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Weather Chapter 2
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| water cycle | the continuous movement of water from water sources, such as lakes and oceans, in to the air, onto and over land, into the ground, and back to the water sources. |
| weather | the condition of the atmosphere at a particular time and place. |
| humidity | the amount of water vapor or moisture in the air. |
| relative humidity | the amount of moisture the air contains compared to the maximum amount given as a percentage |
| condensation | process by which a gas, such as water vapor, becomes a liquid. It occurs when saturated air cools further |
| dew point | the temperature to which air must cool to completely be saturated. |
| cloud | is a collection of milliions of tiny water droplets or ice crystals |
| precipitation | water, in solid or liuied form, that falls from the air to the Earth |
| air mass | a large body of air that has similar temperature ad moisture throughout |
| maritime | forms over water |
| continental | forms over land |
| polar | forms over the polar regions; cold |
| tropical | forms over the Tropics; warm |
| front | the boundary that forms when two different air masses meet |
| cold front | cold air mass meets and displaces a warm air mass; produces thunderstorms, heavy rain, or snow; cooler weather usually follows |
| warm front | warm air mass meets and overrides a cold air mas; generally bring drizzly precipitation; after it passes, weather conditions are clear and warm |
| occluded front | faster moving cold air mass from two directions that forces warm air up; cool temperatures and large amounts of precipitation |
| stationary front | cold air mass meets a warm air mass with little to no horizontal movement; weather is similar to that produced by a warm front. |