Scales in Meteorology Trivia Quiz

Answer: planetary scale

There are no absolute cut-off numbers for each scale, but planetary scale phenomena are those which exceed a few thousand miles in size.
An example could be the zonally averaged trough and ridge pattern in the polar jetstream.

Answer: mesoscale and/or microscale

By their nature convective thunderstorms can form quickly and dissipate quickly. They also generally affect only a relatively small area, thus they can be described as mesoscale sometimes (their area could be several miles) or microscale (their area could be a mile or less).

Answer: microscale

Since tornadoes cover small areas (usually less than a mile or so)they are considered microscale phenomena. Since they typically form very quickly and may last only a few minutes it is very difficult to know exactly when and where they will form. Remember, the Fujita Scale is just a way to gauge/categorize their strength based on how much damage they can do.

Answer: simply the vertical height times the gravitational constant, g

Meteorologists frequently use geopotential height instead of just height because it takes into account the weight of the air (i.e., the acceleration due to gravity,g). This is essential when using the basic or primitive equations of motion to describe atmospheric motions.

Answer: 1013

There are numerous units used to express air pressure such as millibars, hectopascals, kilopascals, inches/millimeters of mercury, pounds per square inch, even torr. The most common units used by the meteorological community are millibars and hectopascals.

Answer: the direction they come/blow from

Remember, when a meteorologist is talking about a strong north wind, that wind is blowing from the north to the south.

Answer: a few days to a week

Much of the weather phenomena you hear about on the daily newscast such as systems of high and low pressure, fronts, etc. occur on the synoptic scale.

Answer: GMT, UT, or Zulu time

It is standard practice to report meteorological information using GMT/UT (Greenwich Mean Time/Universal Time). This makes it much less confusing when trying to use data from different parts of the globe.

Answer: 00Z and 12Z

This convention was agreed upon several years ago by the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) in order to produce more timely and accurate forecasts and to improve the quality and consistency of data used for research activities.

Answer: a radiosonde

You may be thinking the correct answer is a weather balloon, but remember that the actual instrument(s) that measure and then transmit
the atmospheric data is a radiosonde (which is attached to a balloon). Most countries launch at least two radiosondes per day (at 00Z and 12Z) from numerous stations.