GG101 Matching Exercises: Thunderstorms, Tornadoes

For each term in the first column, type a letter of the description in the second column that matches. When you're done click "Check Answers" to check your answers.

1. fair-weather electric field
2. sheet lightning
3. sprite
4. St. Elmo's fire
5. mesoscale
6. cumulus stage
7. thunder
8. air mass thunderstorm
9. return stroke
10. stepped leader
11. microburst
12. gust front
13. funnel cloud
14. tornado warning
15. waterspout
16. Tornado Alley
17. a large cluster of thunderstorms
  1. tall objects glow, hiss, and emit sparks
  2. most common and least destructive type of thunderstorm
  3. flow of electrons when a leader meets a spark from the surface
  4. a downburst with a diamter less than 4 km
  5. where wedge of cold downdrafts meet warm air
  6. a tornado-like vortex that is not touching the ground
  7. region from the southern Great Plains to the lower Great Lakes
  8. cloud-to-cloud lightning causing the sky to light uniformly
  9. posted when a tornado has been spotted
  10. a tornado-like vortex over water
  11. mesoscale convective complex (MCC)
  12. large, short-lived burst of light from tops of thunderstorms
  13. rapid, staggered advance of negatively charged air
  14. voltage difference between Earth's surface and ionosphere
  15. sound produced by lightning heating and expanding air
  16. the first stage of a thunderstorm
  17. atmospheric features that are 10-1000 km in size

 
Matching exercises are modified from Aguado's Understanding Weather and Climate.