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Weather
Vocab
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Water Cycle | movement of water between the atmosphere, land, oceans, and even living things. |
Evaporation | Water turning into water vapor |
Transpiration | Plants release water into the environment through their leaves |
Sublimation | When solid water turns directly into vapor |
Condensation | The change of water from a gas to a liquid |
Precipitation | Any form of water that falls to Earth |
Weather | the condition of Earth’s atmosphere at a certain time and place |
Humidity | Amount of water vapor in the air |
Relative Humidity | Amount of water vapor in the air compared to the amount of water vapor needed to reach saturation |
Air Pressure | The force of air molecules pushing on an area |
Wind | movement of air caused by differences in air pressure |
Air mass | a large volume of air in which temperature and moisture content are nearly the same throughout |
Front | A boundary of air that forms between 2 air masses |
Jet Stream | long distance winds that travel above global winds for thousands of kilometers |
Thunderstorm | an intense local storm that forms strong winds and heavy rain along with lightning, thunder, and hai |
Lightning | an electric discharge charged that happens between a positively charged area and a negatively charged area |
Thunder | the sound created by the rapid expansion of air along a lightning strike |
Hurricane | a tropical low pressure system with winds blowing at speed of 74 mi/h or more |
Storm Surge | When a hurricane moves into a coastal area, it pushes huge amounts of the ocean onto land |
Tornado | a destructive, rotating column of air that has very high wind speeds and that is sometimes visible as a funnel-shaped cloud |
Sink Holes | holes in the ground that form when a cove collapses |
Wildfires | Uncontrolled fires burning in natural areas |
Muck fires | when dry grass and trees are ignited easily by a lightning strike |
Climate | describes the weather conditions in an area over a long period of time |
Global Winds | Wind systems that occur at or near Earth’s surface |
Westerlies | Westerlies are winds that blow 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitudes in both hemispheres. Wind blows from the west to the east |
Trade Winds | Winds that blow between 30 degrees latitude and the equator in both hemispheres. Winds blow from the East to the West |
Local winds | the movement of air over short distances |
Sea Breeze | a local wind that blows from the sea to the land during the day |
Land Breeze | a local wind that blows from the land to the sea during the night |