving object

 ETC
o Form over land or water in temperate regions

 Storm surge
o Wind driven ocean waves, usually accompanying a hurricane, nor’easter, or
similar storm, that pile water up on a coastline

 Effects of tropical cyclones

o Storm surge
o High winds
o Heavy Rains

 Necessary conditions for a thunderstorm (3)

o Warm and humid air
o Steep vertical temperature gradient
o Updraft must force air up to the upper atmosphere

 Ways that electromagnetic energy is used by the earth

o Redirected
o Transmitted
o Absorbed

 Troposphere
 o Lowermost layer of the atmosphere

 Atmospheric pressure
o Force exerted by the weight of gas molecules that surround a planet

 Tornado

o A destructive, commonly funnel-shaped cloud of violently rotating winds that

extends downward from a severe thunderstorm to reach Earth’s surface.

 Fujita scale
o Used to measure magnitude of tornadoes.

Figure Description

4 questions, 10 points

Convection

Conduction

Latent heat

Infrared radiation

Essay Questions

1. Define the terms Tropical Cyclone and Extratropical Cyclone. Describe how each type of
cyclone is different from the other.
a. For each type of cyclone, what aspect do you think is the most dangerous?
b. Which do you think causes the most damage? Why?

Extratropical cyclones – form over land or water in temperate regions, are associated with fronts
and cool central cores. Strong windstorms, heavy rains, surges, snowstorms, blizzards. Most do
not produce severe weather.
Most dangerous aspect is probably windstorms?

Tropical cyclones – Form over warm tropical or subtropical ocean water, have warm central
cores. Tropical depressions, tropical storms, hurricanes. High winds, heavy rain, surges,
tornadoes.
Most dangerous aspect is probably hurricanes?

Tropical cyclones probably cause the most damage, as hurricanes destroy thousands of homes
when they hit.
 2. List and describe the three tracks that hurricanes take in the Atlantic Ocean.
a. Which track do you think would cause the most damage? Why?

 West toward East coast of Florida, sometimes passing over Caribbean

 Westward over Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico to strike the Gulf Coast
 Westward to the Caribbean and then northeastward striking the East Coast

The second one would cause the most damage, because it is in contact with more land.

3. Think about the region you live in. Are you more likely to experience a cyclone or an
Extratropical cyclone? Why?
a. Now think about the natural disasters caused by cyclones, which do you think
may occur in your region? Why?
b. Do you think that your region is prepared for a tropical or Extratropical cyclone
and its effects? Why or why not?

An extratropical cyclone, because I don’t live near an ocean.

Tornadoes, because I’ve seen it happen plenty of times.
No. We never do much to prepare for these things, as they don’t happen very often to us.

4. Living in the United States, we are very accustomed to the occurrence of tropical storms
and hurricanes. One of the ways that our coasts prepare for this threat is through
forecasting.
a. List the 6 elements of a tropical storm/hurricane forecast.
i. If it will make landfall
ii. Where and when it will strike
iii. Wind strength
iv. Width of affected area
v. Rainfall amount
vi. Storm surge
b. In the United States, who is in charge of monitoring cyclone activity?
i. U.S. Hurricane Center
c. When is a hurricane watch issued? When is a hurricane warning issued?
i. Watch - Likely hurricane in 36 hours
ii. Warning - Likely hurricane in 24 hours or less

5. List and describe the three stages of a thunderstorm. For this thunderstorm to be
considered ‘severe,’ what criteria from the National Weather Service must be met?

 Cumulus
o Moisture supply and updrafts continue, clouds grow
 Mature
o Downdrafts and falling precipitation leave the base of the cloud
 Dissipating
 o Upward supply of moist air is blocked by downdrafts

Severe if
Winds are greater than 58 mph OR
Hailstones ¾ in. or bigger OR
Generates a tornado

6. What are the stages in tornado development? What occurs during each stage? Which
stage is the most dangerous and why?

 Organizational Stage
o Wall cloud rotates and funnel descends
 Mature Stage
o Condensation funnel extends to ground
 Shrinking stage
o Tornado begins to thin
o ***Most dangerous because wind speeds increase as diameter decreases***
 Rope stage
o Tornado disappears

7. There are four different types of severe thunderstorms. Choose two types and describe the
characteristics of each. Next, compare and contrast risks associated with the storms.

 Mesoscale convective systems

o Most common type of severe thunderstorm
o Large clusters of self-propagating storms
 Super Cells
o Upward spiraling column of air known as a mesocyclone

Supercells are smaller than MCSs, but are more damaging.

8. As electromagnetic energy from the sun reaches the earth, it is dealt with in three ways.
Name and describe these three processes.

 Redirected
o Reflection back to space by clouds, water, land
o Scattering disperses energy in many directions
 Transmitted
o Energy is passed through atmosphere
 Absorbed
o Alters molecules or causes them to vibrate
o Some of this may be re-emitted to space