weather vocab Flashcards
a quantity representing the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere or in a gas.
humidity
are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as “puffy”, “cotton-like” or “fluffy” in appearance.
Cumulus clouds
are low-level clouds characterized by horizontal layering with a uniform base, as opposed to convective or cumuliform clouds that are formed by rising thermals.
Stratus clouds
is a genus of high cloud made of ice crystals. clouds typically appear delicate and wispy with white strands are usually formed as warm, dry air rises, causing water vapor deposition onto rocky or metallic dust particles at high altitudes.
cirrus cloud
is a dense, towering vertical cloud, forming from water vapor carried by powerful upward air currents. If observed during a storm, these clouds may be referred to as thunderheads. can form alone, in clusters, or along cold front squall lines
Cumulonimbus cloud
water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it.
condensation
the process of turning from liquid into vapor.
evaporation
rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground.
precipitation
the draining away of water (or substances carried in it) from the surface of an area of land, a building or structure, etc.
runoff
moisture condensed from the atmosphere that falls visibly in separate drops.
rain
a form of precipitation consisting of ice pellets, often mixed with rain or snow.
sleet
atmospheric water vapor frozen into ice crystals and falling in light white flakes or lying on the ground as a white layer.
snow
pellets of frozen rain which fall in showers from cumulonimbus clouds.
hail
This air mass starts very cold and dry but during its long passage over the relatively warm waters of the North Atlantic its temperature rises rapidly and it becomes unstable to a great depth.
Polar – Maritime Air mass
the most important moisture-bearing and rain-producing air mass throughout the year. In winter it moves poleward and is cooled by the ground surface. Consequently, it is characterized by fog or low stratus or stratocumulus clouds, with drizzle and poor visibility.
Tropical – Maritime Air mass
