A Genuine British Summer Trivia Quiz

Answer: All of these

All of these factors are required to produce fog or mist.
When air is saturated with water (almost 100% humidity)and then cooled to the dew point (the temperature at which water vapour will condense to form water droplets) in the presence of condensation nuclei (small particles around which the water can coalesce), fog will occur.

The foggiest place in the world is considered to be the Grand Banks off of the coast of Newfoundland in Canada. This is where the warm waters of the Gulf Stream meet the cold waters of the Labrador Current creating the perfect conditions for fog to form.

Answer: Fog reduces visibility to less than 1 km

By definition, fog reduces visibility to under 1km whereas mist is defined as reducing visibility to between 1km and 2km.

Answer: Altocumulus

Altocumulus is a fairly high level cloud rising from about 6,500 feet to 20,000 feet (1,200 to 6,100 meters) above sea level. It is a thin cloud, which shows as lines in the sky. The lines appear to resemble the patterning on the back of a mackerel, hence the expression 'mackerel sky'.
Stratocumulus, a thicker cloud than altocumulus, has the appearance of large, dark, rounded masses. Stratocumulus are usually located below 8,000 ft(2,400m).
Pyrocumulus is created by extremely high temperatures from the Earth's surface and is usually caused by the heat from volcanoes or forest fires. The most identifiable Pyrocumulus cloud is the famous 'mushroom' cloud associated with nuclear explosions.
Cumulus Congestus is a cloud type that I have made up.

Answer: Cumulonimbus

Cumulonimbus clouds can reach over 39000 feet (12000 meters). The high winds at this height flatten the tops of the clouds forming the classic 'anvil' shape associated with thunderstorms.

Answer: True

Start counting the seconds from when you see the flash of lightning until you hear the thunder. Then divide the result by 5 to calculate miles (or by dividing by 3 to calculate kilometres). This will allow you to calculate how far away the lightning is.
Because of the speed of light you will see a lightning strike one mile away almost immediately whilst it will take the sound wave of the thunder approximately 5 seconds to travel that distance.
It is uncommon for thunder to be heard when the storm is at more than 12 miles distance (20km)

Answer: Crouched down with your head as low as possible without it touching the ground

Keeping your body as low as possible reduces the chance of being struck by lightning. Lying flat on the ground further reduces the chance, but if lightning strikes the ground nearby, the electricity can pass through your body causing severe damage to your internal organs.

Standing upright with your hands above your head is just plain silly and increases the chance of being struck.

Sheltering under a tree is dangerous should the tree be struck.

If possible get into a building or a car. Do not use electrical equipment and do NOT take a bath. In the event of lightning striking the house, the metal plumbing can earth/ground the electricity, possibly through your nice warm bath.

Answer: Supercell

The four classifications of thunderstorms are Single cell, Multicell, Squall line and Supercell. The supercell is classified as the most dangerous due to the extreme weather that is associated with it. A supercell is defined as a thunderstorm with a deep rotating updraft - a mesocyclone.

Answer: UK

Surprisingly, England appears to have the most reported tornadoes per square mile. Although the US has many more, and stronger, tornadoes, the greater area reduces the chance of your seeing one. Tornadoes in the UK are usually classified as F0-F1, using the Fujita scale with an occasion F2-F3 (Birmingham, July 2005 and London, December 2006).

Answer: 6

The 'Fujita (or Fujita-Pearson) Scale' for measuring the strength of a tornado was introduced in 1971 by Ted Fujita of the University of Chicago. The original scale was based on the Beaufort Scale, which was used to measure wind speed, with the Fujita Scale taking into account damage levels.

The 'Fujita-Pearson' Scale ranged from F0 ('A tornado with estimated wind speeds of between 40 - 72 mph that will cause little or no damage') to F6 ('An "Inconceivable Tornado" with wind speeds of between 319 to 379 mph'. It is believed that an F6 tornado will probably never be identified since the damage caused by an F5 tornado would be enough to obscure any further damage caused by an F6 tornado. An F5 tornado will completely destroy an American 'frame house' and carry cars and other vehicles for a hundred yards or more. In 2007, the Fujita Scale was replaced by the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale which 'standardised' reports of damage based on differences in housing construction, etc.

Answer: Hail

Hailstones can range in size from under 0.4in (1cm) to 4in (10cm) or more. They are created when ice pellets, which form in storm clouds, are caught by a powerful up-draft and receive another coating of ice before they fall again. This process may be repeated many times which causes the ice ball (hailstone) to grow larger, until the weight of the hailstone is greater than the updraft can carry. At this point, the hail falls to Earth.