Name: ___________________________________________
Treasure Hunt#3
Mountain Meteorology
Due: Mon. 24 Feb 2014
Precip., MetEd Link#1, and Articles#2-3
Score:____________/ 25
(1) Describe the hydrometeor type known as graupel and describe how it forms {found on
page(s)__________}.
(2) What effects make rain gauge measurements less accurate {found on page(s)__________}?
(3) Briefly describe the precipitation growth process in a cold (temperature below -15oC) cloud
{found on page(s)__________}.
(4) List the factors that may not have been taken into account when producing the precipitation
map in Figure 8.6 for mountainous areas where interpolations have been based on widely
dispersed measurement stations {found on page(s)__________}.
(5) Name the weather feature whose diurnal movement is closely associated with thunderstorm
formation in west Texas and Oklahoma {found on page(s)__________}.
(6) What seasonal circulation is responsible for the summertime precipitation maxima in Arizona,
New Mexico, and the southern halves of Utah and Colorado {found on page(s)__________}?
(7) Describe the necessary components for areas where rime is common {found on
page(s)__________}.
(8) Of continental or marine clouds, which type typically has larger cloud droplets and lower
cloud droplet number concentrations {found on page(s)__________ }?
(9) By what processes does a seeder cloud enhance precipitation in the feeder cloud {found on
page(s)__________}?
(10) In a typical Cascade Mountain Snowstorm, on which side of the mountains (windward or
leeward) does most of the precipitation fall {found on page(s)__________}?
1
(11) Name the hydrometeor growth mechanism that dominates during the stable stage of a San
Juan Mountains snowstorm {found on page(s)__________}.
(12) Name the stage during the Wasatch Mountain “Hundred Inch Storm” that had a potentially
convectively unstable environment (intrusion of low e aloft) {found on page(s)__________}.
(13) For the conceptual model of an orographic snowstorm whose environment is becoming
increasingly less stable with increasing vertical velocity, name the more important hydrometeor
production mechanism (accretion or deposition) {found on page(s)__________}.
(14) Fronts whose propagation speed near the mountains is less than ________% of the average
upwind speed are defined as retarded {fill in the blank, found on page(s)__________}.
(15) Give the “potential height” definition and list the typical minimum value needed to prevent
blocking of the air flow by the Appalachians{found on page(s)__________}.
(16) The composite cyclone associated with unretarded fronts is stronger over the northeastern
U.S. and the corresponding composite anticyclone over the Gulf of Mexico is also stronger. What
can be implied about the cross-mountain winds for the unretarded fronts composite when
compared to that of the retarded fronts {found on page(s)__________}?
(17) QGPV advection composites at t0 show that cases having unretarded and retarded fronts are
similar in one aspect of the QGPV advection field, but different in another. List the similarity and
difference of the composite QGPV advection fields between the unretarded and retarded fronts
{found on page(s) ________}.
(18) Explain why having a large pressure difference across a front is relevant to its crossing a
mountain and compare the value found for the two frontal composites after reaching the
Appalachians [just after crossing CRW] {found on page(s) ________}.
(19) For the Appalachians, the strength of the ________ ________ trough and associated
________ anomaly is the primary indicator of whether a front will be retarded {fill in the blanks,
found on page(s)__________}.
(20) What percentage of the mean annual snowfall totals in the northern mountains of West
Virginia is accounted for by NWFS events having a Great Lakes connection {found on page(s)
________}?
2
(21) Of the two types of hydrometeors, snow crystals and raindrops, which type is most effective
at scavenging low-level moisture from the feeder clouds {found on page(s) ________}?
(22) List the two approaches for understanding precipitation-topography relationships and note
which approach is used in the Perry and Konrad paper {found on page(s) ________}.
(23) Where does northwest flow occur in a typical synoptic-scale surface cyclone and why is this
type of flow ideal for producing snowfall in the southern Appalachians {found on page(s)
________}?
(24) Define the “EXPONW” topographic characteristic used by the authors and describe the
optimal EXPONW characteristic for having large snowfall accumulation amounts during a
northwest flow snowfall event {found on page(s) ________}.
(25) List the two topographic characteristics found to most strongly influence the spatial patterns
of NWFS in the southern Appalachians {found on page(s) ________}.
3