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Weather Stack
Air Masses, Fronts, Tornadoes , Hurricanes
Term | Definition |
---|---|
air mass | a huge body of air with similar temperature, humidity and air pressure |
front | where two air masses meet and do not mix |
thunderstorm | disturbance in the earth's atmosphere involving lightning and thunder |
Tornado Alley | area in central plains of the US where tornadoes are abundant |
tornado watch | issued when the conditions are right for a tornado to occur |
tornado warning | issued when a tornado has been spotted |
Fujita Scale | used to rate tornadoes and their level of damage |
Saffir-Simpson Scale | used to categorize hurricanes based on wind speed |
vortex | the movement of a liquid or gas in a spiral around a central axis |
storm surge | a massive wall of water that builds up at sea and blows in to land |
tornado | violent windstorm that spirals around a rotating column of air |
funnel cloud | rapidly, rotating cloud becomes a visible funnel at the base of a cloud |
continental air mass | forms over land and associated with dry air |
polar air mass | forms over polar regions and associated with cold air and high pressure |
tropical air mass | forms over tropical areas and associated with warm air and low air pressure |
maritime air mass | forms over oceans and brings humidity |
occluded front | when a warm air mass is trapped between two cold air masses |
warm front | when warm air slides over the cold, dense air |
stationary front | when warm and cold front meet creates a "stand off" |
cold front | cold, dry air slides under warm air and pushes it up |
typhoon | a big rotating wind and rainstorm located in the Western Pacific Ocean |
cyclone | a big rotating wind and rainstorm located in the Indian Ocean or off the coast of Australia |
hurricane | a big rotating wind and rainstorm located in the Atlantic Ocean and eastern Pacific Ocean |