Wind and pressure
cloud development
Air Masses and Fronts
Extratropical Cyclones
Colorado Weather
100

This is the apparent deflection in the wind caused by the earth's rotation.

 What is the Coriolis Force?

100

During the winter Colorado is sometimes home to these wierd clouds that are smoothed and sit over one spot for hours.  

 What are lenticular or wave clouds?  

100

An abrupt boundary between very moist conditions and very dry conditions.  

What is a dry line?  

100

 A surface low that deepens rapidly. 

What is a Meteorological bomb?

100

A winter storm warning has been issued for metro Denver.  What conditions do you expect to see?

What is at least 6 inches of snow, along with wind.   

200

This weather problem is associated with strong Santa Ana winds in California.

What are forest fires? 

200

The reason the moist adiabatic lapse rate is lower than the dry adiabatic lapse rate.

 What is latent heat of condensation?  

200

 This type of front has a very gentle slope and stratiform precipitation.  

What is a warm front?

200

Any storm system that travels across Colorado gets torn up by the mountains and will reform over the plains.  

What is a lee side low?  


200

This warning for life threatening flooding will alarm the WEA network so you cell phone will alert you.

What is a flash flood warning?  

300

 The pressure measured at an observing site before it is corrected for sea level.  

  What is station pressure?   

300

 When a parcel of air rises and cools along a lapse rate.  

  What is an adiabatic process?  

300

This airmass affects the Pacific Northwest, bringing cloudy, damp and cold conditions.

What is a Maritime Polar airmass?

300

This will be found directly above a deepening surface low in an extratropical cyclone.  

What is divergence and cyclonic shear aloft.

300

This stormtrack will give you the best chance at a snow day or two.  

What is and upper low moving along the Colorado-New Mexico border?

400

It is the reason surface winds are slower than winds aloft and why they cross isobars.     

What is friction?  

400

When the moist adiabatic lapse rate is less than the environmental lapse rate which is less than the dry adiabatic lapse rate.

  What is conditional instability?  

400

You can see these on satellite as a long narrow ribbon of clouds and moisture extending from the tropics to the Pacific northwest.  

 What is an atmospheric river, or a Pineapple Express?  


400

The portion of the extratropical cyclone where you might find severe thunderstorms.  

What is the warm sector (ahead of the cold front)

400

This is a good upslope wind direction for Denver.

What are north, or northeast.  

500

This circulation shows rising motion at the equator, sinking motion at about 30 degrees north and south.

What is the Hadley Cell?  

500

four ways to produce lift in the atmosphere.

What are frontal lifting, orographic lifting, convective lifting, and convergent lifting?  

500

If this airmass visits Denver, we can set new record low temperatures and one of these visited us this week!

What is the arctic continental airmass?  

500

This is the typical birthplace of an extratropical cyclone.

What is the polar front?  

500

What is the only warning issued by the National Weather Service where they consult with another agency? 

 What is a red flag warning for critical fire conditions? (Land management agencies report on fuels status) 

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