Local Winds, Air Masses & Fronts – NDA Geography PYQs

Question 1 [NDA 2007-II]
Match List I (Local Winds) with List II (Regions):
A. Mistral — 1. USA
B. Chinook — 2. West Africa
C. Harmattan — 3. Mediterranean
D. Sirocco — 4. France

(a) A-4; B-1; C-2; D-3
(b) A-3; B-4; C-1; D-2
(c) A-1; B-3; C-4; D-2
(d) A-2; B-4; C-3; D-1

Answer: (a) A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3
Mistral is the cold, dry wind of France (4) — blowing down the Rhône Valley to the Mediterranean. Chinook is the warm, dry wind of the USA (1) — descending the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Harmattan is the hot, dusty wind of West Africa (2) — blowing from the Sahara. Sirocco blows from the Sahara across the Mediterranean (3).

---

Question 2 [NDA 2011-II]
Which one of the following is a hot, dry wind blowing from the Sahara Desert?
(a) Mistral
(b) Harmattan
(c) Chinook
(d) Foehn

Answer: (b) Harmattan
The Harmattan is a hot, dry, dusty wind that blows from the Sahara Desert westward and southwestward across West Africa toward the Gulf of Guinea. Mistral is a cold wind from France. Chinook is a warm wind from the Rocky Mountains in the USA. Foehn is a warm, dry wind from the Alps.

Practice Question 1 (Important for NDA)
Match the following local winds with their characteristics:
A. Chinook — 1. Hot, dry; Sahara to West Africa
B. Mistral — 2. Warm, dry; eastern Rockies; “snow eater”
C. Harmattan — 3. Cold, dry; Rhône Valley, France
D. Loo — 4. Hot, dry; North India/Pakistan in summer

(a) A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4
(b) A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
(c) A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2
(d) A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1

Answer: (a) A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4
Chinook (A-2) = warm, dry wind down the eastern Rockies; melts snow rapidly. Mistral (B-3) = cold, dry, strong wind down the Rhône Valley. Harmattan (C-1) = hot, dry, dusty wind from Sahara to West Africa. Loo (D-4) = hot, dry, oppressive wind over north India and Pakistan in May-June.

---

Practice Question 2 (Important for NDA)
Which one of the following pairs of local wind and its region of occurrence is NOT correctly matched?
(a) Chinook — Eastern slopes of Rocky Mountains, USA/Canada
(b) Mistral — Rhône Valley, France
(c) Sirocco — Sahara, blowing toward Mediterranean
(d) Bora — West Africa, blowing from the interior

Answer: (d) Bora — West Africa
Bora is NOT associated with West Africa. Bora is a cold, dry, powerful northeast wind blowing from the cold continental interior down to the Adriatic Sea — affecting Croatia, Slovenia, and northeastern Italy. The West African hot wind from the Sahara is the Harmattan.

---

Practice Question 3 (Important for NDA)
Statement I: Sea breeze blows from the sea to the land during the day.
Statement II: Land heats up more rapidly than the sea during the day.

(a) Both true and II explains I
(b) Both true but II does not explain I
(c) I true but II false
(d) I false but II true

Answer: (a) Both true and II explains I
Statement I is correct — sea breeze blows from sea to land during the day. Statement II correctly explains why — land heats up faster than sea during the day (lower specific heat capacity of land). The heated air over land rises, creating low pressure, and cooler sea air flows in to replace it. Statement II is the physical reason for Statement I.