Q 01/05

Which philosopher wrote the oldest comprehensive treatise on meteorology, around 340 BC?

A) Plato

B) Ptolemy

C) Thales

D) Aristotle

Answer · why

D) Aristotle

His Meteorologica runs to four books, three on weather and one on what we would now call chemistry; the word 'meteorology' descends from its title.

Q 02/05

Who proposed the cloud-naming system of cumulus, stratus and cirrus in 1802?

A) Francis Beaufort

B) Luke Howard

C) John Dalton

D) Robert FitzRoy

Answer · why

B) Luke Howard

He was a Quaker chemist by trade and told Goethe that his real passion was meteorology; the Latin names and Linnaean logic helped the system stick.

Q 03/05

The Beaufort wind scale was devised in 1805 by a hydrographer serving which country's fleet?

A) Britain

B) The United States

C) France

D) The Netherlands

Answer · why

A) Britain

Francis Beaufort's original 13 classes described the effect on a frigate's sails, from 'just sufficient to give steerage' to 'that which no canvas sai...

Q 04/05

A Saffir-Simpson Category 5 hurricane has sustained winds of at least what speed?

A) 111 mph

B) 130 mph

C) 157 mph

D) 145 mph

Answer · why

C) 157 mph

The scale was developed in 1971 by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson; proposals for a Category 6 have never been adopted.

Q 05/05

The Enhanced Fujita scale rates tornadoes on how many intensity categories?

A) Six (0 to 5)

B) Five (1 to 5)

C) Seven (0 to 6)

D) Ten (1 to 10)

Answer · why

A) Six (0 to 5)

It is a damage scale, so wind speeds are estimates; besides the US it is used in Brazil and France.