Weather Vocabulary

Vocabulary!!!!

Terms	Definitions (Weather)
Cloud	Consist of billions of tiny water droplets (and even ice crystals) and clouds form when raising air cools and the moisture in it condenses to water droplets.
Gulf Stream	A warm swift current in the Atlantic Ocean that flows from the Gulf of Mexico along the eastern coast of the United States. Responsible for warming the east coast in the winter. Hurricanes follow this path because of the warm water.
Cumulus clouds	Are fluffy like pieces of cotton. Often they are thick and extend very high in the sky. Seen on clear sunny days.
Stratus clouds	Are flat layers that form close to the Earth. They are often connected with stormy weather.
Cirrus clouds	Are thin wispy and form high in the sky. They appear before a change in the weather.
cumulonimbus	A type of cumulus cloud that is tall and gray, and associated with heavy thunderstorms.
Coriolis Effect	A force that deflects moving objects to one side because of the Earth’s rotation. The object is still going straight but the Earth moves underneath it, making it look like it is moving to one side. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Coriolis Force deflects objects to the right.
thunderstorm	A storm with thunder, lightening, heavy rain, and sometimes hail that is formed from cumulonimbus clouds.
tornado	A violent whirling wind with a funnel shaped cloud.
hurricane	I violent storm that forms over warm ocean water and his winds of 74+ mph.
blizzard	A driving storm or wind and snow with very cold temperatures.
latitude	an imaginary line around the Earth parallel to the equator
longitude	an imaginary great circle on the surface of the earth passing through the north and south poles at right angles to the equator
Water cycle	The process in which water moves through the ground, evaporates from the earth into the air, forms clouds, and falls back to earth.
Precipitation	Rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
Condensation	The process in the water cycle by which gas becomes a liquid.
Evaporation	The process in the water cycle in which a liquid becomes a gas because water was heated.
Runoff	Water flowing over the Earth's surfaces into the lakes, rivers, and oceans.
Groundwater	Water that has soaked into the soil.
Weather	The state of atmosphere at a certain time and place.
Temperature	Is the measure of how warm or cold something is.
Climate	is the average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time.
Rotation	Is Earth spinning around once every 24 hours, resulting in day and night.
Revolution	Is Earth moving in a path around the Sun, resulting in one Earth year.
Humidity	the amount of water vapor in the air.
Latitude	The distance from the equator can determine weather and climate, closer to the equator, the warmer the temperature.
Barometer	A weather tool that measures air pressure
Rain gauge Hygrometer	A weather tool that measures the precipitation An instrument that is used to measure humidity in the air.
Meteorologist	A scientist who studies and predicts the weather.
Wind	Is caused by differences in air pressure
Atmosphere	A layer of gases surrounding a planet.  The Earth’s atmosphere is divided into five layers: exosphere, thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere.
local winds	Wind that forms in a small area due to temperature changes.
prevailing winds	A global wind that blows constantly from the same direction. North Carolina is in the Prevailing Westerlies.
Front	A boundary between two different air masses, resulting in stormy weather. A front usually is a line of separation between warm and cold air masses.
Air mass	A large body of air that has the same temperature and level of humidity throughout.
Cool air masses	Where the land temperature is cool.
Warm air masses	Form over the land that is warm
Dry air masses	Form over dry areas
Wet air masses	Form over wet areas like oceans.
Air pressure	The weight of air pressing down on earth. Usually gets lower as the altitude increases.
Low pressure	Associated with bad weather and more moisture.
High pressure	Associated with nice weather and less moisture.
Occluded front	A combination of two fronts that form when a cold front catches up and overtakes a warm front.
Stationary front	A boundary between two air masses that more or less doesn’t move, but some stationary fronts can wobble back and forth for several hundred miles a day. Brings periods of many rainy days.
Cold front:	A boundary between two air masses, one cold and the other warm, moving so that the colder air replaces the warmer air
Warm Front	The boundary between two air masses, one cool and the other warm, moving so that the warmer air replaces the cooler air.
Anemometer	A weather tool that records the speed and direction for wind.
Altitude	The farther up you go the temperature decreases. Air is less dense and cannot hold the heat.
Sea Breeze	The movement of air caused by cool air over the ocean moving toward the land.
Land breeze:	The movement of air created by cool air over land moving toward the ocean.
Mountain breeze	The movement of air caused by cool air sinking and moving down the slope of a mountain.
Valley breeze	The movement of air created by warm air rising and flowing up the slope of a mountain.
Humidity	The amount of water vapor in the air.
El Nino	The unusual warming of the surface waters of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It causes changes in wind patterns that have major effects on weather all across the globe.

La Nina                   A widespread cooling of the surface waters of the eastern tropical       Pacific Ocean. It’s the opposite of El Niño.

Jet Stream            A strong high level wind found in the atmosphere. These winds often        steer the movement of air masses and weather systems.

Thermometer       The instrument that measures temperature.