GEO 302C EXAM 3 Fall 2003

The mean score of this test is 83. Your grade was posted on eGradebook on 11/7/03.

 

You may not refer to any other materials during the exam. For each question (except otherwise explicitly stated), select the best answer for that question. Read all choices before selecting an answer and make sure your choice answers the question asked.

 

1.         Which of the following was responsible for whipping up the fierce Southern California wildfires last month?

            a. Chinook wind

            b. Valley breeze

            c. Santa Ana wind

            d. Katabatic wind

            e. Sea breeze

 

2.         San Francisco, California has a Mediterranean climate. Therefore,

            a. there is more rain in January than in July.

            b. there is less rain in January than in July.

            c. there is an equal amount of  rain in January and July.

 

3.         Which of the following air masses can influence Texas’ weather and climate?

            a. cT

            b. cP

            c. mT

            d. all of the above

 

4.         This air mass is responsible for hot, dry summer weather over portions of Arizona and New Mexico:

            a. maritime polar

            b. continental polar

            c. maritime tropical

            d. continental tropical

            e. continental arctic

 

5.         This air mass is responsible for refreshing cool, dry breezes after a long, humid summer hot spell in the Central Plains:

            a. maritime polar

            b. continental polar

            c. maritime tropical

            d. continental tropical

            e. continental arctic

 

6.         At a warm front, the warm air:

            a. rises and cools

            b. rises and warms

            c. sinks and cools

            d. sinks and warms

 

 

 

7.         Which of the following is correct about cold fronts and warm fronts?

            a. generally, cold fronts move slower than warm fronts

            b. generally, cold fronts have more gentle slopes

            c. generally, precipitation covers a much broader area with cold fronts

            d. both cold and warm fronts affect Texas’s weather

 

8.         In the Northern Hemisphere,

            a. air rises steeply ahead of a warm front, and gradually ahead of a cold front

            b. cold, warm and occluded fronts are associated with high pressure systems

            c. precipitation associated with cold fronts tends to be brief and intense

            d. precipitation associated with cold fronts tends to be gentle and prolonged



9.         Which below is a name given to a large cyclonic storm system that forms in the middle latitudes?

            a. tornado

            b. hurricane

            c. wave cyclone

            d. anticyclone

 

10.        The development or strengthening of a middle latitude cyclone is called:

            a. cyclogenesis

            b. convergence

            c. divergence

            d. condensation

            e. filling low

 

11.        When an upper-level low lies directly above a surface low:

            a. the surface low will probably strengthen

            b. thunderstorms will develop

            c. a wave cyclone will begin to form

            d. the pressure of the surface low will increase

            e. cyclogenesis will occur

 

12.        For a surface storm system to intensify, the upper-level low (or trough) should be located to the       of the surface low.

            a. east

            b. west

            c. south

            d. north

 

13.        Which of the following has the largest size?

            a. middle latitude cyclone

            b. tropical cyclone

            c. typhoon

            d. tornado

            e. tropical storm

 

14.        The rising of warm air and the sinking of cold air provide energy for a developing wave cyclone.

            a. true

            b. false

 

15.        Convergence is the piling up of air; divergence is the spreading out of air.

            a. true

            b. false

 

16.        An ordinary thunderstorm is most intense during this stage:

            a. mature stage

            b. dissipating stage

            c. cumulus stage

 

17.        Ordinary thunderstorms last for 24 hours:

            a. true

            b. false

 

18.        This classifies tornados according to wind speed and damage

            a. Saffir-Simpson Scale

            b. Fujita scale

            c. Kelvin scale

            d. Celsius scale

            e. Fahrenheit scale

 

19.        When a tornado is spotted, the National Weather Service issues a:

            a. tornado watch

            b. tornado warning

           

20.        Which of the following regions in the USA has the greatest number of days each year on which hail is observed?

            a. the Gulf Coast

            b. the Pacific Northwest

            c. the western Great Plains

            d. the Central Plains

 

21.        Which of the following regions in the USA has the greatest number of days each year on which thunderstorms are observed?

            a. the Gulf Coast

            b. the Pacific Northwest

            c. the western Great Plains

            d. the Central Plains

 

22.        This region in the United States is most susceptible to tornadoes:

            a. the Gulf Coast

            b. the Pacific Northwest

            c. the western Great Plains

            d. the Central Plains

 

23.        In the United States, dryline thunderstorms are most common

            a. in the Rocky Mountains

            b. in the desert southwest

            c. in the Great Plains

            d. in California

            e. in Florida

 

24.        If a tornado is rotating in a counterclockwise direction and moving toward the east, the strongest winds will be on its       side.

            a. west

            b. east

            c. south

            d. north

 

25.        The so-called "Tornado Alley" of the United States includes:

            a. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina

            b. California, Oregon,  and Washington

            c. Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska

            d. Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Montana

 

26.        In the Northern Hemisphere, hurricanes and middle latitude cyclones are similar in that both:

            a. have thunderstorms

            b. can be seen by satellite

            c. have winds that blow counterclockwise around their centers

            d. all of the above

 

27.        The strongest winds in a hurricane are found:

            a. in the eye wall

            b. at the center of the storm

            c. in the rain bands

            d. at upper levels, above the center of the hurricane

            e. near the periphery of the hurricane

 

28.        Around mid-September 2003, a hurricane made a landfall in North Carolina and caused an estimated $2 billion in damage. Dr. Yang talked about this hurricane while explaining the Coriolis effect. What is the name of this hurricane?

            a. Isabel

            b. Isidore

            c. Ivan

            d. Irene

            e. Imagine

           

29.        Which of the following is true about hurricanes:

            a. hurricanes have distinct fronts

            b. hurricanes can form along the equator

            c. hurricanes tend to move from east to west in the tropics

            d. hurricanes disappear within two hours after their formation

 

30.        The main source of energy for a hurricane is the:

            a. El Nino

            b. strong winds

            c. warm ocean water and release of latent heat of condensation

            d. ocean currents and tides

            e. thunderstorms

 

31.        Hurricanes dissipate when:

            a. they move over colder water

            b. they move over land

            c. surface inflow of air exceeds upper-level outflow of air

            d. all of the above

 

32.        The main difference between a hurricane and a tropical storm is that:

            a. tropical storms have weaker wind speeds

            b. tropical storms are smaller

            c. tropical storms are in the tropics

            d. tropical storms do not have a clearly defined eye

 

33.        Hurricanes that move into India and Australia are usually called       in this part of the world.

            a. typhoons

            b. hurricanes

            c. tropical cyclones

 

34.        The strongest winds in a hurricane heading north toward Florida would most likely be found on the       side.

            a. north

            b. south

            c. east

            d. west

 

35.        A storm of tropical origin whose high winds and water cause a great deal of destruction to islands in the western North Pacific is (in this part of the world) known as a:

            a. hurricane

            b. cyclone

            c. typhoon

         

36.        Which of the following is considered a climatic control?

            a. ocean currents

            b. intensity of sunshine and its variation with latitude

            c. prevailing winds

            d. altitude

            e. all of the above

 

37.        A rainshadow desert is normally found:

            a. on the downwind side of a mountain range

            b. in the center of a large surface anticyclone

            c. in polar regions where the air is cold and dry

 

38.        The earth's rainforests are found in:

            a. humid subtropical (Cfa) climates

            b. tropical wet (Af) climates

            c. tropical wet and dry (Aw) climates

            d. all of the above

            e. none of the above

 

39.        The Köppen scheme for classifying climates employs annual and monthly averages of:

            a. temperature and precipitation

            b. precipitation and stream runoff

            c. ocean levels and surface pressure

            d. population density and agricultural output

            e. sunshine and soil type

 

40.        In Köppen's system of classifying climates, midlatitude moist climates with mild winters are designated by the letter:

            a. A

            b. B

            c. C

            d. D

            e. E

 

41.        These plants are capable of surviving a prolonged period of dryness:

            a. rainforest

            b. tundra

            c. taiga

            d. xerophytes

            e. boreal forests

 

42.        The majority of the southeastern section of the United States has this type of climate:

            a. tropical wet

            b. tropical wet and dry

            c. humid subtropical

            d. humid continental

            e. semi-arid

 

43.        In Texas, one could experience all of Köppen’s climate types.

            a. true

            b. false

 

44.        According to Köppen, the driest of all climates would be classified as BW.

            a. true

            b. false

 

45.        The semi-arid climate marks the transition between the arid and humid climatic regions.

            a. true

            b. false

46.        The coldest of all air masses is

            a. cT

            b. mT

            c. mP

            d. cP

            e. cA

 

47.        One would most likely experience steppe vegetation in a:

            a. semi-arid climate

            b. humid subtropical climate

            c. marine climate

            d. subpolar climate

            e. tropical wet-and-dry climate

 

48.        One would expect to observe this type of vegetation in a subpolar climate:

            a. tundra

            b. taiga

            c. rainforests

            d. savanna

            e. grassland

 

49.        Humid continental with severe winters climates are not observed in:

            a. Canada

            b. Alaska

            c. Europe

            d. the northern plains of the United States

            e. South America

 

50.        Mountain barriers are considered a climatic control.

            a. true

            b. false