EAPS 106 EXAM 4 QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
\Q\.What happens to warm, moist air when it rises. - ANSWERS✔-It expands due to lower
pressures with altitude, causing it to cool (think same energy spread out over a larger volume)
\Q\.What happens to warm, moist air when it cools. - ANSWERS✔-Cold air cannot hold as much
water vapor as warm air, thus cooling causes some of the water vapor to condense back into
droplets and ice crystals, forming clouds.
\Q\.Which kind of clouds lead to the biggest thunderstorms. - ANSWERS✔-Cumulonimbus
clouds: higher clouds carry stronger winds and more thunderstorms
Cumulonimbus clouds have the most height and an anvil-shaped head
\Q\.What happens when a cold air mass collides with a warm, moist air mass. - ANSWERS✔-A
cold front. Cold air rapidly pushes warm moist air high into the atmosphere, forming
cumulonimbus clouds. Warm fronts are gentler, as warm air gradually gains altitude by riding up
a mass of cold air like a ramp, forming cumulus clouds.
\Q\.Whether dry air or moist air is heavier. - ANSWERS✔-Dry air is heavier than moist air
Cold air is heavier/denser than warm air
\Q\.What causes lightning. - ANSWERS✔-Lightning is a sudden electrostatic discharge between
oppositely charged regions of a cloud or between a cloud and the ground. A strong separation
of electric charges occurs as falling ice particles strip rising water molecules of their electrons.
,Preceded by step ladders/leaders (he said different areas call them different things) that search
for a complete circuit with the ground/cloud and then strike when it finds a complete path.
\Q\.Good safety practices for when a lightning storm is in your area. - ANSWERS✔-Stay away
from tall, isolated objects (as they can act as step/ground leaders)
If you hear thunder, there's lightning
Lightning crouch (crouch so that the heels touch) supposedly routes electricity away from the
heart
No longer recommended, people are stupid and didn't treat this as a last resort when that's
what it is
\Q\.What causes thunder. - ANSWERS✔-A lightning bolt almost instantly raises the temperature
of air to over 50000 degrees F, causing a rapid expansion of the air that results in a shock wave
we hear as thunder.
\Q\.What causes hail. - ANSWERS✔-Made from ice crystals that travel repeatedly above and
below the freezing line, enabling additional water to freeze onto them until they become too
heavy for the updrafts and fall to the ground
They are also a sign of a larger thunderstorm
\Q\.What thunderstorm microbursts are. - ANSWERS✔-Microbursts (or downbursts) are areas
of rapidly descending cold air that cause strong wind shear that can knock down trees and
houses like a tornado. Particularly dangerous to aircraft during landings. Fortunately, air traffic
controllers can detect downbursts using Doppler radar and steer airplanes clear.
\Q\.What distinguishes supercells from all other thunderstorms. - ANSWERS✔-Rotation in the
cumulonimbus clouds are supercells, while the cumulonimbus clouds in thunderstorms do not
rotate
, \Q\.How supercells develop. - ANSWERS✔-Strong wind shear leads to a horizontal vortex that is
then uplifted and rotates into a vertical vortex. A supercell can focus the rotating motion into a
tighter vortex called a mesocyclone, which can further focus into a tornado.
\Q\.The role that mesocyclones play in a supercell. - ANSWERS✔-Tornadoes from by focusing
the rotation of supercells into a series of faster rotating structures: Mesocyclone to wall cloud to
tornado. The rapid spinning of a mesocyclone enables more efficient updraft of warm, moist air,
providing more energy for the supercell resulting in stronger winds.
\Q\.Why hail is often found in front of a tornado. - ANSWERS✔-The supercell leads with the
downdraft regions, pushing hail out.
\Q\.Which way the wind blows near a tornado. - ANSWERS✔-Near the ground winds will blow
toward a tornado, feeding the strong updraft. Wind blows outward higher up
\Q\.The major components of what makes the midwest so productive for tornadoes. -
ANSWERS✔-Cold dry air from the north collides with warm moist air from the Gulf to form
cumulonimbus clouds.
Winds from the jet stream cause the cumulonimbus clouds to experience horizontal shear
Warm dry air from the southwest lifts and rotates the vortices into a vertical orientation,
generating a supercell.
\Q\.About how many tornadoes occur in the U.S. each year. - ANSWERS✔-About 1000
\Q\.When prime tornado season is in the U.S. - ANSWERS✔-Occurs in the spring, when the
waters from the Gulf of Mexico begin to warm, while cold air masses still descend from the
north.
CORRECT ANSWERS
\Q\.What happens to warm, moist air when it rises. - ANSWERS✔-It expands due to lower
pressures with altitude, causing it to cool (think same energy spread out over a larger volume)
\Q\.What happens to warm, moist air when it cools. - ANSWERS✔-Cold air cannot hold as much
water vapor as warm air, thus cooling causes some of the water vapor to condense back into
droplets and ice crystals, forming clouds.
\Q\.Which kind of clouds lead to the biggest thunderstorms. - ANSWERS✔-Cumulonimbus
clouds: higher clouds carry stronger winds and more thunderstorms
Cumulonimbus clouds have the most height and an anvil-shaped head
\Q\.What happens when a cold air mass collides with a warm, moist air mass. - ANSWERS✔-A
cold front. Cold air rapidly pushes warm moist air high into the atmosphere, forming
cumulonimbus clouds. Warm fronts are gentler, as warm air gradually gains altitude by riding up
a mass of cold air like a ramp, forming cumulus clouds.
\Q\.Whether dry air or moist air is heavier. - ANSWERS✔-Dry air is heavier than moist air
Cold air is heavier/denser than warm air
\Q\.What causes lightning. - ANSWERS✔-Lightning is a sudden electrostatic discharge between
oppositely charged regions of a cloud or between a cloud and the ground. A strong separation
of electric charges occurs as falling ice particles strip rising water molecules of their electrons.
,Preceded by step ladders/leaders (he said different areas call them different things) that search
for a complete circuit with the ground/cloud and then strike when it finds a complete path.
\Q\.Good safety practices for when a lightning storm is in your area. - ANSWERS✔-Stay away
from tall, isolated objects (as they can act as step/ground leaders)
If you hear thunder, there's lightning
Lightning crouch (crouch so that the heels touch) supposedly routes electricity away from the
heart
No longer recommended, people are stupid and didn't treat this as a last resort when that's
what it is
\Q\.What causes thunder. - ANSWERS✔-A lightning bolt almost instantly raises the temperature
of air to over 50000 degrees F, causing a rapid expansion of the air that results in a shock wave
we hear as thunder.
\Q\.What causes hail. - ANSWERS✔-Made from ice crystals that travel repeatedly above and
below the freezing line, enabling additional water to freeze onto them until they become too
heavy for the updrafts and fall to the ground
They are also a sign of a larger thunderstorm
\Q\.What thunderstorm microbursts are. - ANSWERS✔-Microbursts (or downbursts) are areas
of rapidly descending cold air that cause strong wind shear that can knock down trees and
houses like a tornado. Particularly dangerous to aircraft during landings. Fortunately, air traffic
controllers can detect downbursts using Doppler radar and steer airplanes clear.
\Q\.What distinguishes supercells from all other thunderstorms. - ANSWERS✔-Rotation in the
cumulonimbus clouds are supercells, while the cumulonimbus clouds in thunderstorms do not
rotate
, \Q\.How supercells develop. - ANSWERS✔-Strong wind shear leads to a horizontal vortex that is
then uplifted and rotates into a vertical vortex. A supercell can focus the rotating motion into a
tighter vortex called a mesocyclone, which can further focus into a tornado.
\Q\.The role that mesocyclones play in a supercell. - ANSWERS✔-Tornadoes from by focusing
the rotation of supercells into a series of faster rotating structures: Mesocyclone to wall cloud to
tornado. The rapid spinning of a mesocyclone enables more efficient updraft of warm, moist air,
providing more energy for the supercell resulting in stronger winds.
\Q\.Why hail is often found in front of a tornado. - ANSWERS✔-The supercell leads with the
downdraft regions, pushing hail out.
\Q\.Which way the wind blows near a tornado. - ANSWERS✔-Near the ground winds will blow
toward a tornado, feeding the strong updraft. Wind blows outward higher up
\Q\.The major components of what makes the midwest so productive for tornadoes. -
ANSWERS✔-Cold dry air from the north collides with warm moist air from the Gulf to form
cumulonimbus clouds.
Winds from the jet stream cause the cumulonimbus clouds to experience horizontal shear
Warm dry air from the southwest lifts and rotates the vortices into a vertical orientation,
generating a supercell.
\Q\.About how many tornadoes occur in the U.S. each year. - ANSWERS✔-About 1000
\Q\.When prime tornado season is in the U.S. - ANSWERS✔-Occurs in the spring, when the
waters from the Gulf of Mexico begin to warm, while cold air masses still descend from the
north.
