weather vocab Flashcards
humidity
a quantity representing the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere or in a gas.
Cumulus
puffy, detached clouds with flat bases
Stratus Cloud
low-lying, flat, featureless, and gray clouds that can cover the entire sky
Cirrus Cloud
high-altitude, wispy clouds composed entirely of ice crystals
Cumulonimbus Cloud
towering, vertically developed clouds associated with thunderstorms
Condensation
he change of the state of matter from the gas phase into the liquid phase,
Evaporation
the process where a substance, like water, changes from a liquid to a gas (vapor) at a temperature below its boiling point
Precipitation
the action or process of precipitating a substance from a solution.
Runoff
a further competition, election, race, etc., after a tie or inconclusive result.
rain
moisture condensed from the atmosphere that falls visibly in separate drops.
Sleet
a form of precipitation consisting of ice pellets, often mixed with rain or snow.
Snow
atmospheric water vapor frozen into ice crystals and falling in light white flakes or lying on the ground as a white layer.
hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets
Polar – Maritime Airmass
cool and moist, forming over cold ocean waters in high latitudes and often bringing cloudy, damp weather to coastal
Tropical – Maritime Airmass
a warm, moist air mass that forms over tropical and subtropical ocean waters
Polar – Continental Airmass
a cold, dry air mass that forms over large, high-latitude land masses like Canada or Siberia
Tropical – Continental Airmass
a type of tropical air that forms over large, warm land areas,
Cold Front
forms when a cold, dense air mass pushes under a warm, lighter air mass, forcing the warm air to rise
Warm Front
the leading edge of a warm air mass displacing a colder air mass,
Thunderstorm
a storm with thunder and lightning and typically also heavy rain or hail.
Lightning
the occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and typically also thunder.
Thunder
a loud rumbling or crashing noise heard after a lightning flash due to the expansion of rapidly heated air.
Tornado
a mobile, destructive vortex of violently rotating winds having the appearance of a funnel-shaped cloud and advancing beneath a large storm system.
Hurricane
a storm with a violent wind, in particular a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean.
Thermometer
an instrument for measuring and indicating temperature
