Exam 19: Weather Patterns and Severe Weather

A wind shift from south or southwest to northwest is commonly associated with the passage of a ________ front.

Midwestern farmers used to say "mare's tail and mackerel scales bring the storm down on you head"; Mare's tails are cirrus clouds and mackerel scales are cirrostratus.When this sequence is followed by altostratus the old farmers were talking about an approaching ________ front.

Continental polar air masses seldom influence the weather south of the Great Lakes.

A cT air mass is dry and warm.

Tornadoes are cyclonic,while hurricanes are anticyclonic.

Continental tropical air masses are most prominent in what part of North America?

A Category 5 hurricane in the open water can obtain top wind speed comparable to ________.

Cold fronts usually move more slowly than warm fronts.

Surface cyclones are accompanied by divergence aloft.

Describe the sequence of events that occur when a fully developed midlatitude cyclone passes just to your north,including cloud sequences,frontal passages,and barometric conditions.

Precipitation associated with a cold front is usually more intense and shorter in duration than precipitation generated by a warm front.

The boundary between air masses having different densities is called a(n)________.

A continental Polar (cP)air mass that originates in Siberia and is subsequently altered to ________ when crossing the north Pacific

When a TV weather forecaster gives a forecast for "widely scattered afternoon thunderstorms," these storms are probably associated with ________.

Thunderstorms form from what type of cloud?

Most severe thunderstorms that occur in the middle latitudes form along or ahead of cold fronts.

Thunder is produced by lightning.

A tornado watch is issued by the National Weather Service after a tornado has been sighted in an area.

Hurricanes generally are ________.

Divergence aloft helps maintain surface lows.