Exam 6: Air Pressure and Winds

The Coriolis effect influences the wind by:

A southwest wind blows toward the northeast.

What is the fundamental cause of horizontal pressure differences in the atmosphere?

Gradient winds follow a curved path.

During times of warmer temperature (summer), the atmospheric pressure is usually less.

The most fundamental reason for all atmospheric motions is the non- uniform heating of the earth by the Sun.

Name the three driving forces that create and influence the air's motion, and write a brief description of how each creates and/or alters wind.

What is a wind rose?

-Refer to the map above. The labeled lines on the map are called and they represent lines of equal .

The term pressure gradient refers to:

The most important force causing the wind is due to the earth's rotation.

Meteorologists convert all atmospheric pressure data to the equivalent sea- level air pressure in order to:

Who invented the mercury barometer?

Why are clouds and precipitation associated with surface low pressure systems?

Divergence in the atmosphere is best defined as:

Explain how wind direction is described, giving at least two possible ways that wind direction might be represented.

A plane takes off from City A headed for City B, located directly to the north. The pilot flies directly north following a straight line, but arrives at a city some distance to the west of City B. What can be said of the airplane?

Cyclones are characterized by converging surface winds and rising air.

Which of the following would involve the greatest change in atmospheric pressure?

Low air pressure zones are associated with cloudy skies and stormy weather.