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Weather quiz of the week!
Here is the weather quiz of the week. I will discuss the answers later to this quiz.
Background: The North Atlantic Oscillation can be described as the difference in atmospheric pressure between a low pressure system in Iceland and a high pressure system in the Azores. This oscillation controls the movement and direction of the westerly winds and storm tracks across the North Atlantic due to east-west oscillation movements between the Iceland low pressure and Azores high pressure.
(Hint: warmer when jet stream is flat, colder when jet stream is more amplified )
(Hint 2: look at jet stream amplifications)
(Hint 3: Greenland high causes colder conditions and a sharper jet stream orientation)
1. Which phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation depicted in the figure below causes a jet stream orientation as such?
a. cold phase
b. negative index
c. warm phase
d. both a and c
e. none of the above
2. Which phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation depicted in the figure below causes a jet stream orientation as such?
a. warm phase
b. positive index
c. both a and b
d. cold phase
e. none of the above
Mintong Nan
April 2, 2010 at 1:29 pm
1. C
2. D
The answer to number 1 is C because during the warm phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation, there is a progressive pattern and no area of high pressure in Greenland to funnel in arctic air. This is not a favorable setup for a snowstorm.
The answer to number 2 is D because during the cold phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation, there is a slower pattern due to an area of high pressure over Greenland that is also responsible for pumping in cold arctic air into the United States. The area of high pressure causes storms to slow down and move over the area of high pressure. This setup favors coastal storm development in the winter time.
Mintong Nan
January 25, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Hint: none of the above is incorrect.