What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is the current state of the troposphere while climate is the expected weather patterns over a long period of time.
100
What are three necessary ingredients for thunderstorm formation?
1. Water vapor in the air
2. Lifting mechanism (cold front, mountains, etc)
3. Warm updraft
4. Cool downdraft
100
What is a stratus cloud?
A cloud having the appearance of thick layers
100
What is a warm front and what weather does it cause while it's passing?
Warm air mass pushing out cold air mass ; causes light/moderate precipitation for long period of time
100
What is the difference in the appearance of rounds and facets?
Rounds are round balls and facets are like glass pyramids
200
What is warm air rising and cool air sinking?
A convection cell
200
What causes charges to separate in a thunderstorm?
Heavier hail strips electrons from the snow crystals and sink to the bottom of the cloud thus leaving the positively charged snow crystals at the top.
200
What type of weather could a cirrus cloud indicate?
Good weather OR precursor to an incoming warm/cold front (if the cirrus clouds are followed by stratus clouds)
200
How do the winds behave differently in a low pressure versus high pressure system?
Low pressure: winds converge, rise, and move counterclockwise
High pressure: winds diverge, sink, and move clockwise
200
Describe how a stellar can turn into a round.
Ice particles sublimate from the tips of the stellar and deposit in the part of flake with largest surface area; thus turning it into a round. No temperature gradient is present.
300
What is the relationship between the lifting condensation level and cloud formation?
The LCL is the point in the sky at which clouds can form because the air becomes supersaturated at that point
300
What causes summertime thunderstorms in the Wasatch Front when there is no cold front present?
The air gets heated throughout the day and if there is moisture in it, the mountains act as a lifting mechanism to form large cumulonimbus clouds.
300
What type of weather do nimbostratus clouds bring?
Light rain/snow lasting 12-48 hours
300
Would it be possible to have clouds in the sky directly under the center of a high pressure system? Why or why not?
No there would be no clouds - high pressure system has sinking winds, and you need air rising to form clouds.
300
Describe how a stellar turns into a facet.
Ice particles sublimate of the tips of the stellar, and because there is a temperature gradient in the snow, the vapor deposits back on the flake that is closest to the top of the snowpack. This creates a pyramid shape.
400
What is the role of air pressure in wind formation?
Wind is caused when air moves from high pressure to low pressure.
400
What is the cause of cloud-to-ground lightning?
The negative charges at the bottom of the cloud create a concentration of positive charges in the ground below it, and those charges attract creating a giant bolt of "static electricity".
400
If I see cumulus clouds growing taller in the sky and the winds getting stronger, what type of front is coming?
Cold Front
400
What type of pressure system do warm and cold fronts originate from?
Low Pressure
400
Name five environmental factors that would determine if a snowpack had a temperature gradient or not.
What are the two main causes of the Coriolis Effect?
1. The earth rotates on its axis.
2. There is friction between the air in the atmosphere and earth's surface.
500
What is a supercell thunderstorm and how does it differ from a regular thunderstorm?
A supercell thunderstorm has a rotating updraft while a regular thunderstorm does not have any rotation inside.
500
Is it possible to have a low pressure system directly follow another low pressure system? Why or why not?
No - low pressure systems have converging winds moving counter clockwise, so they need a system next to it with diverging wins (high pressure) to feed into it
500
Can warm fronts occur in the winter? Why or why not?
Yes - a warm air mass indicates it is warmer relative to the surrounding air masses, not necessarily "warm" for our standards
500
What type of weather conditions would cause a snowpack to be made of mostly rounds?
The air temperature above the snow needs to be relatively warm (around freezing point) so it closely matches the ground. Sunny weather with no wind.