Meteorology Pt. 2 Flashcards
Clouds
They form when ‘‘moist’’ air is lifted. The moist air is then cooled, and the dew point is reached. At this time, the air is not saturated then changes into a visible state
Clouds
How can the cooling of air be done?
- Lifting
- Moving over a cooler surface
- Cooling from the underlying surface
What does stratus mean?
Layer, sheet like clouds
What are the four basic group of families in clouds
- Low
- Middle
- High
- Clouds with vertical development
What does Cumulus mean?
Heap, puffy clouds
What does Cirrus mean?
Ringlet, wispy clouds
What does Nimbus mean?
Violent Rain, rain clouds
These are layered clouds that form in stable air near the surface due to cooling from below
Stratus
White and puffy that form when stable air is lifted
Stratuscumulus
Gray or black that can be more than several thousands of feet thick, and contain a large amount of moisture
Nimbostratus
Flat, dense clouds that cover a wide area, uniform gray or gray-white in color
Altostratus
Gray or white, patchy clouds of uniform appearance that often form when altostratus starts to break up
Altocumulus
Thin, white, often form in long bands or sheets. The moisture content is low, poses, no icing hazard
Cirrostratus
White, patchy clouds that look like cotton, form as a result of shallow convective currents at high altitude. It may produce light turbulence
Cirrocumulus
Thin and wispy, white or light gray, form in stable air at high altitudes, often in patches or narrow bands in the sky. This can be an advanced warning of approaching bad weather
Cirrus
Form in convective currents from the heating of the earth’s surface, they have flat bottoms and domed shape tops
Cumulus
Looks like large mounds of cotton, white to gray from top to bottom, indicate a deep area of unstable air
Towering cumulus
Commonly called thunderstorms, large, form in very unstable air, gray white to black in color, contain large amounts of moisture
Cumulonimbus
This is technically a low cloud which has its base within so feet of the ground
Fog
What is the term if the fog is less than 20 feet deep?
Ground fog
This forms over low-lying, flat surface on clear, calm, humid nights
Radiation fog
This is a low layer of warm, moist air that moves calm, humid nights
Advection fog
This occurs as cold, dry air moves over comparatively warmer water
Steam fog
This can be defined as any form of particles, whether liquid or solid, that fall from the atmosphere
Precipitation
This is distinguished by very small droplets and is less than 0.02 inches in diameter
Drizzle
This is when the droplets are greater in size by 0.02 inches or greater
Rain
As rain falls, it may freeze as it passes through colder air under the clouds, it then strikes the ground as?
Ice pellets
Water droplets that freeze in the clouds with strong upward currents may grass in size and may fall as?
Hail
This is precipitation composed of ice crystals
Snow