I
What is the coldest point in the atmosphere?
Mesopause
What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere?
Nitrogen
What is a tropical low-pressure system that does not have rotating winds?
Tropical Disturbance
What is a wind that reverses its direction from season to season?
Monsoon
What portion of a lightning bolt produces thunder?
Return Stroke
What type of air mass brings hot, dry weather?
Continental Tropical
What forms the brilliant flash of a lightning bolt?
Return Stroke
What indicates that a frontal cyclone has reached its full strength?
Formation of an occluded front
What instrument uses a flexible, airtight metal box to measure changes in atmospheric pressure?
Aneroid Barometer
What is a weather balloon used for?
To measure high-altitude weather conditions
What Scale is used to classify tornadoes?
Enhanced Fajita Scale
A prediction of the weather in the near future is called a weather ________________.
forecast
What scale is used to rank hurricane strength?
Saffir-Simpson scale
What is the downward stream of electrons that causes a single lightning bolt to make a second strike?
Dart Leader
When the relative humidity is 100%, the air is said to be ___________________.
saturated
The most intense type of downburst is a(n) ______________.
microburst
A tropical cyclone with wind speeds between 39mi/h & 74 mi/h is a(n) ____________?
tropical storm
What is radiation fog that extends no more than 2 m (6ft) above the ground called?
Shallow Fog
The elevated water level caused by a hurricane's winds is the _______________.
storm surge
Which type of drought is defined by its effects on an area's groundwater, streams, lakes and reservoirs?
Hydrological Drought
What term describes atmospheric conditions that limit the height to which rising air can travel?
What does the Southern Hemisphere receive more insolation during the southern summer than the Northern Hemisphere during the northern summer?
Earth is closer to the sun
In what process does rain form through large cloud droplets hitting each other and merging to form larger drops?
Collision-coalescence process
In meteorology, the farthest distance as which objects can be distinguished is called the _______________.
visibility
When does a rotating column of air become a tornado?
When it reaches the ground