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Quiz: Do You Know Your Weather Terminology?

| by The Weather Channel Staff

You can only call yourself a weather geek if you get 80% or higher on this quiz! Test your weather terminology skills below:

Tell us your results below! Do you get ultimate weather geek bragging rights or do you need to take a crash course in meteorology?

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136 Comments

  1. This was a schooling on what the terminology was. So I studied as if I was in school lol 3 tries and got nine number 10 still was wrong lol

  2. I have an advanced storm spotter certificate issued by nws BHM. I worked as a student intern for nws ffc and the cwsu at atl artcc. When nws ATL was next to ATL airport I was a frequent visitor and was allowed to operate nws 57D unit. I have been a spotter since 1974.

  3. 9/10. I studied Meteorology back in the 60/70’s and Derecho was not a word, but I do remember it being mentioned on TWC within the last year, just didn’t spend enough time thinking that question through. I do have 4 weather stations out back (not named, tho). And I did basic analyzing of Siberian weather messages back in the Cold War. Just a fyi – a measurement of something compared to something else is often shown as a ratio, like relative humidity (65/100 or 65%), not an absolute like Dew Point (65 F) .

  5. I read one question too fast or I would’ve gotten 8 correct:/patience, I have to learn patience.
    NOW!!!

  12. “A measure of the water vapor content of the air.” as a quiz item, as worded, is not specific enough to really differentiate between “Relative Humidity” and “Dewpoint”. As stated, the item leans more, technically, to “Dewpoint” since it uses the term “water vapor” instead of “moisture”. My 2 cents…

  15. 8/10. Been out of the weather business since ’74, before Derecho was even established, and never seen pancake ice. Some things you never forget, though.

  17. 7/10. My second answer for 2 out of three was the right one. Not to bad… Gotta study more if I wanna become one though.

  21. got 6 right ive learned a lot watching the weather channel over the years about weather listening to the meteorolgists explain weather patterns and about different weather topics and scenerios,been a loyal fan since the first day you went on air many years ago,your channel is all i watch

  22. 8 of 10. Inadvertently clicked wrong on one. Career in meteorology? Yes, if I could go back and start over!!

  23. 10/10 I watch AMHQ each and every morning while having my morning coffee. I am like a fish out of water if I am unable to watch AMHQ in the morning.

  24. 10/10 🙂
    Read all the weather books I can get my hands on, plus websites and apps. Planning on going into meteorology once I graduate. I think it’s safe to say that I’m a weather nerd, but I learn something new every day. Thanks for the quiz!

  27. 4/10… I still call myself a Weather Geek/Young Meteorologist in Training. No quiz can change that! Besides, I haven’t taken any Meteorology classes yet…

    1. I got 10 out of 10!!!! YAY!!!! I’m only 14 but I study up on my meteorology
      Nice questions on the quiz
      Never heard Jim Cantore or Mike Bettes mention a derecho though
      Still I’m glad I remember

      1. Only 14 years old and a Star Wars fan? 🙂 Gosh, I feel ANCIENT. I was 16 when the FIRST, original Star Wars came out! LOL

  30. Derecho? Derecho! Has Jim Cantori EVER used that word? Great quiz except for THAT one. Love the word, but get it out there into the public vocabulary. Next thing I know, you’ll be all over the Haboob! 😉

  31. The first time I only got 5 right but thats because I did not read them right. My goal was 7. Good Job everyone else!

  33. 8 for 10, so I passed the test . . . but I should have gotten 9 or 10. Total brain cramp on question 1. When it said “northwest Pacific,” I pictured the pacific ocean near California, Oregon, and Washington . . . which is actually the northeastern Pacific, where the storm would be called a Hurricane . . . but the northwestern Pacific is over by Japan, you GENIUS!!!

    On the measure of water vapor in the air, I answered dewpoint instead of humidity. At first, I disagreed when it said I was wrong, but I think I get it now–technically, the dewpoint is a temperature at which water vapor would start condensing, not an actual measurement of that amount of water vapor. I didn’t answer “humidity” because I was thinking “relative humidity”, which is a percentage and not an actual quantity of water . . . but the question was probably talking about “absolute humidity”, not relative humidity.

  40. 10/10 been watching TWC since the start and do grassroots disaster relief so I have to stay aware of changing weather

  42. Eight out of ten. Missed heat lightning and monsoon. Don’t have either here in Northern California. Is that a good excuse? Heck no! I should have known.

  44. 70% My only excuse might be I live in an area of Alaska that gets lightning about once a year and tends to be cloudy with 130 inches of rain per year.

  45. 9/10 Only messed up on derecho. And meteorology is going to be important for my chosen profession, pilot. But I’m famous around my family for being the weather geek, and always wanting to chase the occasional thunderstorm that comes through.

  46. 9/10. Been watching TWC since it started.
    Really learned a lot from them. My friends look at me with awe when I talk about a weather condition/phenomenon with them.
    If I could do it all over I’d definitely be a
    meteorologist. Thanks for the quiz-would like to see more like this.

  47. I’m a meteorology undergrad right now, and was wondering if anyone would be willing to clarify the choice between humidity and dew point, since both are ways of expressing the water vapor content of the air? (I’m going to assume when we say humidity we’re talking about the relative humidity, being the ratio of the mixing ratio to the saturation mixing ratio and not one of the other ways of calculating it) The answer choices kinda threw me off since the dewpoint is directly related to the amount of water vapor in the air.

    1. You should send your question to
      Jen Carfagno. She calls herself
      “The DewPoint Diva”.

    2. I sort of had the same problem as you with this question–I was thinking relative humidity, but maybe they meant “absolute” humidity, and considered dewpoint incorrect because technically, it’s a temperature at which a certain amount of water vapor condenses, and not an actual measurement of that quantity of water vapor.

      1. As I’ve understood dewpoint from my classes, while it is measured in degrees and defined as being the temperature at which water vapor condenses, it is directly related to the water vapor mixing ratio (the amount of water vapor in the air per kilogram of air), which is a measurement of water vapor in the air.

  48. 8 out of 10. I am considered the meteorologist of the house. I’m always watching the weather.

  50. 8/10. Should have gotten heat lightning but figured that term was an old wives’ tale! Meteorology 101/102 45 years ago didn’t help much, but I do enjoy watching WU!

  51. I received 10/10, I’m a trained weather spotter and have been interested in weather my entire life.

  53. 8 out of 10, I would have gotten all 10 right, had I went for my 1st instinct on two tricky ones. Fun quiz though !!!

  54. Only 6/10… but what can I say, other than that Im proud of myself!!😁😁 Im only 12, soon to be 13, so I still have a long way ahead of me 😂

  55. Oh my! 10 out of 10! I am always watching the sky and trying to understand what I observe. Been doing so for the last 60 years or so and don’t intend to stop anytime soon. Country girl

  58. there were 3 where I ALMOST picked the right answer which would have put me in weather geekdom, alas, I ended up with a mediocre 6 out of 10. I hang my head in shame.

  61. I’m not telling because I don’t want to gloat or be embarrassed.
    I know weather pretty well and have loved what it is all about since learning about clouds in elementary school.
    Love the TWC
    Jim Cantore can never retire. xoxo

  62. I got 8 out of 10. Just told husband yesterday I would have loved studying meteorology back in the day. I’m a skywatcher now so that is good.

  63. 9 out of 10. Little too late in life to change careers, though! Been watching the Weather Channel since it started. A lot of the info has stuck, I guess.

  64. Wow! 4 out of 10 I should have went with my first thought’s on a few of them. I have watch the weather channel more.

  69. I failed this quiz!! But it was still fun to take the quiz and try my luck!! But I definitely need the experts on the Weather Channel to help me!!

  71. I got 9/10, missed the one about humidity. Not bad for a retired Army Ranger, I’ll have to pay closer attention next time.

  72. 8 of 10 from a retired meteorologist. I knew the one about typhoons…just misread the NW Pacific. And never heard of pancake ice. Fun quiz tho…

  73. Got actually 7 correct. 1 was an ooops w/hitting my standard-ZBook14’s enter-bar accidently. 7 out of 10 is good, but….. . My degree in meteorology is called 62 yrs of life. The stupidity w/in the weather service are obvious. Seems most Gov agencies have stupidity as its standard function. Educated fools are no different than high school blue collar’s mentality. I actually rather would work for & with blue collar than ANY WHITE COLLAR ANYWHERE!

  76. 10/10. Thanks, Jen Carfagno. You’re not only beautiful, you’re a genius!

  77. I got 10 out of 10, learned from my mom, local weather, one meteorology semester in high school and of course hours of the weather channel.

  79. I got 6-10 but I really did know 2 more but chose wrong… LOL. I watch TWC every night before bed and just love it as much as you. Look…up! It is truly amazing! Pennies really do come from the heavens 😙

  81. 10 out of 10. My husband and I are Certified Storm Spotters with the NWS in Tampa, FL and I also work for a team of Storm Chasers out of Nebraska. I have to also be able to read radar somewhat to be involved with this team and my husband reads radar for the team as well.

  83. Uh oh. Need to get my head out of the clouds and work a little harder! Jim Cantore’s job is safe for now! Thanks Weather Channel!  

  87. Got 8 right — missed the Monsoon and the partly cloudy vs mostly cloudy. Should of gone with my first thoughts on both.

  89. I disagree with Question 1. The quiz showed a satellite photo of a circular cloud, having an elevated outer rim, a flatter and lower central layer likely due to a cold pool aloft, and a clearly-visible eye wall and eye. There was nothing said about the wind velocity inside the structure, so while the eye clearly says the storm had tropical characteristics, there wasn’t enough information to distinguish between a tropical storm with an eye, or a typhoon.

    1. You make a valid point but a tropical storm that has an eye, that eye is typically loosely defined. More like what you might see with a very strong low pressure system over land. The picture they showed has a very well defined eye.

  90. 8/10 which actually surprised me! Love the weather and the science behind, and the gang on The Weather Channel that help us to understand all of this!

  94. 10/10 for me. My Master’s thesis was a pioneering GIS study (early 1980’s) of tornado distribution and recurrence probabilities in Arkansas.

  97. Only 5 right – would have got 2 more correct but screen was “touchy” and imputed the answers before I could pick one. LOVE the Weather Channel!!

  98. 6, pretty depressing, I bet some of the others got help to achieve the high scores.

    1. Most people on here are just fans of weather. You will do better as you watch and participate. Not depressing , …just room for improvement. 🙂

  99. Missed one about pancake ice and the one about partly cloudy vs mostly cloudy. Never can get that one right!

    But 8 out of 10 made me very happy because now I feel free to say I am a weather geek!

  101. I love these quizzes. Always learn something when I get something wrong. Learned a fair amount today: 7/10.

  103. I live in California. Why would I know about “pancake ice”? 7/10 And I never knew that there was a real definition of “heat lighting”. Lightning is lighting.

  107. 9 out of 10!! Missed the question about the flat ice formation. Oh well as long as I didn’t miss the severe weather ones! Lol 😁

  110. 10/10. I’ve been watching TWC over 20 years. I should know SOMETHING! LOL
    I would love to have been a meteorologist!

  111. 10 out of 10 🙂 If I to start my career life over, I would like to work at the weather channel (meteorologist).

  112. I got a 9 out of ten. It said that I need a career in meteorology.
    Which I want to be one some day

          1. What is your favorite place to visit on Vacation? What is your favorite Milk Shake flavor? What is your most favorite food to eat? What topics do you like to study?

  114. Nuts! Got 8 right, but it would have been 100 if I went with my first guess on two questions; heat lightning and monsoon.
    Thanks, guys; this was a fun quiz! 😊

  116. Mostly Rain ! hot summers High Hummidity fog pollen Allergy thunderstorms with lightning strikes over the area Alleghany I live inside City Limits! 24422