Storm Vocab. Flashcards
Air Pressure
“the force exerted by air, whether compressed or unconfined, on any surface in contact with it.”
Tropical
“describing a climate that is very hot and humid; describing an area of Earth that is near the equator”
Celsius
“the metric temperature scale: Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, and it freezes at 0 degrees Celsius.”
Cumulus cloud
“large, fluffy, white clouds, often seen in fair skies”
Cirrus Cloud
“thin, wispy-looking clouds; commonly found at heights greater than 6 km”
Thermometer
“a device used to measure temperature”
Tropical Depression
“a region of low pressure with counter-clockwise wind rotation that develops into a hurricane or tropical storm”
Ocean Current
“large-scale movement of water within the oceans in a certain direction”
Dew Point
“the temperature at which water vapor in the air condenses into water”
Hurricane
“a storm with strong winds and rain that forms over tropical waters (related term: typhoon, tropical cyclone)”
Desert
“an area that gets little precipitation and has very little vegetation”
Typhoon
“a hurricane or tropical storm originating in the Pacific Ocean”
Humidity
”the measure of how much water vapor is in the air”
Forecast
“a prediction about what the weather will be like in the future based on weather data”
Atmosphere
“the layers of gases that surround a planet”
Hail
“small, icy balls that fall from the sky”
Thunderstorm
“a weather system that produces heavy precipitation, winds, lightning, and thunder”
Cloud
“a collection of water droplets or ice crystals in the atmosphere”
Precipitation
“water that is released from clouds in the sky; includes rain, snow, sleet, hail, and freezing rain”
Drought
“a prolonged shortage of rainfall”
Front
“in weather, the boundary between two masses of air with different properties”
Meteorology
“the study of patterns of weather”
Freezing Point
“the temperature at which a liquid turns into a solid”
Tornado
“a funnel-shaped cloud or column of air that rotates at high speeds and extends downward from a cloud to the ground”
Cumulonimbus Cloud
“anvil-shaped cloud that is often involved in heavy or violent storms: Cumulonimbus clouds are also called thunderheads”
Thunder
“a loud noise that happens when lightning heats the air and causes it to expand and contract quickly”
Weather
“the properties of the atmosphere at a given time and location, including temperature, air movement and precipitation”
Waterspout
“a funnel-shaped cloud that forms over water and pulls water upward”
Barometer
“a tool used to measure air pressure (related word: barometric)”
Global Warming
“the slow warming of Earth’s atmosphere due to climatic change”
Temperature
“a measure of the average kinetic energy of the atoms in a system, used to express thermal energy in degrees”
Barometric Pressure
“the pressure (force per unit area) of the atmosphere against a surface”
funnel cloud
”a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud: Funnel clouds do not touch the ground.”
Climate
“the average weather conditions in an area (related word: climatic)”
