Earth Science Practice Test: Weather and Air Masses
- Weather and Air Masses
- 10 questions
- 15 minutes
This test covers what air masses are, what happens when they meet, and how pressure and humidity shape the weather. Tip: an air mass takes the traits of where it forms: over water it is humid, over land it is dry.
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Question 1
An air mass that forms over the Gulf of Mexico in summer is most likely to be:
Correct answer: D
Air that sits over warm ocean water becomes warm and picks up moisture. This maritime tropical (mT) air brings humid, often stormy weather to the southeastern United States.
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Question 2
A continental polar (cP) air mass forms over which region?
Correct answer: B
Continental means formed over land and polar means at high latitudes, so cP air forms over northern Canada and is cold and dry. Air from the Southwest deserts is continental tropical.
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Question 3
A cold air mass moves into an area of warm, humid air and forces the warm air to rise quickly. What weather is most likely along this front?
Correct answer: A
At a cold front, dense cold air wedges under warm air and pushes it up steeply, building tall cumulonimbus clouds. After it passes, the air is usually cooler and drier.
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Question 4
Thin, high clouds appear, then lower layered clouds. Light, steady rain falls for many hours. Which kind of front is most likely approaching?
Correct answer: C
At a warm front, warm air slides gently up over cold air along a long slope, so clouds thicken slowly and bring widespread, steady precipitation. Cold fronts bring short, intense storms.
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Question 5
A barometer reading has been falling steadily all afternoon. What weather change is most likely?
Correct answer: C
Falling pressure usually means a low-pressure system is approaching. Air rises in a low, cools and forms clouds, so rain or snow becomes more likely. Rising pressure tends to bring clear weather.
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Question 6
In the Northern Hemisphere, how do surface winds move around a low-pressure center?
Correct answer: A
Air flows toward low pressure, and the Coriolis effect turns it to the right in the Northern Hemisphere, which makes it spiral counterclockwise into the low. High-pressure centers spin clockwise and outward.
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Question 7
Wind at Earth's surface blows from:
Correct answer: D
Air moves from where pressure is higher to where it is lower, and the bigger the pressure difference, the stronger the wind.
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Question 8
A sample of air contains 10 g of water vapor per kilogram. At its temperature, it could hold 20 g per kilogram. What is its relative humidity?
Correct answer: B
Relative humidity = actual vapor ÷ maximum vapor × 100% = 10 ÷ 20 × 100% = 50%. Dividing the other way gives 200%, which is impossible for unsaturated air.
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Question 9
On a sunny summer afternoon at the beach, a cool breeze blows from the ocean toward the land. Why does this breeze form?
Correct answer: A
Land has a lower specific heat than water, so it warms quickly in sunlight. Warm air over the land rises, lowering the pressure, and cooler, denser air from the sea flows in. At night the pattern reverses.
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Question 10
In which layer of the atmosphere does nearly all weather happen?
Correct answer: B
The troposphere is the lowest layer and holds almost all the water vapor, so clouds, rain and storms form there. The stratosphere above it contains the ozone layer and is much drier.
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