Define it!
This type of lightning typically accompanies thunderstorms and is commonly referred to as “sheet lightning.”
Cloud-to-cloud lightning
(lights up the sky in big sheets)
The stepped leader of a lightning bolt is responsible for most of its light and sound.
False (the return stroke is responsible)
This kind of cloud is needed for a tornado to form.
Cumulonimbus
This is the difference between drizzle and rain.
The size of the raindrop (drizzle has very small water droplets, while raindrops are bigger)
This is what starts a thunderstorm.
A strong updraft of air
This is why lightning bolts strike targets that are high.
Positive charges in the ground tend to pile up in a tall object (to get closest to the negative charges in the cloud)
This type of lightning is not as common in thunderstorms and strikes the ground in a bolt.
Cloud-to-ground lightning
The most destructive stage of a tornado is its mature stage.
True
This type of cloud starts the Bergeron process.
Cold cumulonimbus cloud
This is the difference between sleet, hail, and freezing rain.
Sleet is much smaller than hail, but both are frozen before hitting the ground. Freezing rain is liquid until it hits a cold surface. (Also, unlike sleet, hail is recycled several times through a cloud before falling.)
This is where the thunder in a thunderstorm comes from.
It is from superheated air traveling out from a lightning bolt in waves. (When the waves hit our eardrums, we interpret them as sound.)
These are the conditions in the eye of a hurricane.
Calm
(often sunny, as well)
A current of rising air.
Updraft
The five stages of a tornado in order are: the whirl stage, the organizing stage, the mature stage, the shrinking stage, and the decaying stage.
True
This type of cloud starts the Collision-coalescence process.
Warm nimbostratus cloud
Not considered to be precipitation, these two forms of atmospheric moisture bring water back to earth.
Dew and Frost (Unlike precipitation, they form on surfaces rather than fall from the sky.)
These are the three stages of a thunderstorm cell.
1. Cumulus stage, 2. Mature stage, and 3. Dissipation stage
This is used to determine which classification a building hurricane is in.
Wind speed
A substance that does not conduct electricity very well.
Insulator
The 4 classifications that lead to a hurricane are, in order: tropical cyclone, tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm.
False
(tropical cyclone is last, with the highest wind speed; starting w/tropical disturbance the rest are in order)
During this stage of a thunderstorm, as the updraft pulls more and more warm, moist air into the atmosphere, a rapidly growing cumulus cloud begins to form.
Cumulus stage
This process describes precipitation from a nimbostratus cloud, which is lower in the atmosphere and is likely to be warm.
Collision-coalescence process
Lightning forms due to an electrical charge imbalance. The imbalance starts 1. here and happens due to 2. this.
1. Starts in a cumulonimbus cloud 2. Due to water droplets or ice crystals rubbing against each other in glancing collisions
This term describes the temperature at which dew forms, and depends on the pressure and humidity of the air.
Dew point
(the higher the pressure and humidity, the higher the dew point)
These are lines of thunderstorm cells that rotate around the eye of a hurricane, spiraling slowly as they go.
Rain bands
An occluded front can be indicated when light precipitation changes to heavy precipitation, and when temperatures shift from cold to warm and back to cold.
True
In this stage of a tornado an updraft of air forming a cumulonimbus cloud starts getting hit by winds blowing in different directions at higher altitudes.
The whirl stage
This process describes precipitation from the top of a cumulonimbus cloud, which is at the top of the troposphere where water freezes.
Bergeron process
In a thunderstorm, each stage has a mix of updrafts, downdrafts, and precipitation. This is the mix for stage 1 – the cumulus stage.
Updraft only
(no precipitation)
This type of front can be indicated by precipitation several days in a row, or by temperature staying constant for a long time.
Stationary front
(several days of precipitation can also indicate an occluded front)
On a less detailed weather map, these thin black lines represent regions of equal atmospheric pressure.
Isobars
When a cold front moves in, you can reasonably expect a slow drizzle.
False
(In a cold front you can expect quick, heavy rain or snow.)
Clouds rushing in quickly is typical of this type of front.
Cold front
When heavy rains last more than 30 minutes during a thunderstorm, you know this about its makeup.
It is probably made up of several cells.
In a thunderstorm, each stage has a mix of updrafts, downdrafts, and precipitation. This is the mix for stage 2 – the mature stage.
Updrafts, downdrafts, and precipitation (all 3)
This front causes the most harm in a hurricane in the form of floods, often devastating low-lying shoreline communities.
Storm surge
This tool does “radio detection and ranging.” It provides data about cloud cover and the types of clouds currently forming in the atmosphere.
Radar (It emits radio waves that encounter objects and records the bounced signals returning.)
With a cold front, after the rain or snow is finished, the temperature should be cooler than before.
True
(Cold fronts are also often preceded by warmer temperatures.)
A progression of clouds from cirrus to stratus before a day of precipitation most likely means this type of front.
Warm front
(also confirmed if temps are warmer after just 1-2 days of precipitation)
Of 2 mornings: 1. One is very humid with high atmospheric pressure; 2. The next is less humid and atmospheric pressure has fallen. Of the two, this one has the coldest dew point.
The second morning
In a thunderstorm, each stage has a mix of updrafts, downdrafts, and precipitation. This is the mix for stage 3 – the dissipation stage.
Only downdrafts and precipitation
This causes a hurricane in the Southern Hemisphere to rotate in a different direction than a hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Coriolis effect