Study guide for chapter 13 – Severe Weather
__________1. Which is not a condition that must exist in order to produce thunderstorms?
a. a source of moisture
b. lifting of the air mass
c. an unstable atmosphere
d. a source of wind
__________2. In what stage of a thunderstorm would an equal amount of updrafts and downdrafts exist?
a. cirrus stage
b. cumulus stage
c. mature stage
d. dissipation stage
__________3. What ultimately leads to a thunderstorms dissipation?
a. the production of downdrafts
b. the loss of a supply of cold air
c. the decrease in cloud droplets
d. the decrease of surface winds
__________4. What stage of a thunderstorm is shown?
a. cirrus stage
b. cumulus stage
c. mature stage
d. dissipation stage
Fujita Intensity scale
Path
Duration
Wind Speed
F0
Up to 2.5 mi
1-10 min
43-73 mph
F1
Up to 2.5 mi
1-10 min
74-112 mph
F2-F3
15 mi +
20 min +
113-206 mph
F4
50 mi +
1 hour +
207-311 mph
F5
50 mi +
1 hour +
312-318 mph
Use this scale to answer questions 5-7
__________5. A tornado lasts 9 minutes, is 1.5 mi wide and has wind speeds of 62 mph. What intensity level would it be
classified?
a. F0
b. F1
c. F2-F3
d. F4
__________6. How fast must the winds of a tornado be traveling to be classified as a F4 tornado?
a. 113-206 mph
b. 207-311 mph
c. 312-318 mph
d. 74-112 mph
__________7. A tornado has lasted for 70 minutes and its path was 52 miles wide. What would its wind speed have to be in order
for it to categorized as an F4 tornado?
206 mph
b. 301 mph
c. 312 mph
d. 317 mph
__________8. When a storm over an ocean has wind speeds of 47 mph, what can it be classified as?
a. a hurricane
b. a tropical depression
c. a tropical storm
d. a cyclone
Use this diagram to answer questions 9 and 10.
__________9. At which point would the strongest winds and densest clouds of the hurricane be located?
a. the eye
b. the eyewall
c. the rainbands
d. the outer edge
__________10. What is characteristic of the eye of the hurricane?
a. the strongest winds and densest clouds
b. thunderstorms
d. light clouds and precipitation
d. calm weather and blue sky
__________11. Because the hurricane is moving in a counterclockwise direction, what can be inferred about this hurricane?
a.
b.
c.
d.
the moving tropical disturbance which caused the hurricane came form the west.
the moving tropical disturbance which caused this hurricane came from the east
this hurricane is occurring in the northern hemisphere
this hurricane is occurring in the southern hemisphere
Category
Winds mph
Change in sea level
Damage
5
>155
18 feet
Catastrophic
4
130-155
13-18 feet
Extreme
3
111-130
9-12 feet
Extensive
2
96-110
6-8 feet
Moderate
1
74-95
4-5 feet
minimal
Use this scale to answer questions 12-13
__________12. A hurricane has been classified as a category 3 hurricane. Which of the following is NOT true?
a. the hurricane cannot get any stronger
b. the hurricane has winds of 124 mph
c. the hurricane cannot get any weaker
d. the hurricane has sea level changes of 13 feet
__________13. A hurricane hits land with wind speeds of 140 mph and sea level changes of 18 feet. What damage classification
would it be labeled as?
a. catastrophic
b. moderate
c. extensive
d. extreme
__________14. A(n) ____________________ thunderstorm forms because of unequal heating of Earth’s surface within one air mass.
a. frontal mass
b. cold front
c. air mass
d. air pressure
__________15. The rising, moist updrafts and the falling, cool downdrafts form a convection cell that produces the ________
associated with thunderstorms.
a. temperatures
b. thunder
c. humidity
d. gusty surface winds
__________16. Very severe thunderstorms can form when a __________ has a large continuous supply of warm air to lift and
condense.
a. cold front
b. warm air mass
c. warm front
d. tornado
__________17. When friction between updrafts and downdrafts within a cumulonimbus cloud creates regions of air with
opposite charges, _______________ forms.
a. warm air
b. lightning
c. precipitation
d. thunder
__________18. ____________ are often associated with very severe thunderstorms called supercells.
a. tornadoes
b. sea breezes
c. hurricanes
d. heat waves
__________19. A mound of water driven toward coastal areas by hurricane winds is called a __________________________.
a. cyclone
b. supercell
c. storm surge
d. cold front
__________20. An extended period of well-below-normal rainfall is a ____________________.
a. flood
b. drought
c. heat wave
d. tropical cyclone
__________21. The phenomenon in which the effects of cold air are worsened by wind is the _____________________.
a. supercell
b. cold wave
c. wind chill factor
d. cold front
22. When do most tornadoes occur? Why? _______________________________________________________________________________________________
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23. What is the difference between a funnel cloud and a tornado? _____________________________________________________________________
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