Quiz #4 Study Questions
Chapter 5, pp. 110-130
Chapter 10, pp. 243-257
Turn in Monday, March 28 by start of class. Answers should be on a separate sheet of paper and legible. This is worth up to 5 points extra credit towards Quiz #4
- What are the four main primary mechanisms of cloud formation? On a typical summer day in Tucson, what mechanisms are most likely to set off an afternoon thunderstorm?
- State the typical sizes for a condensation nucleus, a cloud droplet, and a raindrop. By the process of
condensation alone, about how long would it take to create a raindrop?
- Which cloud type will produce the largest raindrops through the processes of collision and coalescence: a thin nimbostratus cloud or a towering cumulonimbus cloud? Why?
- A typical mid-latitude cumulonimbus cloud is shown in Figure 5.17. In the portion of the cloud where the temperature is between 0 C and -10 C, what type of cloud particles will you find? Where the temperature is between -20 C and -40 C, what types of cloud particles will you find? Where the temperature is below -40 C, what type of cloud particle will you find?
- Why do ice crystals grow at the expense of supercooled water droplets within a cloud?
- How does the formation of sleet (aka ice pellets) differ from the formation of freezing rain?
- What is the difference between graupel and hail?
- Describe the types of air motions (i.e. updrafts and downdrafts) that are present in each of the three stages of an ordinary (or air-mass) thunderstorm.
- Vertical wind shear means that the wind speed and direction changes as you go up in the atmosphere. Why is this important for the formation of a sever thunderstorm? (Hint: Examine the mature stage of an ordinary thunderstorm in Figure 10.1 and compare that to the structure of a severe thunderstorm depicted in Figure 10.6)
- Using Figure 10.15, describe why severe thunderstorms can be found along the dry line associated with a mid-latitude low pressure system or cyclone. Specifically, why is the atmosphere potentially unstable along a dry line?
Additional review questions (not to be handed in):
- Chapter 5: p. 130, #13, 14, 15, 17, 24
- Chapter 10: p. 275, #4, 5, 6, 7