Weather Trivia

1. Wind has a lot to do with a coming storm. On a sunny day, which winds would be most likely to indicate a coming storm front (in the UK)?

From Quiz It Wasn't a Dark and Stormy Night

Answer: Easterly

Winds from the east have long been associated with coming storms. This is because of the rotation of low pressure systems in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Bible, Moses calls on the East Wind to bring a plague to Egypt, demonstrating that people had the ability to read weather from the environment long before modern instruments.

From Quiz Weird Weather

Answer: St. Elmo's Fire

St. Elmo's fire is ionized air that gives the impression of lightning (or fire), but is really just a discharge of electricity. It looks like something you'd see in a plasma lamp. Often occurring during thunderstorms, it is most prominently seen on ships out over open water. Early sailors like Magellan and Columbus seemed to know that it wasn't really lightning, because they never abandoned ship when they saw it. It was named after St. Elmo, the patron saint of Mediterranean sailors.

From Quiz Marine Weather

Answer: Beaufort

The Beaufort Scale originally had 13 categories ranging from "sufficient to give bare steerage" to "that which no sail can withstand". As sail gave way to steam, the scale categories changed to describe how the sea behaves - from "calm" to "huge waves".

From Quiz There's Something In the Air...

Answer: observation

Ancient people used their powers of observation to make weather predictions. Cloud formations, optical phenomena, and meteorological events were used by the Babylonians to help forecast short-term weather patterns and changes. Weather-measuring instruments such as hygrometers and barometers came later, in the 15th and 17th centuries respectively.

From Quiz Red Sky at Night

Answer: it indicates favorable weather coming

Most cloud systems move from west to east. At sunset, a red sky means the sun is likely shining through a lot of dust in the air to the east, scattering the shorter wavelengths (blues and greens). The dust in the air to the east indicates turbulent air is passing, so barometric pressure will rise and generally fair weather will come. A red sky at sunrise means the sunlight is reflecting on dust particles in the west, with stormy weather likely to approach the viewer.

From Quiz Smug About Smog

Answer: smoke and fog & smoke fog

The word 'smog' is believed to have originated with Dr Henry Des Voeux who published a paper in the early 20th century on the subject called 'Fog and Smoke'. Such words are called portmanteau words. Avionics (aviation and electronics) and pixel (picture and element) are two other examples. London smog was caused mainly by emissions from coal fires and factory chimneys mixing with the mists and fogs rising from the River Thames. The resulting smog was potentially lethal and caused many respiratory complaints in the population. It was not, however, until the 'Great Smog' of 1952, the biggest single environmental incident to have affected the capital, that public awareness of its dangers was raised, which led to changes in legislation.

From Quiz The Science of Snowflakes

Answer: Montana

During a freak snowstorm, Fort Keogh, Montana, was pelted with extremely large snowflakes. Most snowflakes are measured in millimeters or micrometers. They are all but invisible to the naked eye. But that day they were the size of pancakes!

From Quiz Fun Meteorology Facts

Answer: Freezing Rain

Freezing rain starts out as snow at higher altitudes and melts completely on its way down by passing through a layer of warm air. As it nears the ground, it enters a layer of air below freezing causing it to become supercooled. It immediately freezes when in contact with anything. It is a very dangerous form of precipitation.

From Quiz A Little Bit of Weather

Answer: Mammatus

Mammatus clouds are normally seen with thunderstorms, however, they are not necessarily indicative of severe weather. Mammatus is the result of sinking moist air moving downward into dry air. It basically an upside-down cloud.

From Quiz Upper-air Meteorology

Answer: The steering level

The 500 millibar level is far enough away from the surface to neglect the effect of friction on the flow. Most weather systems and precipitation tend to follow the winds at this level, hence the term 'steering level'.

From Quiz General Meteorology I

Answer: the study of the earth's atmosphere and weather phenomena

The word Meteorology comes from the Greek word "meteos" which literally means the "heavens". Over the centuries, however, the term has come to be identified with the study of weather and the atmosphere.

From Quiz Seasonal Weather in Wichita, Kansas

Answer: Canada

The northern interior of Canada provides the cool to cold continental air that overspreads most of the United States from fall to spring; only in the summer, when the jet stream is located far to the north, are these air masses prevented from traveling south. The Pacific Ocean typically moderates temperatures in the Plains during the winter, the Gulf of Mexico supplies warm and moist air throughout the year, and the Atlantic Ocean very rarely affects weather in the middle of the continent.

From Quiz Average Meteorology

Answer: Dense Forests

Grassy fields and dry sand are not far behind in absorption, but snow reflects nearly all sunlight.

From Quiz The Foggiest Ideas

Answer: A cloud in contact with the ground

When it comes to clouds, fog is the most down to earth of the bunch (I will not apologize!). It typically forms at ground level when the air near the surface cools enough for water vapor to condense into tiny droplets. That's the stuff of clouds, and that's the stuff of fog, just lower where it can irritate us and create fabulous atmosphere for horror movies. Unlike rain or snow, fog isn't precipitation. It doesn't "fall"; it just kind of hangs around, rising or settling based on the atmospheric conditions. Depending on the mood of the weather, it can be a light fog that makes you wax poetic or a thick carpet that makes you ponder the existence of your mailbox. Either way, it's simply a cloud with no real ambition.

From Quiz Difficult Meteorology

Answer: Cumulonimbus

Cumulus (Cu) clouds have mainly flat bottoms and distinct fluffy, 'cauliflower-like' tops. Cumulonimbus (Cb) clouds can have ragged bottoms (due to downdrafts) but their tops reach the top of the troposphere (some times the updrafts are so strong they tops punch through) and become glaciated and less distinct. A mature Cb cloud will then spread out along the tropopause giving a shape like an anvil. Cumulonimbus clouds are the only source on thunderstorms and if the wind shear is great enough can cause tornadoes. Towering Cu are similar to Cbs but are not glaciated and can cause heavy showers. Nimbostratus (Ns) clouds are rare and are associated with heavy rainfall. Stratocumulus (Sc) clouds are quite common and are a major source of drizzle precipitation.

From Quiz Synoptic Scale Meteorology

Answer: 1013

29.92 is inches of mercury, 14.7 is in lbs per sq. in. and 101.3 is in kilopascals. Remember the question asked for millibars.

From Quiz It Wasn't a Dark and Stormy Night

Answer: low & low pressure system & low pressure

Low pressure causes the air to move inwards, and then rise. Rising air causes moisture to condense, which eventually forms rain. This is why you will often see the weatherman talk about an incoming low pressure system bringing rain.

From Quiz My Mind Melted!

Answer: Heat Index

The heat index uses the day's temperature and adds in the humidity for that day. Using both numbers, the heat index calculates what the temperature actually feels like for that day. For instance, if the temperature is 100 degrees outside and humidity is at 70%, the temperature outside would actually feel like it was 144 degrees.

From Quiz Weird Weather

Answer: Sun dogs

Also known as parhelion, sun dogs can occur when the sun shines through cirrus clouds composed of ice crystals. The crystals refract sunlight, causing either a pair of bright lights on the sides of the sun or a whole halo around it. Sometimes you can see sun dogs and a halo at the same time. They most often occur in middle latitudes during winter time when the sun is low on the horizon.

From Quiz Marine Weather

Answer: Sea Smoke

Sea smoke is also known as steam fog. If the air is cold enough, sea smoke can cause hoarfrost on ships' structures.

From Quiz Red Sky at Night

Answer: rain coming

This is one of those tales that isn't always true. It may indicate a storm approaching because outflow winds from a storm center usually move in the opposite direction of winds in the updraft zone. If the clouds are on the lee side of a low pressure area, however, then it is likely the current weather will remain for several hours.

From Quiz Smug About Smog

Answer: The London Particular

The source of the phrase is uncertain but it is believed to have originated around 1807. Charles Dickens used the phrase in his novel 'Bleak House' (published in instalments between 1852-53). London's fogs and smogs quite literally gave an atmospheric backdrop to many novels of the Victorian era; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also used this to great effect in his Sherlock Holmes stories, and who can forget the eeriness given to the fog-bound London streets by Robert Louis Stevenson in his brilliant novel 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', published in 1886.

From Quiz The Science of Snowflakes

Answer: Wilson Bentley

Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley perfected the art of catching individual snowflakes on a piece of black velvet. He photographed over 5,000 snowflakes in his lifetime, most of which have been preserved. He was also the first scientist to measure snowflakes, raindrops, and hailstones. He was one of the world's first cloud physicists and wrote the entry for the 14Th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica under the heading of "snow".

From Quiz A Little Bit of Weather

Answer: Castellanus

Castellanus-type clouds can form in all three cloud layers, but are more commonly seen in the mid-layer as altocumulus castellanus.

From Quiz Upper-air Meteorology

Answer: Lifting condensation level

As air is lifted from the surface, it cools at a constant rate of 10 degrees Celsius per kilometer until it reaches its dew point (the point of saturation). Since the air has now reached saturated, condensation occurs, giving us the bottom of the first cloud.

From Quiz General Meteorology I

Answer: the troposphere

The troposphere is the lowest layer of the earth's atmosphere, going from the surface to approximately 35,000ft. This number can vary significantly depending on whether you are in the tropics or the higher latitudes.

From Quiz Seasonal Weather in Wichita, Kansas

Answer: The Pacific Ocean

Weather in the US usually travels west to east, so the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes rarely play a role in the weather around Wichita. The Gulf of Alaska will sometimes play an indirect role, but only during the winter storm season when an active storm track brings Pacific systems onto the west coast and over the Rockies. However, Pacific moisture will travel over Mexico and the desert southwest, sometimes associated with the remnants of Pacific hurricanes that strike the Mexican coast. This Pacific moisture adds to the fall season rain totals in the Central and Southern Great Plains.

From Quiz Average Meteorology

Answer: Downbursts (Microbursts)

Inside a thunderstorm, there are strong winds. These very intense downward winds are called downbursts-or the smaller version microbursts.

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Last Updated Nov 08 2025 5:44 AM

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