Summer Severe Weather Quiz

1. The peak month for tornadoes in the U.S.A. is May, and in Britain it is October. What is the peak month for Canadian twisters?

1. July
2. June
3. August
4. October
5. April

2. To avoid being hit by a tropical storm, you should go to:

1. Hawaii
2. New Zealand
3. The equator
4. Vancouver Island
5. North Sea

3. Which of the following killer events took the most lives, 243?

1. Hurricane Andrew
2. Mississippi floods in 1994
3. East Coast blizzard in March 1993
4. Saguenay Flood
5. Eruption of Mt. Saint Helens

4. Anemomania is a disease in which victims become:

1. Concerned with the nutritional value of their food
2. Morbidly anxious about the direction of the wind
3. Lethargic from an excess of positive air ions
4. Depressed by long bouts of static weather
5. Worry over distant light flickering

5. Which of the following Canadian media personalities did not begin their career as a weather broadcaster?

1. CBC's Shelagh Rogers
2. Ron MacLean from "Hockey Night in Canada"
3. Mr. Dress Up (Ernie Coombs)
4. Retired CBC broadcaster Knowlton Nash
5. Judy Halliday of the Discovery Channel

6. In campaigns to lure immigrants to the Canadian West, the Canadian government forbade the use of this word in the official brochure and handouts in Europe:

1. Frontier
2. Communism
3. Cold
4. Mosquitoes
5. Flood
6. Cyclone

7. Potentially, the greatest hazard to scientists chasing severe weather storms is:

1. Large hail
2. Damaging winds
3. Tornado hidden behind rain
4. Highway traffic
5. Fallen trees and power lines

8. What kills the most people in North America every year?

1. Earthquakes
2. Avalanches
3. Hang-gliding
4. Hurricanes
5. Bee stings

9. The most intense rainstorm ever in Canada occurred at Buffalo Gap, Saskatchewan on May 30, 1961. In less than one hour, how much rain fell?

1. 100 mm
2. 175 mm
3. 210 mm
4. 250 mm

10. An American pilot who bailed out of his plane at 14,400 m was caught in strong thermal upcurrents in a thunder cloud. How long did it take him to reach the ground?

1. 11 minutes
2. 25 minutes
3. 40 minutes

11. From what vocation are most volunteer weather observers recruited?

1. Public servants
2. Teachers
3. Homemakers
4. Farmers

12. The largest hailstone ever documented in Canada fell at Cedoux, Saskatchewan in August 1973. It weighed:

1. 175 g
2. 250 g
3. 290 g

13. Hurricane-force winds swept across southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, causing heavy soil erosion and damaging buildings and power lines. Newly seeded crops were ruined and everything was covered by a layer of fine dust. The sky was obscured for hours. The year was:

1. 1896
2. 1937
3. 1985

14. What weather phenomenon kills more people in the developed world than any other natural phenomenon?

1. Lightning
2. Drought
3. Hurricanes
4. Tornadoes
5. Floods

15. The wind speed produced by the average sneeze is:

1. 5 km/h - light air
2. 16 km/h - gentle breeze
3. 63 km/h - gale force
4. 120 km/h - hurricane force
5. 200 km/h - tornado force

16. How many tornadoes on average are reported over Saskatchewan in a year?

1. 5
2. 16
3. 22

17. At what time of the day is severe weather most likely to occur?

1. Early afternoon
2. Late afternoon and early evening
3. Late in the morning
4. After sunset