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Weather Factors
Weather and Climate: Chapter Two
Term | Definition |
---|---|
thermometer | an instrument used to measure temperature. |
wind | the horizontal movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. |
anemometer | an instrument used to measure wind speed. |
wind vane | an instrument used to measure wind direction. |
local winds | winds that blow over short distances. |
global winds | winds that blow steadily from specific directions over long distances. |
jet streams | bands of high-speed winds about 10 kilometers above Earth's surface. |
evaporation | the process by which water molecules escape into the air as water vapor. (Think: The water cycle) |
humidity | the measure of the amount of water vapor in the air. |
psychrometer | an instrument used to measure the relative humidity in the air. (Think: water vapor) |
clouds | formed when water vapor in the atmosphere become liquid water or ice particles. |
cumulus | clouds that form less than two kilometers above the ground and look like fluffy, rounded piles of cotton. |
stratus | clouds that forms in flat layers. |
cirrus | wispy, feathery clouds mostly made of ice crystals that form at high levels. |
precipitation | any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth's surface. |
rain | precipitation in the form of liquid water. |
sleet | precipitation in the form of tiny ice particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter. |
freezing rain | raindrops that freeze when they land on a cold surface. |
hail | precipitation in the form of ice particles greater than 5 millimeters in diameter. |
snow | precipitation in the form of water vapor that is converted into ice crystals. |
rain gauge | an instrument that measures the amount of rainfall. |
droughts | long periods of low precipitation. |