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Greenfield Weather
Weather and Meteorology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Air Mass | A large body of air with uniform properties throughout |
| Air Pressure (Atmospheric Pressure) | The force exerted onto a surface by the weight of air |
| Altitude | The height of an object relative to sea level |
| Anemometer | An instrument used for measuring the speed of the wind |
| Atmosphere | Mixture of gases that surround the Earth |
| Aurora Borealis | An electrically charged region within the thermosphere and near the poles that causes strange colored "lights" in the night sky |
| Barometer | An instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure |
| Blizzard | A severe snowstorm with high winds and low visibility |
| Cirrus | Clouds which form wispy filamentous tufted streaks at high altitudes |
| Clouds | Water vapor mixed with dirt and dust in warm air which comes in contact with cooler air and begins to change back to a liquid (condensation) |
| Cold Air | Air that is colder than the air around it and in which oxygen molecules come together very close making it so dense that few water molecules can enter |
| Cold Front | This forms when a cold air mass pushes under a warm air mass, forcing the warm air to rise. Thunderstorms can form. As the front moves through, cool, fair weather usually follows |
| Condensation | The change in a substance from a gas to a liquid by the addition of energy |
| Condensation Nuclei | Are small particles typically 0.2 um, or 1/100th the size of a cloud droplet on which water vapour condenses |
| Conduction | The process in which energy moves from a location of higher temperature to a location of lower temperature heat. The material does not move, just the heat. |
| Conduct.,Convect., and Radiation | The 3 mechanisms (ways) by which thermal energy (heat) is transported |
| Convection | The transfer of heat in gases (air) or fluids |
| Convection Currents | Currents that transfer heat where hot air or liquids are less dense and rise while cooler air or liquids become more dense and sink. Warmer material constantly replaces cooler materials |
| Coriolis Effect | An effect where a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation |
| Cumulus | Clouds often described as puffy, cotton-like, or fluffy in appearance and have flat bases |
| Cyclone | Wind system that rotates around a low pressure center |
| Density | The amount of mass in a given space |
| Dew Point | The temperature at which air is saturated with water vapor-when it has 100% humidity |
| El-Nino | A natural climate variation in which the trade winds weaken or reverse directions and warm water accumulates on the ocean surface off the coast of South America |
| Evaporation | the process by witch radiant energy from the sun turns liquid water into gas |
| Exosphere | The last layer or top most part of our atmosphere |
| Flood | An overflowing of a large amount of water beyond its normal confines, especially over what is normally dry land |
| Fog | When air is cooled to the dew point near the ground it forms a stratus cloud we call this |
| Front | boundary that forms when two air masses with different properties meet |
| Global Winds | These are the dominate prevailing wind patterns that blow in a fairly constant, steady direction across our Earth |
| Greenhouse Effect | The process by which carbon dioxide and other gasses in the atmosphere absorb infrared radiation from the sun forming a heat blanket around the Earth |
| Hail | Water droplets in a cloud that freeze, melt as they fall through warmer air, get caught in an updraft and thrown back up into the cloud and colder air where the melted water refreezes again. This can happen several times causing the hailstone to grow |
| Heat | |
| High Pressure | An area of cooler, heavy air which holds less water vapor because its molecules are closer together. It always moves from this to a lower pressure (warm air) |
| Humidity | The amount of water vapor held in the air. |
| Hurricanes | A storm with a violent wind, in particular a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean |
| Ionosphere | Electronically charged region located within the thermosphere causing the auroras. Communication satellites orbit here |
| Ionosphere and Exosphere | Both are contained within the thermosphere and are the last remanants of Earth's atmosphere |
| Isobar | Line on a weather map that connects locations with similar pressure. |
| Isotherm | Lines on a weather map that connects locations with the same temperature |
| Jet Stream | A fast-flowing river of air high in the atmosphere where air masses with very different sets of temperature and humidity characteristics move past each other. |
| Land Breeze | A breeze that is blowing toward the sea from the land, especially at night. |
| Lightning | The occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and typically also thunder. |
| Local Winds | Small scale convection winds of local origin caused by temperature differences |
| Low Pressure | Areas of warm, less dense air which hold more water because the air molecules are farther apart. Air always moves from areas of high pressure to this. |
| Mesosphere | Layer between the stratosphere and thermosphere; temperature decreases with altitude |
| Meteorology | The study of weather and its patterns |
| Nitrogen | 78% of the layers of the atmosphere are composed of this gas |
| Occluded Front | This forms when a warm air mass gets caught between two cold air masses. The warm air mass rises as the cool air masses push and meet in the middle. Can bring strong winds and heavy precipitation. |
| Ozone | The oxygen atoms bonded together in an 03 molecule. By itself in the atmosphere it is a pollutant but in the upper atmosphere, it protects life from ultraviolet radiation |
| Ozone Layer | A layer within the stratosphere containing ozone which absorbs and scatters much of the sun's UV radiation and protects us from harmful amounts of UV |
| Polar Easterlies | Dry, cold prevailing winds that blow from the high-pressure areas of the north and south poles towards low pressure areas within the Westerlies |
| Precipitation | water that falls from the atmosphere to the earth as rain,sleet,snow, or hail |
| Radiation | transfer of heat energy through empty space |
| Reflection | bouncing back. a wave bounces off a reflective surface, just as a light wave bounces off a mirror. |
| Relative Humidity | percentage of moister the air holds relative to the amount it could hold at particular temputaere |
| Saturated | the state of the atmosphere in which air contains the maximum amount of water vapor that it can hold at a specific temperature and air pressure |
| Sea Breeze | A breeze blowing toward the land from the sea, especially during the day |
| Sleet | |
| Stationary Front | This forms when warm and cold air meet and neither air mass has the force to move the other. They remain stationary or "standing still" which can bring days of clouds, fog, and light precipitation |
| Storm Surge | A rising of the sea as a result of atmospheric pressure changes and wind associated with a storm. |
| Stratosphere | Above the troposphere; temperature increases with altitude because of the presence of ozone |
| Stratus | Low-level clouds characterized by horizontal layering |
| Sun | |
| Temperature | The average amount of energy of motion in the molecules of a substance. |
| Thermosphere | the outer atmosphere where gases are extremely thinly distributed |
| Thunder | |
| Thunderstorms | A storm with thunder and lightning and typically also heavy rain or hail |
| Tornado | A mobile, destructive vortex of violently rotating winds having the appearance of a funnel-shaped cloud and advancing beneath a large storm system. |
| Trade Winds | A wind blowing steadily toward the equator from the Northeast in the northern hemisphere or the Southeast in the southern hemisphere, especially at sea. |
| Troposphere | The lowermost layer of the atmosphere; temperature decreases with altitude |
| Wall Clouds | Low lieing thick layer of clouds that give the appearance of being a solid horizonal wall |
| Warm Air | Air that is warmer than nearby air. The air molecules spread out far apart leaving lots of spaces for water vapor to join in |
| Warm Front | This forms when a moist, warm air mass slides up and over a cold air mass. Can bring gentle rain or light snow followed by milder weather |
| Water Spout | A rotating column of water and spray formed by a whirlwind occurring over the sea or other body of water |
| Weather | The state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place, determined by factors including air pressure, amount of moisture in the air, temperature amd wind |
| Weather Forecast | The application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location |
| Weather Front | A boundary separating two masses of air of different densities, and is the principal cause of meteorological hemispheres |
| Westerlies | The belt of prevailing westerly winds in the mid-latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres |
| Winds | The horizontal movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure |
Created by:
pattigreenfield
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