Categories
How to use these questions
Every question shows a difficulty tag — Easy, Medium, or Hard. Click any question to reveal the answer, use the "reveal all" button for a quick scan, or print the page for a paper-friendly copy. Everything on this page is free; no login needed.
Tornadoes (30 questions)
1. What scale is used to rate tornado intensity in the United States?Easy
The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale.
2. What US state is often called the tornado capital of the world?Easy
Oklahoma.
3. What common household item is FEMA's most-recommended tornado safe spot in a home without a basement?Easy
An interior bathroom, closet or hallway on the lowest floor.
4. What's the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning?Easy
A watch means conditions are favorable; a warning means one has been sighted or indicated by radar.
5. On the EF Scale, what is the highest possible rating?Easy
EF5.
6. What is a tornado over water called?Easy
A waterspout.
7. What large-scale rotating updraft in a supercell produces most strong tornadoes?Medium
A mesocyclone.
8. What year was the deadliest tornado in US history — the Tri-State Tornado?Medium
1925.
9. What Texas town was struck by an F5 that killed 27 people on May 27, 1997?Medium
Jarrell.
10. Roughly how many tornadoes touch down in the United States each year?Medium
About 1,200.
11. What Oklahoma city has been hit by two F5/EF5 tornadoes in a 14-year span?Medium
Moore.
12. What is the widest tornado ever recorded, at 2.6 miles across?Hard
The El Reno, Oklahoma tornado of May 31, 2013.
13. What Kansas town was rebuilt as one of the greenest cities in America after an EF5 destroyed 95 percent of it in 2007?Hard
Greensburg.
14. What is the only F5/EF5 tornado ever confirmed outside the United States?Hard
The Elie, Manitoba tornado of June 22, 2007.
15. What was the peak wind speed measured by Doppler radar in the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado?Hard
301 mph — the highest wind speed ever recorded on Earth.
16. What percentage of tornadoes worldwide occur in the United States?Hard
About 75 percent.
17. What large-scale weather pattern produces most spring tornadoes in the US Plains?Hard
A dryline colliding with warm moist Gulf air ahead of a mid-latitude cyclone.
18. The 2011 Super Outbreak spawned how many confirmed tornadoes in three days?Medium
360.
19. What shape is the most iconic tornado silhouette in movies and photos?Easy
The classic cone.
20. What tiny tornado spinning off from a parent tornado is called a what?Hard
A satellite tornado.
21. Tornadoes rotate in what direction in the Northern Hemisphere, usually?Medium
Counterclockwise (cyclonic).
22. What is a very wide tornado sometimes called by chasers?Medium
A wedge.
23. What is the late-stage, thin, snakelike form of a dying tornado called?Medium
A rope tornado.
24. What was the deadliest tornado in the world, a 1989 storm in Bangladesh?Hard
The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado, which killed about 1,300 people.
25. What US region has been nicknamed 'Dixie Alley'?Medium
The Deep South — parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana.
26. What signature on a Doppler radar hook echo indicates lofted debris?Hard
The tornado debris signature (TDS), or 'debris ball'.
27. What was the longest continuous tornado track ever recorded?Hard
The Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925 — about 219 miles.
28. What Alabama–Mississippi EF5 in 2011 was on the ground for 132 miles?Hard
The Hackleburg–Phil Campbell tornado.
29. Fast forward speeds inside tornadoes come from what fast-rotating features?Hard
Suction vortices (or sub-vortices).
30. What was the strongest tornado ever measured by mobile Doppler radar in the field?Hard
The 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado at 301 mph.
Hurricanes (30 questions)
31. What scale is used to rate hurricane wind intensity?Easy
The Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
32. What is the minimum sustained wind speed for a Category 5 hurricane?Medium
157 mph (252 km/h).
33. What is the calm center of a hurricane called?Easy
The eye.
34. What is the ring of thunderstorms surrounding the eye called?Easy
The eyewall.
35. What is the deadliest hurricane in US history, which struck in 1900?Medium
The Galveston hurricane.
36. What hurricane devastated New Orleans in August 2005?Easy
Katrina.
37. What Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from what date to what date?Easy
June 1 through November 30.
38. Who names Atlantic hurricanes?Medium
The World Meteorological Organization.
39. What is a tropical cyclone called in the northwestern Pacific?Easy
A typhoon.
40. What was the strongest Atlantic hurricane by wind speed on record?Hard
Hurricane Allen (1980), with 190 mph sustained winds.
41. What hurricane made landfall in the Florida Panhandle in October 2018 as a Category 5?Medium
Michael.
42. What Category 5 hurricane devastated Andros Island and the Bahamas in September 2019?Medium
Dorian.
43. What Category 5 hurricane hit Puerto Rico in September 2017?Medium
Maria.
44. What is the term for the sudden rise in sea level caused by a hurricane?Easy
Storm surge.
45. What is the term for the ratio between a hurricane's forward motion and its wind circulation?Hard
The steering flow ratio (or advective speed).
46. What ocean temperature is generally needed for tropical cyclone formation?Medium
About 26.5°C (80°F) or higher.
47. What is 'rapid intensification' in hurricane terminology?Medium
An increase in maximum sustained winds of at least 35 mph in 24 hours.
48. What plane hunts hurricanes for NOAA?Medium
The Lockheed WP-3D Orion (a 'Hurricane Hunter').
49. Hurricane Camille (1969) reached what category at landfall?Medium
Category 5.
50. What was the costliest hurricane in US history?Medium
Hurricane Katrina, at over $190 billion in 2020 dollars.
51. What tropical cyclone is called in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean?Easy
A cyclone.
52. What is the term for the outer bands of a hurricane?Medium
Rainbands (or spiral bands).
53. What was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike Florida?Hard
The 1935 Labor Day hurricane.
54. What Coriolis-related latitude do tropical cyclones almost never form within?Hard
Within about 5 degrees of the equator.
55. What is retirement in hurricane naming?Medium
A name is retired if the storm was particularly deadly or costly, so it's never reused.
56. What is the term for a hurricane in the eastern Pacific?Easy
A hurricane (same name).
57. What was Hurricane Andrew's peak category?Medium
Category 5.
58. What is the eye of a hurricane like inside — clear or stormy?Easy
Mostly clear and calm, sometimes with blue sky visible.
59. What is the lowest sea-level pressure ever measured in an Atlantic hurricane?Hard
882 millibars, in Hurricane Wilma (2005).
60. What year did the Atlantic hurricane season name list first run out?Hard
2005 (which used all 21 names plus 6 Greek letters).
Lightning & Thunderstorms (25 questions)
61. Roughly how hot is a lightning bolt?Medium
About 30,000 kelvin (50,000°F) — five times hotter than the Sun's surface.
62. What causes the sound of thunder?Easy
The rapid expansion of air heated by the lightning channel.
63. If you count the seconds between a lightning flash and thunder, dividing by what number gives you the miles to the strike?Easy
Five.
64. What US state has the most lightning per square mile?Easy
Florida.
65. What's the name for a lightning bolt that travels from cloud to cloud?Medium
Intracloud (IC) or cloud-to-cloud (CC) lightning.
66. What is a positive lightning strike?Medium
A strike where positive charge flows from the top of the cloud to the ground; often stronger and more dangerous than negative strikes.
67. What is 'ball lightning'?Hard
A rare, unexplained luminous sphere that appears during thunderstorms.
68. Roughly how many times per second does lightning strike somewhere on Earth?Medium
About 40–50 times.
69. What US state has the most lightning fatalities historically?Medium
Florida.
70. What is the '30/30 rule' for lightning safety?Medium
If the delay between flash and thunder is 30 seconds or less, seek shelter; wait 30 minutes after the last thunder before going back outside.
71. What is a 'sprite' in atmospheric science?Hard
A brief red flash high above thunderclouds, in the mesosphere.
72. What atmospheric phenomenon are 'elves' and 'jets'?Hard
Upper-atmosphere electrical discharges associated with thunderstorms.
73. What percentage of lightning strike victims survive?Hard
About 90 percent.
74. What is a supercell?Medium
A thunderstorm with a persistent rotating updraft (a mesocyclone).
75. What kind of thunderstorm produces most tornadoes?Easy
A supercell.
76. What is a squall line?Medium
A long line of severe thunderstorms.
77. What is a derecho?Medium
A widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm associated with a fast-moving band of thunderstorms.
78. What tool made Benjamin Franklin famous in weather?Easy
The lightning rod.
79. How far can lightning travel from its parent storm?Medium
Up to 10–15 miles.
80. What weather feature is a downburst?Medium
A powerful column of sinking air in a thunderstorm that spreads out on hitting the ground.
81. What is a microburst?Medium
A small, intense downburst under 2.5 miles across, capable of wind speeds over 100 mph.
82. What planet in our solar system has 'super lightning' 3,000× stronger than Earth's?Hard
Jupiter.
83. What is St. Elmo's fire?Hard
A blue glow from ionized air around a pointed object, often seen on ships' masts before a storm.
84. What is the name for the loud crackling boom close to a lightning strike?Easy
A thunderclap.
85. What was the longest single lightning bolt ever recorded?Hard
About 477 miles long, over the US Great Plains in 2020.
Snow & Ice (20 questions)
86. What is a blizzard's official definition require?Medium
Winds of at least 35 mph and visibility under a quarter mile for at least three hours.
87. What's the name for the illusion where snow appears blue in shadows?Hard
Rayleigh scattering (or shadow snow blue).
88. What is graupel?Medium
Soft small pellets of snow with a rime coating.
89. What US city holds the record for most snowfall in a single winter?Hard
Blue Canyon, California — but Mount Baker Ski Area, Washington had 1,140 inches in 1998–99.
90. What creates the beautiful hexagonal shape of a snowflake?Medium
The hexagonal crystal structure of ice.
91. What's the term for freezing rain that coats surfaces in ice?Easy
An ice storm (or glaze ice).
92. What Ontario location gets 'lake-effect snow' most heavily?Medium
The snowbelt east of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.
93. What's the record for lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth?Medium
-128.6°F (-89.2°C) at Vostok Station, Antarctica, in 1983.
94. What is a 'thundersnow'?Medium
A thunderstorm that produces snow instead of rain.
95. How much snow, on average, equals one inch of rain?Easy
About 10 inches.
96. What is 'firn'?Hard
Partially compacted granular snow that has survived one summer's melt.
97. What Great Lakes phenomenon produces heavy narrow snowbands downwind of open water?Easy
Lake-effect snow.
98. What is a 'nor'easter'?Medium
A macro-scale cyclone in the western North Atlantic with strong northeasterly winds.
99. What's the coldest temperature ever officially recorded in the continental United States?Hard
-70°F (-56.7°C) at Rogers Pass, Montana, in 1954.
100. What word describes snow that falls dry and powdery, ideal for skiing?Easy
Powder (or 'champagne powder').
101. What's the record snowfall in 24 hours in the US?Hard
75.8 inches at Silver Lake, Colorado, in April 1921.
102. What Alaskan city is the snowiest large city in America?Medium
Valdez.
103. What atmospheric layer must a snowflake pass through to melt into freezing rain?Medium
A warm layer above a shallow freezing layer near the ground.
104. What is 'freezing fog'?Medium
Fog whose droplets freeze on contact with surfaces, coating them in rime.
105. What's the term for a snow avalanche caused by loose surface snow?Hard
A sluff avalanche (or loose snow avalanche).
Weather Records (25 questions)
106. What's the highest air temperature ever officially recorded on Earth?Medium
134°F (56.7°C) at Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913.
107. What's the highest wind gust ever recorded on Earth's surface (non-tornado)?Hard
253 mph (408 km/h) during Cyclone Olivia at Barrow Island, Australia, in 1996.
108. What's the largest hailstone ever officially measured in the US?Medium
8 inches in diameter, in Vivian, South Dakota, on July 23, 2010.
109. What's the wettest place on Earth?Medium
Mawsynram, India — about 467 inches of rain per year on average.
110. What's the driest place on Earth?Easy
The Atacama Desert in Chile.
111. What's the highest rainfall in 24 hours ever recorded?Hard
71.85 inches at Foc-Foc, Réunion Island, in 1966 (Cyclone Denise).
112. What is the highest cloud-top temperature ever recorded?Hard
About -166°F (-110°C), in an extreme thunderstorm anvil.
113. What is the sunniest US city on average?Medium
Yuma, Arizona.
114. What's the fastest a tornado has ever been measured moving forward?Hard
About 73 mph (Tri-State 1925 averaged 62 mph).
115. Where is the world's snowiest inhabited city?Hard
Aomori, Japan.
116. What was the coldest wind chill ever recorded?Hard
-105°F (-76°C) at Prospect Creek, Alaska, in 1971.
117. Where is Earth's driest inhabited place?Hard
Aswan, Egypt.
118. What place has recorded the most consecutive days above 100°F?Hard
Marble Bar, Australia — 160 days in 1923–24.
119. What is the longest heatwave officially recorded in the UK?Medium
The 1976 heatwave lasted about 16 days.
120. What's the biggest single-storm snowfall on record?Hard
189 inches at Mount Shasta Ski Bowl, California, in February 1959.
121. What state has the highest average annual number of tornadoes?Easy
Texas.
122. Where does the world's most concentrated lightning occur?Medium
Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela.
123. What is the highest measured atmospheric pressure at sea level?Hard
1,084 hPa at Agata, Siberia, in December 1968.
124. What is the lowest measured atmospheric pressure at sea level (non-tornado)?Hard
870 hPa in Typhoon Tip (1979).
125. What's the fastest recorded temperature drop?Hard
47°F in one minute at Spearfish, South Dakota, in 1943.
126. What US city has the highest average annual snowfall?Medium
Syracuse, New York (among major cities).
127. What is the world's largest desert by area?Medium
Antarctica (a cold desert).
128. What was the peak wind gust at Mount Washington, New Hampshire?Medium
231 mph on April 12, 1934.
129. What is the longest duration of a rainbow ever recorded?Hard
About 9 hours, over Yangmingshan National Park, Taiwan, in 2017.
130. What's the heaviest hailstone ever measured?Hard
About 2.25 pounds in Gopalganj, Bangladesh, in 1986.
Weather History (20 questions)
131. What weather event ended the Battle of Britain aircraft campaigns in October 1940?Medium
Autumn storms and low cloud that grounded most sorties.
132. What Great Dust Bowl decade devastated the US Plains?Easy
The 1930s.
133. What year did Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida?Easy
1992.
134. What deadly heat wave struck Europe in 2003?Medium
The European heatwave, which killed over 70,000 people.
135. What weather event helped defeat Napoleon's Grande Armée in 1812?Medium
The extreme Russian winter.
136. What kind of weather doomed the Spanish Armada in 1588?Medium
Severe storms in the North Sea and North Atlantic.
137. What event followed the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora?Medium
The 'Year Without a Summer' (1816).
138. What Christmas Day event in 2004 killed over 200,000 in the Indian Ocean?Medium
The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (December 26).
139. What historic hurricane leveled Miami in 1926?Hard
The Great Miami Hurricane.
140. What weather-related outbreak killed 695 people in a single day in 1925?Hard
The Tri-State Tornado outbreak.
141. What weather trigger caused the Peshtigo Fire — America's deadliest wildfire — in 1871?Hard
A prolonged drought and a strong cold-front wind event.
142. What US president was famously killed by pneumonia after speaking without a coat in cold, wet weather?Medium
William Henry Harrison, in 1841.
143. What weather event killed at least 55,000 during the 2010 Russia heat wave?Medium
The record-breaking summer heat.
144. What weather condition led to the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald?Medium
A major November gale on Lake Superior in 1975.
145. What temperature phenomenon is thought to have contributed to the Titanic hitting an iceberg?Hard
Unusually calm seas and cold air, which suppressed swells and mirages that might have revealed the iceberg.
146. What Category 5 hurricane hit the Florida Keys on Labor Day 1935?Hard
The Labor Day Hurricane.
147. What blizzard paralyzed the northeastern US in March 1888?Medium
The Great Blizzard of 1888.
148. What weather change contributed to the fall of the Norse Greenland colony?Hard
The Little Ice Age's cooler climate.
149. What weather event nearly wiped out Jamestown in 1609?Hard
A major drought.
150. What series of storms killed hundreds of Britons in 1703?Hard
The Great Storm of 1703.
Clouds & Rain (20 questions)
151. What's the name for a puffy fair-weather cloud?Easy
Cumulus.
152. What's the name for a thin, wispy high-altitude cloud made of ice crystals?Easy
Cirrus.
153. What kind of cloud produces thunderstorms?Easy
Cumulonimbus.
154. What's the name for a low, sheet-like grey cloud?Medium
Stratus.
155. What's the name for the cloud type that forms 'mackerel skies'?Medium
Cirrocumulus.
156. What is virga?Medium
Precipitation that falls from a cloud but evaporates before reaching the ground.
157. What is a mammatus cloud?Medium
A pouch-like cloud hanging beneath the base of a cumulonimbus, often after severe weather.
158. What is a lenticular cloud?Medium
A lens-shaped cloud formed over mountains by wave motion in the atmosphere.
159. What kind of rain is drizzle?Easy
Very fine rain with droplets under 0.5 mm.
160. What color do rain droplets refract to form a rainbow?Easy
All visible-light colors from red (outer) to violet (inner).
161. What is a 'wall cloud'?Medium
A localized, persistent lowering of a rain-free cloud base, often preceding a tornado.
162. What is orographic rainfall?Medium
Rain caused by moist air being lifted over mountains.
163. What is the name for pointed cloud formations that hang beneath cumulonimbus, sometimes preceding tornadoes?Medium
Mammatus clouds.
164. What creates a double rainbow?Medium
Two internal reflections inside raindrops.
165. What is Mie scattering?Hard
The scattering of sunlight by droplets in clouds that makes them appear white.
166. What is a 'shelf cloud'?Medium
A low, horizontal wedge-shaped cloud attached to the base of a thunderstorm's outflow.
167. What is a 'roll cloud'?Hard
A rare, tube-shaped horizontal cloud often associated with outflow.
168. What is the Morning Glory cloud?Hard
A long roll cloud seen in northern Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria.
169. What is the highest cloud type by altitude?Hard
Cirrus (or noctilucent clouds even higher, in the mesosphere).
170. What is a fog?Easy
A cloud that touches the ground.
Meteorology & Instruments (20 questions)
171. What instrument measures atmospheric pressure?Easy
A barometer.
172. What instrument measures wind speed?Easy
An anemometer.
173. What instrument measures humidity?Easy
A hygrometer.
174. What instrument measures rainfall?Easy
A rain gauge (pluviometer).
175. What weather technology uses radio waves to detect precipitation?Easy
Radar.
176. What kind of radar detects wind velocity by measuring the frequency shift of returns?Medium
Doppler radar.
177. What US agency operates the primary weather satellites?Easy
NOAA.
178. What weather balloon instrument transmits data as it rises?Medium
A radiosonde.
179. What weather map line connects points of equal pressure?Medium
Isobars.
180. What weather map line connects points of equal temperature?Medium
Isotherms.
181. Who developed the modern weather forecast method in the 1920s?Hard
Vilhelm Bjerknes and his Bergen School.
182. Who invented the mercury barometer?Medium
Evangelista Torricelli, in 1643.
183. What scale is used to describe wind at sea?Medium
The Beaufort scale.
184. What is 'CAPE' in meteorology?Medium
Convective Available Potential Energy — a measure of instability.
185. What is 'CIN' in meteorology?Hard
Convective Inhibition — a measure of stability capping updrafts.
186. What is the 'lifted index'?Hard
A measure of atmospheric stability comparing a lifted parcel to the environment.
187. What is a 'sounding' in meteorology?Medium
A vertical profile of the atmosphere from a radiosonde launch.
188. What US model is a widely used deterministic forecast tool?Medium
The GFS (Global Forecast System).
189. What European model is often praised for medium-range accuracy?Medium
The ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) model.
190. Who first proposed the greenhouse effect for climate in 1824?Hard
Joseph Fourier.
Weather in Pop Culture (15 questions)
191. What 1996 disaster movie starred Helen Hunt as a tornado chaser?Easy
Twister.
192. What 2004 disaster film shows the world plunged into a new ice age?Easy
The Day After Tomorrow.
193. What 2013 Disney film features a snow queen who freezes an entire kingdom?Easy
Frozen.
194. What Al Pacino movie takes place aboard a boat in a giant Atlantic storm?Medium
The Perfect Storm (with George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg).
195. What TV show follows storm chasers across Tornado Alley on the Discovery Channel?Medium
Storm Chasers.
196. What weather event opens The Wizard of Oz?Easy
A tornado in Kansas.
197. What 1998 disaster film features a giant meteor and huge weather effects?Medium
Armageddon (or Deep Impact).
198. What 2013 Sharknado franchise sends what through the streets of LA?Easy
Sharks lifted by a tornado.
199. What Bob Dylan song is titled after a hurricane?Medium
'Hurricane'.
200. What band recorded 'Rock You Like a Hurricane'?Easy
The Scorpions.
201. What Beatles song is about the weather changing?Medium
'Here Comes the Sun'.
202. What weather-themed video game series lets players run their own island?Hard
Animal Crossing (with variable weather).
203. What show followed Jim Cantore in on-the-ground storm coverage?Hard
Weather Channel's live coverage (or 'Cantore vs. the Storm').
204. What 2022 movie is a spiritual sequel to Twister?Medium
Twisters (2024).
205. What weather is Snoopy famous for hating?Easy
Rain.
Extreme Weather Events (15 questions)
206. What weather event is the deadliest natural disaster in US history?Medium
The Galveston hurricane of 1900 (about 8,000 deaths).
207. What's a 'polar vortex'?Easy
A large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding the poles.
208. What US winter storm buried the Northeast in February 2015?Hard
The Boston blizzard series (Nemo, Juno, Marcus).
209. What weather event caused the 1953 North Sea flood?Medium
A powerful North Sea storm surge.
210. What year did the Great Storm hit southern England, felling millions of trees?Medium
1987.
211. What weather event ended the ancient city of Pompeii? (Trick question)Hard
None — Pompeii was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, not weather.
212. What weather-related disaster killed almost 250,000 people in 1970 in what is now Bangladesh?Medium
The Bhola cyclone.
213. What is a 'firestorm'?Medium
An extreme conflagration that generates its own wind system.
214. What weather system caused Australia's Black Summer bushfires of 2019–20?Hard
A prolonged severe drought and heat, aggravated by a positive Indian Ocean Dipole.
215. What sequence of typhoons hit the Philippines in 2013 including one that killed thousands?Medium
Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in November 2013.
216. What tropical cyclone hit Mozambique in 2019?Hard
Cyclone Idai.
217. What weather feature is a 'haboob'?Medium
A massive dust storm caused by thunderstorm outflow.
218. What weather event drove famine in the Sahel during the 1970s and 80s?Medium
Prolonged drought.
219. What 2019 European heat event set new all-time records in France and the UK?Medium
The June–July 2019 heatwave.
220. What US winter event in December 2022 was called 'the storm of the century'?Hard
The December 2022 North American winter storm (blizzard around Christmas).
Want more weather content?
Play Tornadle, the daily tornado Wordle. Try our hundreds of weather quizzes. Browse the live tornado index. Or place a simulated tornado anywhere in the world with the tornado damage simulator.