Pilot Weather Wisdom

I found this weather quiz I wrote about a year ago.

                  Advanced Meteorology Quiz

1. Global Weather: The area ten to fifteen degrees north and south of the equator associated with rising air, convection, and low pressure systems is:

1. Horse latitudes
2. Bermuda high pressure
3. ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone)
4. Tropic of Cancer

2. Jet Streams: A jet stream is located

1. in the warm air above the frontal surface
2. in the cold air above the frontal surface
3. in the cold air well ahead of the frontal surface
4. in the warm air well ahead of the frontal surface

3. Surface Analysis: The solid black lines found on a surface analysis are called ___________ and are separated every _________.

1. isobars, five degrees Celsius
2. isobars, four millibars
3. contours, five degrees celcius
4. contours, four millibars

4. Upper Air Analysis: The 250 millibar upper air chart represents an altitude of _____ and is where are analyzed.

1. 5000 feet, isotherms
2. 10,000 feet, isotherms
3. 18,000 feet, isotachs
4. 34,000 feet, jet streams

5. Significant Weather Charts: A prognostic weather chart depicting a jet stream having three filled in triangles for its maximum speed would indicate:

1. 30 knots
2. 150 knots
3. 100 knots changing to 120 knots
4. 300 knots

6. Satellites: A well developed low pressure system on a satellite picture (infra red or visual) would have the characteristic shape of:

1. A ‘comma’
2. A blister
3. The size of a ‘silver dollar’
4. Thin wispy cirrus like that of a ‘mackerel sky’.

7. Icing: Rime icing develops in ________supercooled water droplets and ______cloud.

1. Small, convective
2. Small, layered
3. Large, convective
4. Large, layered

8. Turbulence: The type of turbulence associated with strong gusty surface winds, which generally occurs 4,000 feet and below is:

1. Mechanical
2. Convective
3. Frontal
4. Orographic (Mountain Wave)

9. Thunderstorms: Three criteria that must be met for the formation of a cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) cloud:

1. Convection, stable air (shallow lapse rate), moisture
2. Convection, unstable air (steep lapse rate), dry air
3. Lifting agent, stable air (shallow lapse rate), moisture
4. Lifting agent, unstable air (steep lapse rate), moisture

10. Radar: The type of precipitation weather radar (ground based or aircraft) can detect with the highest accuracy:

1. Rain
2. Snow
3. Ice crystals
4. Wet snow

11. Fog: The type of fog that forms when warm moist air advects over a cool surface is:

1. Convection fog
2. Steam fog
3. Advection fog
4. Frontal (rain induced fog)

12. Flight Planning: The winds aloft forecasted for each waypoint on the flight plan are: (direction, units)

1. True, knots
2. True, miles per hour
3. Magnetic, knots
4. Magnetic, miles per hour

Answers:

1. c. ITCZ
2. a. in the warm air above the frontal surface
3. b. isobars, four millibars
4. d. 34,000 feet, jet streams
5. b. 150 knots
6. a. a ‘comma’ cloud
7. b. small, layered
8. a. mechanical
9. d. lifting agent, unstable air (steep lapse rate), moisture
10. a. rain
11. c. advection fog
12. a. True, knots