WX 301 MIDTERM PREPARATION SHEET
2026 DETAILED SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◉ to get a thunderstorm, we need each of the following three
conditions. Answer: Unstable air, a lifting mechanism, and low, level
moisture
◉ over tropical oceans, most TS occur. Answer: just before dawn
◉ An air mass TS has mostly updrafts and surface flow toward the
storm at the __________ stage. Answer: cumulus
◉ TS are most common over Iowa. Answer: around sunset
◉ In the US, most thunderstorms occur in____over____. Answer:
Summer, florida
◉ An air mass TS typically lasts. Answer: 30-60 minuntes
◉ Near a dissipating air mass TS with precipitation, the horizontal
surface air flow near the TS is tipically. Answer: away from the TS
◉ Cumulonimbus literally means. Answer: heaped rain producing
clouds
,◉ when flying at night, the best way to be alerted that severe TS are
within 50 miles of me is. Answer: frequent lightning
◉ The outer edge of the expanding cold air below a thunderstorm is
called. Answer: the outflow boundry
◉ TS over the desert southwest are most common during. Answer:
mid-afternoon
◉ At the outer edge of the expanding cold air (near a TS) we find
the. Answer: gust front
◉ For a multi-cell TS with low level flow from the south, new cells
typically form. Answer: south of the mature cell
◉ Severe super cell TS comprise about _____% of all TS. Answer: 1%
◉ Severe supercell convection is most common. Answer: over the
great plains during late afternoon and evening in April-June
◉ A shelf cloud is. Answer: a shelf-like cloud that forms above a gust
front in the updraft south of a multi-cell TS
,◉ Compared with air mass TS, multi and supercell TS. Answer: have
more vertical shear
◉ what does the supercell have that a multicell storm lacks?.
Answer: rotation
◉ For a sever supercell TS to form over the great plains, one would
expect the 5,000 AGL wind to be. Answer: 190/45
◉ Severe convection is most likely when the atmosphere is warm
and ____near the surface and cold and _____dry aloft, with
____vertical wind shear. Answer: moist, dry, strong
◉ Supercell thunderstorms are most conmon. Answer: in the warm
sector, east of the cold front
◉ A supercell storm is embedded in an average tropospheric flow
from 230 the storm will move to the. Answer: East
◉ The low-level jet commonly occurs at a level of around______ AGL
and is strongest in the ______. Answer: 5,000ft, evening
◉ A wall cloud is. Answer: a rotating cloud hanging below the main
base of a supercell
, ◉ In the wind profile of a supercell TS. Answer: The DDD gets bigger
and the velocity increases
◉ In a downdraft, cold air descends, hits the ground and spreads out
horizontally. The leading edge of the expanding cold air is called
the_________. Answer: out flow boundry
◉ The flanking line is a line of towering cumulus clouds on the
______ side of a _______ thunderstorm. Answer: south, supercell
◉ A squall line commonly forms. Answer: along the dry line east of
the cold front or along the cold front
◉ West of the strongest squall-line precipitation, I would most likely
find. Answer: lighter precipitation in a trailing stratiform region
◉ Severe squall-line weather is most commonly found along
the____edges of a cold frontal band. Answer: eastern and southern
◉ A Doppler radar measures. Answer: precipitation intensity and air
speed to/from the radar
◉ Mesoscale convective complexes form in _____ beneath______.
Answer: July-September, and upper level ridge
2026 DETAILED SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◉ to get a thunderstorm, we need each of the following three
conditions. Answer: Unstable air, a lifting mechanism, and low, level
moisture
◉ over tropical oceans, most TS occur. Answer: just before dawn
◉ An air mass TS has mostly updrafts and surface flow toward the
storm at the __________ stage. Answer: cumulus
◉ TS are most common over Iowa. Answer: around sunset
◉ In the US, most thunderstorms occur in____over____. Answer:
Summer, florida
◉ An air mass TS typically lasts. Answer: 30-60 minuntes
◉ Near a dissipating air mass TS with precipitation, the horizontal
surface air flow near the TS is tipically. Answer: away from the TS
◉ Cumulonimbus literally means. Answer: heaped rain producing
clouds
,◉ when flying at night, the best way to be alerted that severe TS are
within 50 miles of me is. Answer: frequent lightning
◉ The outer edge of the expanding cold air below a thunderstorm is
called. Answer: the outflow boundry
◉ TS over the desert southwest are most common during. Answer:
mid-afternoon
◉ At the outer edge of the expanding cold air (near a TS) we find
the. Answer: gust front
◉ For a multi-cell TS with low level flow from the south, new cells
typically form. Answer: south of the mature cell
◉ Severe super cell TS comprise about _____% of all TS. Answer: 1%
◉ Severe supercell convection is most common. Answer: over the
great plains during late afternoon and evening in April-June
◉ A shelf cloud is. Answer: a shelf-like cloud that forms above a gust
front in the updraft south of a multi-cell TS
,◉ Compared with air mass TS, multi and supercell TS. Answer: have
more vertical shear
◉ what does the supercell have that a multicell storm lacks?.
Answer: rotation
◉ For a sever supercell TS to form over the great plains, one would
expect the 5,000 AGL wind to be. Answer: 190/45
◉ Severe convection is most likely when the atmosphere is warm
and ____near the surface and cold and _____dry aloft, with
____vertical wind shear. Answer: moist, dry, strong
◉ Supercell thunderstorms are most conmon. Answer: in the warm
sector, east of the cold front
◉ A supercell storm is embedded in an average tropospheric flow
from 230 the storm will move to the. Answer: East
◉ The low-level jet commonly occurs at a level of around______ AGL
and is strongest in the ______. Answer: 5,000ft, evening
◉ A wall cloud is. Answer: a rotating cloud hanging below the main
base of a supercell
, ◉ In the wind profile of a supercell TS. Answer: The DDD gets bigger
and the velocity increases
◉ In a downdraft, cold air descends, hits the ground and spreads out
horizontally. The leading edge of the expanding cold air is called
the_________. Answer: out flow boundry
◉ The flanking line is a line of towering cumulus clouds on the
______ side of a _______ thunderstorm. Answer: south, supercell
◉ A squall line commonly forms. Answer: along the dry line east of
the cold front or along the cold front
◉ West of the strongest squall-line precipitation, I would most likely
find. Answer: lighter precipitation in a trailing stratiform region
◉ Severe squall-line weather is most commonly found along
the____edges of a cold frontal band. Answer: eastern and southern
◉ A Doppler radar measures. Answer: precipitation intensity and air
speed to/from the radar
◉ Mesoscale convective complexes form in _____ beneath______.
Answer: July-September, and upper level ridge
