Weather Flashcards
Humidity
The amount of water vapor in the air.
Cumulus Cloud
Puffy white clouds that have flat bottoms.
Stratus Cloud
Clouds that form in layers.
Cirrus Cloud
Thin, feathery, white clouds found at high altitudes.
Condensation
The change of state from a gas to a liquid.
Evaporation
The change of state from a liquid to a gas.
Precipitation
Any form of water that falls to the Earth’s surface from the clouds.
Runoff
Water, usually from precipitation, that flows across land and collects in rivers, streams, and eventually in the ocean.
Rain
The most common Precipitation. It begins as a droplet smaller than a period. Before falling, it must get to 100 times its original size.
Sleet
Forms when rain falls through a layer of freezing air.
Snow
Forms when temperatures are so cold that water vapor changes directly to a solid.
Hail
Balls or lumps of ice that fall from the clouds.
Polar- Maritime Airmass
Forms over the North Atlantic Ocean. Brings cool, cloudy weather and Precipitation to New England in the winter, and in the summer brings cool weather and fog.
Tropical- Maritime Airmass
Forms over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Moves north across the East Coast into the Midwest.
Polar- Continental Airmass
Forms over Northern Canada, brings extremely cold weather to the United States, and in the summer brings cool and generally dry weather.
Tropical- Continental Airmass
Forms over the deserts of New Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Moves northward and brings clear, dry, and hot weather in the summer.
Cold Front
Forms when cold air moves under warm air, which is less dense, and pushes the warm air up.
Warm Front
Warm air moves over cold, denser air.
Thunderstorm
Usually brief, heavy storms that consist of rain, strong winds, lightning, and thunder.
Lightning
An electric discharge that takes place between two oppositely charged surfaces, such as between a cloud and the ground, between two clouds, or between two parts of the same cloud.
Thunder
The sound caused by the rapid expansion of air along an electrical strike.
Tornado
A destructive, rotating column of air that has very high wind speeds, is visible as a funnel-shaped cloud, and touches the ground.
Hurricane
A severe storm that develops over tropical- oceans and whose strong winds of more than 120km/h spiral in toward the intensely low-pressure storm center.
Thermometer
An instrument that measures and indicates temperature.
Anemometer
An instrument that is used to measure wind speed.
