Weather/Climate

Large clouds that often produce thunderstorms are called ______.

• stratus clouds 
• 
  cumulonimbus clouds
  
  
• cirrus clouds
• nimbostratus clouds

Any form of water that falls from clouds is called ______.

• Dew
• Evaporation
• Condensation
• Precipitation

Cold, dry air affecting the northern United States in winter often comes from ______.

• maritime polar air masses
• maritime tropical air masses
• continental polar air masses
• continental tropical air masses

The prevailing westerlies, the major wind belts over the continental United States, generally push air masses from ______.

• east to west
• west to east
• north to south
• south to north

When a rapidly moving cold air mass overtakes a slow-moving warm air mass, the result is a(an) ______.

• cold front 
• occluded front 
• warm front
• stationary front

When a warm air mass and a cold air mass meet and neither can move the other, the result is a(an) ______.

• occluded front
• warm front
• stationary front
• cold front

A funnel-shaped cloud that touches Earth’s surface is called a ______.

• hurricane
• cyclone 
• tornado
• thunderhead

Hurricanes typically form over ______.

• cold ocean water
• tropical rain forests 
• warm ocean water
• very dry land masses

A storm is a(an) ______.

• “dome” of water that sweeps across the coast where a hurricane lands
• huge body of air that has similar temperature, humidity, and air pressure at any given height
• boundary where unlike air masses meet and do not easily mix
• violent disturbance in the atmosphere

Scientists who study weather and try to predict it are called ______.

• astronomers
• climatologists
• meteorologists
• weatherologists