Q 01/05

Thunderstorms occur in which type of cloud?

A) Cirrus

B) Stratus

C) Cumulonimbus

D) Altocumulus

Answer · why

C) Cumulonimbus

Cumulonimbus clouds tower high enough for ice crystals and soft hail to collide inside them, and those countless collisions build up the electric char...

Q 02/05

What is the first phase of a thunderstorm's life cycle called?

A) The stratus stage

B) The anvil stage

C) The squall stage

D) The cumulus stage

Answer · why

D) The cumulus stage

The cumulus stage begins when heated ground, colliding winds or rising terrain push moist air upward; as its vapour condenses it gives off heat, which...

Q 03/05

What gives a mature thunderstorm cloud its characteristic anvil shape?

A) Strong surface winds

B) Air spreading out at the tropopause

C) Hailstones falling from the cloud top

D) The Earth's rotation

Answer · why

B) Air spreading out at the tropopause

Air spreading out at the tropopause flattens the cloud top: the stable, warmer layer above works like a lid the rising air cannot punch through, so it...

Q 04/05

What marks the mature stage of a thunderstorm?

A) Both an updraft and a downdraft at once

B) The first lightning strike

C) The updraft dying away completely

D) The cloud top freezing

Answer · why

A) Both an updraft and a downdraft at once

Both an updraft and a downdraft at once: falling rain drags air down beside the rising current, which is why this is the stage of hail, the heaviest r...

Q 05/05

Forecasters' slang for scattered summer-afternoon thunderstorms is named after which snack?

A) Cotton candy

B) Popcorn

C) Marshmallows

D) Cheese puffs

Answer · why

B) Popcorn

Popcorn convection: the storms burst up here and there in the afternoon heat, and each dies within about an hour as its own rain-cooled downdraft chok...