DGCA Meteorology: Air Masses & Fronts Questions
113 exam-style Air Masses & Fronts questions for the DGCA Meteorology paper (CPL · ATPL · PPL). The first 12 are free below with answers and explanations — sign up free to practise all of them with progress tracking.
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Q1
A warm front is defined as:
- A Cold air advancing over warm air
- B Warm air advancing over retreating cold air with gentle slope
- C Stationary boundary
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Correct answer: B. Warm air advancing over retreating cold air with gentle slope
Warm fronts slope gently, pushing warm air up and bringing steady rain.
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Q2
Tropical maritime air mass is characterized by:
- A Cold and dry
- B Warm, moist, unstable
- C Polar continental
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Correct answer: B. Warm, moist, unstable
Tropical maritime air is warm, wet, and ready to form showers if lifted.
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Q3
Ahead of a warm front the surface wind
- A Veers & Strengthens
- B Backs & weakens
- C Backs & Strengthens
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Correct answer: C. Backs & Strengthens
As a warm front approaches, pressure falls steadily and the isobars tighten, so the surface wind strengthens and shifts in direction ahead of the frontal passage.
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Q4
A warm front is defined as:
- A Cold air undercutting warm
- B Warm air advancing over retreating cold air with gentle slope
- C Vertical boundary
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Correct answer: B. Warm air advancing over retreating cold air with gentle slope
Warm fronts slope gently, lifting warm air for widespread rain.
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Q5
FZRA and FZFG occur ______ of a warm front
- A Ahead
- B After
- C During
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Correct answer: A. Ahead
FZRA AND FZFG along the slope in the diagram
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Q6
Visibility is poor in a Warm Front
- A Ahead & During
- B Ahead
- C After & During
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Correct answer: A. Ahead & During
Visibility is poor ahead of and during a warm front, where thickening cloud, prolonged rain, drizzle and mist prevail; behind the front, in the warm sector, visibility usually improves somewhat though it may stay hazy.
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Q7
Visibility is poor in a Warm Front
- A Ahead
- B Ahead & During
- C After & During
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Correct answer: B. Ahead & During
Poor visibility with a warm front occurs ahead of and during the front, caused by thickening layer cloud, continuous rain, drizzle and mist in the frontal precipitation belt.
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Q8
FZRA and FZFG occur ______ of a warm front
- A During
- B After
- C Ahead
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Correct answer: C. Ahead
Freezing rain and freezing fog occur ahead of a warm front, where rain falling from the overrunning warm air passes through, and saturates, the wedge of sub-zero cold air still lying ahead of the surface front.
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Q9
Ahead of a warm front the surface wind
- A Veers & Strengthens
- B Backs & Strengthens
- C Backs & weakens
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Backs & Strengthens
The approach of a warm front brings steadily falling pressure and a tightening pressure gradient, so the surface wind strengthens and changes direction ahead of the frontal passage.
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Q10
What is the location of warm and cold fronts?
- A Behind the airmass
- B After the airmass
- C Along boundaries between air masses
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Correct answer: C. Along boundaries between air masses
Warm and cold fronts lie along the boundaries between air masses, marking the sloping transition zones where air of different temperature and humidity characteristics meet.
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Q11
What is the closest definition of a warm occlusion?
- A A cold front overtaking a warm front
- B A warm front lifting a cold front aloft
- C A cold front merging with a stationary front
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Correct answer: B. A warm front lifting a cold front aloft
In a warm occlusion the air behind the overtaking cold front is less cold than the air ahead of the warm front, so the cold front rides up the warm-frontal surface and is lifted aloft, leaving an upper cold front above the retreating colder air.
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Q12
Ahead of a warm front the surface wind
- A Backs & weakens
- B Backs & Strengthens
- C Veers & Strengthens
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Backs & Strengthens
In the Northern Hemisphere the surface wind ahead of an approaching warm front backs (shifts anticlockwise, typically from west or south-west towards south or south-east) and strengthens as the isobars pack closer together and pressure falls steadily. A veer occurs at the frontal passage itself, not ahead of it.
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