WEATHER AND CLIMATE practice test
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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1. What role does runoff play in the water cycle?
a. It is the process in which liquid turns to water vapor.
b. It carries water from precipitation into oceans.
c. It takes water out of the water cycle.
d. It is not part of the water cycle.
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2. What happens when air reaches its dew point?
a. Condensation occurs.
c. The humidity decreases.
b. Relative humidity is 100%.
d. Clouds form.
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3. What kind of weather will nimbostratus clouds likely bring?
a. sunny
c. rainy
b. warm
d. thunderstorms
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4. How does sleet differ from snow?
a. It is not a form of precipitation.
b. It is liquid and not ice.
c. It starts as rain and freezes in the air.
d. It starts as water vapor and changes to a solid.
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5. Which of the following describes an air mass with the symbol cT?
a. cold and wet
c. warm and wet
b. cold and dry
d. warm and dry
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6. A continental polar air mass forms in
a. the Pacific Ocean.
b. northern Canada.
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7. How does a warm front form?
a. Warm air becomes caught between cold air masses.
b. Two air masses meet and stay separated.
c. Warm air moves over cold air and replaces it.
d. Cold air moves under warm air and pushes it up.
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8. What kind of weather would an occluded front likely bring?
a. sunny and warm
c. thunderstorms
b. much precipitation
d. cold and dry
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9. How do winds behave in a cyclone?
a. They spiral toward the center.
b. They spiral out toward low pressure areas.
c. They are very calm.
d. They travel in two different directions.
c. the Gulf of Mexico.
d. the desert Southwest.
____ 10. Which of the following statements describes an anticyclone?
a. It is an area of low pressure.
b. It is an area of high pressure.
c. It has air masses that meet and rise.
d. It moves in the direction of the Earth’s rotation.
____ 11. What kind of weather would an anticyclone likely bring?
a. stormy
c. dry and clear
b. cool and wet
d. changeable
____ 12. What kind of weather would cumulonimbus clouds likely bring?
a. clear and sunny
c. light rain
b. hurricane
d. thunderstorm
____ 13. What is the purpose of isobars?
a. to measure air pressure
b. to describe the weather conditions in a weather station
c. to find out what form precipitation will take
d. to connect points of equal air pressure on a weather map
____ 14. Images of weather systems on television come from
a. station models.
c. weather balloons.
b. weather satellites.
d. anemometers.
____ 15. Which information can you get from a weather map?
a. a 5-day weather forecast
c. the locations of cold fronts
b. wind speeds and directions
d. barometric pressure
____ 16. What kind of weather does a stationary front bring?
a. drizzly rain followed by clear weather
c. many days of cloudy, wet weather
b. severe storms
d. cold, dry weather
____ 17. Which describes an altocumulus cloud?
a. high, feathery cloud
b. puffy mid-level cloud
c. low storm cloud
d. high cloud made of ice crystals
____ 18. Meteorologists track cyclones and anticyclones because they
a. are dangerous forms of severe weather.
b. help predict stormy or clear weather.
c. help forecast weather weeks in the future.
d. give more accurate facts than fronts.
____ 19. Which statement about hail is correct?
a. It is rain that falls through a layer of freezing air.
b. It may be sent up into the clouds many times.
c. It forms in winter in low stratus clouds.
d. It is a liquid form of precipitation.
____ 20. A maritime polar air mass that forms over the North Pacific Ocean brings what kind of weather to the Pacific
Coast?
a. warm
c. wet
b. dry
d. extremely cold
____ 21. A windsock does NOT
a. consist of a cone-shaped bag.
b. measure wind speed.
c. measure wind direction.
d. allow wind to pass through it.
____ 22. Which of the following does NOT collect weather-related data from the upper atmosphere?
a. weather balloon
b. Doppler radar
c. psychrometer
d. weather satellite
____ 23. Which of the following increases air’s ability to hold water vapor?
a. increase in wind speed
c. decrease in temperature
b. increase in temperature
d. decrease in air pressure
____ 24. In what part of the water cycle do clouds form?
a. evaporation
c. precipitation
b. runoff
d. condensation
____ 25. What causes changes in weather?
a. Air masses move and meet.
b. The air gets more humid.
c. Water evaporates.
d. Clouds form.
____ 26. What tool measures air pressure?
a. thermometer
b. psychrometer
c. anemometer
d. barometer
____ 27. What kind of weather does a cold front usually bring?
a. warm
c. sunny
b. stormy
d. windy
____ 28. What is a cloud made of?
a. water droplets
b. gases
c. rain or snow
d. warm air
____ 29. Which of the following is the cause of the change of seasons?
a. the distance of a place from the Equator
b. prevailing winds blowing across land or water
c. the tilt of the Earth’s axis
d. the rotation of the Earth
____ 30. Prevailing winds that travel to a region across a large body of water would probably make the region’s
climate
a. warmer.
c. cooler.
b. wetter.
d. drier.
____ 31. Which of the following explains why one side of a mountain usually has more precipitation than the other
side?
a. Mountains force air to rise, and air cools and releases moisture as it rises.
b. The atmosphere gets denser as elevation increases.
c. Temperatures are higher on one side of a mountain than on the other.
d. The land on one side is more green and lush than the other.
____ 32. Prevailing winds affect a region’s climate by
a. creating desert areas.
b. causing more precipitation on one side of a mountain.
c. affecting how much precipitation it receives.
d. controlling the amount of solar energy it receives.
____ 33. Why does the equator experience about the same temperatures year-round?
a. It tilts toward the sun and gets much more direct solar energy.
b. It has no prevailing winds.
c. It has no mountains to affect its climate.
d. The sun’s rays strike the equator at about the same angle all year.
____ 34. The windward side of a mountain usually
a. is a desert.
b. has no precipitation.
c. is lush and green.
d. has warm, sinking air.
____ 35. Wind will generally carry the most moisture when it comes from
a. warm grasslands.
c. polar icecaps.
b. warm tropical seas.
d. mountainous regions.
____ 36. Seasons are caused by
a. the sun’s cycle.
b. the greenhouse effect.
c. sunspots.
d. the tilt of the Earth’s axis.
____ 37. How do prevailing winds that travel across large bodies of water affect the climate?
a. They make it colder.
c. They make it wetter.
b. They make it warmer.
d. They make it drier.
WEATHER AND CLIMATE practice test
Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
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