In meteorology, the 'Pressure Gradient' is explicitly defined as:The three essential meteorological ingredients for Thunderstorm formation are:On a clear, calm night, the surface of the earth cools rapidly primarily due to the intense process of:Setting the 'QNH' pressure value on the altimeter subscale will cause the instrument to indicate:To safely avoid lethal wake turbulence when landing behind a large heavy jet, you MUST:Accumulation of airframe ice on an aircraft wing primarily affects aerodynamic performance by:The formation of dense 'Advection Fog' inherently requires which specific meteorological condition?The standard composition of the dry atmosphere within the troposphere is approximately:Wake Turbulence is caused by violent wingtip vortices that are aggressively generated whenever an aircraft is:In standard cloud classification, the prefix 'Nimbo-' or suffix '-Nimbus' explicitly identifies the cloud as:A 'Sea Breeze' is a localized coastal wind that typically occurs:An 'Occluded Front' is specifically formed when:The physical rate of water evaporation is heavily increased by:The physical deflecting force known as the Coriolis Force is mathematically strongest at:A 'Subsidence Inversion' is typically caused directly by:In the Southern Hemisphere, the physical passage of a Cold Front is typically marked by:'Orographic Lifting' triggers massive cloud formation by:The slow approach of a 'Warm Front' is typically associated with:The specific cloud amount code 'FEW' indicates a sky coverage of:An air mass originating directly from the tropical oceans (classified as Tropical Maritime) will definitively be:An atmosphere in a state of 'Neutral Stability' means a vertically displaced parcel of air will:The specific trend indicator 'TEMPO' utilized in a TAF means:In atmospheric thermodynamics, an 'Adiabatic' process is strictly defined as one where:In the International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) model, the Mean Sea Level (MSL) pressure is formally defined as:A 'Gust' is formally defined meteorologically as:In a standard METAR, the highly specific code 'VV///' explicitly indicates:The Earth's average global temperature remains relatively constant long-term primarily because:High altitude clouds (such as Cirrus or Cirrostratus) are composed principally of:In the International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) model, air density is mathematically assumed to:The standard ICAO meteorological abbreviation 'DZ' stands for:To obtain an accurate Surface Air Temperature for meteorological purposes, the measurement must physically be taken:Drizzle consists of extremely small water droplets and typically falls exclusively from:A forecast indicating significantly high levels of low-level moisture suggests a severe operational risk of:An Occluded Front is correctly depicted on a synoptic chart by:The violent 'Mature Stage' of a thunderstorm's lifecycle is specifically characterized by:In a GRAFOR, the specific abbreviation 'ISOL' regarding Cumulonimbus (CB) explicitly implies the spatial coverage is:How does the physical height of the Tropopause vary with global latitude?Flight in cloud above the freezing level is profoundly hazardous primarily because:In aviation meteorology, 'Sleet' is strictly defined as:The complete life cycle of a single thunderstorm cell consists of three distinct stages in the following strict order:Extensive, thick cloud cover at night will typically cause the surface temperature to:A strong Northwest airflow impacting the massive Southern Alps typically results in which classic weather pattern?Why must a thin layer of Hoar Frost be completely removed from the wings before flight?In New Zealand aviation, the term 'GRAFOR' explicitly refers to:A 'Katabatic' wind is best described meteorologically as:Which specific aircraft configuration produces the absolute strongest, most lethal Wake Turbulence vortices?A 'Squall' is meteorologically distinguished from a simple 'Gust' primarily because a Squall:In a METAR, the code 'NSC' appears instead of standard cloud layers. This explicitly means:A 'Foehn Wind' (such as the famous Canterbury Nor'wester) is characterized strictly as:On a standard synoptic weather chart, 'Isobars' are lines connecting points of:The aviation abbreviation 'TAF' strictly stands for:The Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR) has a constant cooling value of approximately:By total volume, the single most abundant gas in the Earth's troposphere is:Which specific combination of meteorological conditions is absolutely required for the dense formation of Radiation Fog?In a massive mountain wave system, the area of absolutely most severe, airframe-damaging turbulence is typically found:A significant and highly dangerous hazard associated with flying directly through a low-level temperature inversion is:A Warm Front is correctly represented on a synoptic chart by:The specific code 'HZ' reported in a METAR represents:In the Southern Hemisphere, a reported wind direction change from 270° to 220° is meteorologically defined as:A METAR report contains the group 'R23/P1500'. This strictly indicates that:The standard ICAO meteorological abbreviation 'RA' stands for:Meteorologically, a 'Cold Front' is explicitly defined as:The specific cloud amount code 'BKN' indicates a sky coverage of:The diurnal (daily) temperature range experienced at the surface is usually greatest:The specific code 'FU' reported in a METAR represents:In synoptic meteorology, a 'Trough' is explicitly defined as:An atmospheric layer where the temperature remains absolutely constant with height is formally known as:The transfer of heat or moisture through the horizontal movement of air (wind) is known meteorologically as:When observed from the air, a 'Wind Shadow' on a large lake surface visually appears as:Katabatic winds are best described meteorologically as:A 'SIGMET' is a critical meteorological warning issued exclusively for:The biological process of 'Transpiration' heavily contributes to atmospheric moisture by:

Home / PPL exams / Meteorology

Private Pilot Licence · Subject 8, AC61-3

NZ PPL Meteorology exam.

The Met exam rewards understanding over memory. Stability, lapse rates, why fog forms on one night and not the next, what a cold front does to the wind over Cook Strait: the questions test whether you can reason from the physics to the forecast. Our exam is 35 questions in 70 minutes from a bank of 191 written to Subject 8 of AC61-3.

35questions70minutes70%pass mark191in the bank

97syllabus items tested · the questions in the background are from the bank

Sit a PPL Meteorology exam · $5.99 Try the free exam first

Try three

Reason from the physics, not the picture.

Met questions want the mechanism: what the air is doing and why, and then the forecast product that says so. These three are on stability, inversions and fog, three of the places marks go missing.

Answer each one and you see what the de-brief shows after a paid exam: the correct option, the reasoning and the syllabus item it came from.

0 of 3 answered

PPL · Syllabus 8.18.14Question 1 / 3

Why is the Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR) noticeably lower (cools slower) than the Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR)?

Why

As saturated air rises, condensation immediately occurs. This releases immense stored latent heat, which partially warms the rising air packet, heavily reducing the net cooling rate to roughly 1.5°C/1000ft.

Choose an answerSyllabus 8.18.14

PPL · Syllabus 8.20.2Question 2 / 3

A 'Radiation Inversion' typically forms under which specific conditions?

Why

Under clear night skies, the ground rapidly emits its heat into space. This freezing ground aggressively chills the layer of air in direct contact with it, while the air slightly higher up remains warmer, creating the inversion 'lid'.

Choose an answerSyllabus 8.20.2

PPL · Syllabus 8.26.14(b)Question 3 / 3

The formation of dense 'Advection Fog' inherently requires which specific meteorological condition?

Why

Unlike Radiation Fog (which requires calm conditions to pool), Advection Fog requires active wind (usually up to 15kts) to physically move the warm, moist air mass horizontally over a colder surface.

Choose an answerSyllabus 8.26.14(b)

The de-brief

Why the air did that, in two sentences.

The de-brief does not just say "advection fog". It says why advection fog needs wind and radiation fog needs almost none, which is the distinction the next question will test from the other direction.

After a paid exam it is emailed to you as well, so it is still there the night before the real sitting.

The Flying Kiwi · Knowledge deficiency reportPPL Meteorology

Result

83%29 of 35 correct · pass mark 70%

What you missed

Q16 A highly dangerous 'Microburst' is a severe weather phenomenon strictly associated with:

What you picked

Your answerThe smooth, gradual lifting of Warm Fronts

CorrectSevere, concentrated downdrafts from a Cumulonimbus cloud

Why

A microburst is an incredibly concentrated, high-velocity downdraft from a thunderstorm that violently hits the ground and spreads out, creating lethal wind shear for aircraft on approach or departure.

Revise

Syllabus 8.30.6 · Meteorology · AC61-3

What the exam covers

Subject 8, from the ISA to the GRAFOR.

Decoding is in there too. METAR, SPECI, TAF, GRAFOR and ARFOR are a fixed part of the syllabus, so they turn up in nearly every exam.

The atmosphere and the International Standard Atmosphere
Heat, temperature, lapse rates and stability
Pressure, density and their effect on the altimeter
Wind: gradient wind, surface friction, sea breezes, katabatic and föhn winds
Humidity, dew point, cloud formation and cloud types
Precipitation, visibility and the fog family: radiation, advection, hill and frontal
Airframe and carburettor icing
Turbulence, wind shear and mountain waves over the Southern Alps
Thunderstorms, microbursts and how to avoid them
Air masses, fronts, depressions and anticyclones over New Zealand
NZ met services: METAR, SPECI, TAF, GRAFOR, ARFOR and SIGMET
Reading a surface analysis chart

Watch for

Where the marks go in Met.

CAVOK, NSC, NOSIG and the visibility codes. The exam tests the exact definition, not the general idea.
Which way the wind turns with height in the Southern Hemisphere. Backs or veers, and why, is a guaranteed question.
Fog: the conditions for each type are similar but not the same. Advection fog needs wind; radiation fog needs almost none.
Stability from lapse rates. Learn the DALR, SALR and ELR relationship as a rule, not as a memorised example.

Preparation

How to prepare for PPL Meteorology.

Met rewards a good picture of the atmosphere over a good memory. Build the picture first, then check it against forecast products until decoding them is automatic.

Learn the lapse rates as a relationship, not three numbers. Once the dry, saturated and environmental rates make sense together, every stability question is the same question.
Decode a METAR and a TAF every day for a fortnight. The codes are a syllabus item in their own right, and they are free marks once they are automatic.
Think Southern Hemisphere. Which way the wind turns with height, the sense of rotation around a low: get the hemisphere right and the rest follows.
Learn the fog family as a table of causes: radiation, advection, hill, frontal. The exam gives conditions and asks for the fog, or names the fog and asks for the conditions.

Meteorology questions

Questions about this exam.

If yours is not here, email support.

Our exam runs 35 questions in 70 minutes, matched to the Aspeq sitting. The pass mark is 70%.

Yes. Reading NZ meteorological products is a syllabus topic, so it appears in nearly every exam we build, and there is a decoding question in the free 12-question trial.

Yes. Fronts crossing the South Island, nor-westers, Cook Strait winds and Canterbury fog are the examples, because they are what the CAA syllabus and the real exam are built around.

How it works

Sit PPL Meteorology here, timed like the real exam.

Met is the exam where a good picture of the atmosphere beats memory. Sit it here to find out which of your pictures are wrong before Aspeq does.

01Buy a code

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02Sit the exam

35 questions on a 70-minute clock, drawn fresh from the Meteorology bank. Bookmark, skip, come back, submit when you are done. Progress survives a dropped connection.

03Read the de-brief

Score and pass or fail on screen straight away, then the full de-brief by email: every question you got wrong, what you chose, the correct answer, the reasoning and the syllabus reference to revise.

Before the real one

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Thirty-five questions against the clock, marked on submit, with every wrong answer explained from the physics up. A cheap way to find the gaps in your Met before the real exam does.

The same format as the Aspeq sitting: 35 questions, 70 minutes, 70% to pass.
Drawn fresh from 191 Meteorology questions each time, options shuffled. Never the same exam twice.
Every wrong answer explained, with the syllabus reference to revise, on screen and by email.
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35 questions · 70 minutes · 70% to pass

$5.99PPL Meteorology examNZD · one full-length exam · Other NZ practice exams typically charge about $8.00

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