Weather And Climate Vocabulary Flashcards
The force that air puts on an area
Air Pressure
Describing a climate that is very hot and humid; describing an area of Earth that is near the equator
Tropical
The metric temperature scale: Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, and it freezes at 0 degrees Celsius
Celsius
Large, fluffy, white clouds, often seen in fair skies
Cumulus Cloud
Thin, wispy-looking clouds; commonly found at heights greater than 6 km
Cirrus Cloud
A device used to measure temperature
Thermometer (weather)
A region of low pressure with counter-clockwise wind rotation that develops into a hurricane or tropical storm
Tropical Depression
Large-scale movement of water within the oceans in a certain direction
Ocean current
The temperature at which water vapor in the air condenses into water
Dew point
A storm with strong winds and rain that forms over tropical waters (related term: typhoon, tropical cyclone)
Hurricane
An area that gets little precipitation and has very little vegetation
Desert
A hurricane or tropical storm originating in the Pacific Ocean
Typhoon
The measure of how much water vapor is in the air
Humidity
(v) to analyze weather data and make an educated guess about weather in the future; (n) a prediction about what the weather will be like in the future based on weather data
Forecast
Layers of gas that surround a planet (related word: atmospheric)
Atmosphere
Small, icy balls that fall from the sky
Hail
A weather system that produces heavy precipitation, winds, lightning, and thunder
Thunderstorm
A collection of water droplets or ice crystals in the atmosphere
Cloud
Water that is released from clouds in the sky; includes rain, snow, sleet, hail, and freezing rain
Precipitation
A shortage of rainfall in a region may cause dry conditions. If the shortage continues for a long time, drought results. Prolonged droughts may have severe consequences on plant, animal, and human populations. Crops may fail, wildfires may increase, and there may be insufficient drinking water for animals and people. In its most extreme forms, drought results in famine. This, in turn, can spark social unrest, violence, and war.
Drought
In weather, the boundary between two masses of air with different properties
Front
The study of patterns of weather
Meterology
The temperature at which a liquid turns into a solid
Freezing point
A funnel-shaped cloud or column of air that rotates at high speeds and extends downward from a cloud to the ground
Tornado
Anvil-shaped cloud that is often involved in heavy or violent storms: Cumulonimbus clouds are also called thunderheads. (related words: cumulus, nimbus)
Cumulonimbus Cloud
A loud noise that happens when lightning heats the air and causes it to expand and contract quickly
Thunder
The properties of the atmosphere at a given time and location, including temperature, air movement and precipitation
Weather
A funnel-shaped cloud that forms over water and pulls water upward
Waterspout
A tool used to measure air pressure (related word: barometric)
Barometer
the slow warming of Earth’s atmosphere due to climatic change
Global warming
A measure of the average kinetic energy of the atoms in a system, used to express thermal energy in degrees
Temperature
The pressure (force per unit area) of the atmosphere against a surface
Barometric Pressure
A rotating, funnel-shaped cloud: Funnel clouds do not touch the ground.
Funnel Cloud
The average weather conditions in an area (related word: climatic)
Climate
