Earth Science Weather Flashcards
What is weather?
The state of the atmosphere at a given time and place.
Humidity
is the amount of water vapor in the air.
Relative Humidity
is a comparison of the actual amount of water vapor in the air with the maximum amount of water vapor that can be present in air at a given temperature and pressure.
What type of air holds more water?
Warm air can hold more water.
Dew Point-What is it?
a measure of the amount of water vapor in the air.
What happens at the Dew Point ?
The air cools beyond the point of saturation and condensation occurs.
When do you see dew?
At night when the air cools below its dew point and the water vapor condenses on a surface such as grass.
high cloud
above about 7000 meters
When stratiform and cumuliform clouds appear above 7000 meters
they are cirrostratus- thin smooth or fibrous sheets that sometimes cause halos around the sun or moon and may indicate snow or rain
cirrocumulus
cirrus
middle clouds
When stratiform and cumuliform clouds appear at about 2000-7000 meters
they are altostratus and altocumulus
low clouds
Below about 2000 meters
stratus-clouds are layered low clouds
nimbostratus-dark rain clouds that are layered and low.
stratocumulus-clouds that form in layers and are fluffy with flat bases.
rain clouds
nimbus and nimbo-dark rain clouds
Air Masses are based on what two factors?
Cold or hot, moist or dry
How are fronts formed?
Fronts are the boundary of two opposing air masses. They are most common at mid-latitudes, where southward-moving polar air masses and northward-moving tropical air masses often meet.
What type of structures are most often hit by Lightning ?
More likely to hit protruding objects than flat ones.
Where is one of the worst places to hide during lightning?
Under a lone tree
