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weather tools/clouds
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| cumulus | puffy with flat bottoms and round tops that signal fair weather |
| cirrus | wispy, feathery clouds made ice crystals that from at high levels |
| stratus | clouds that form in flat layers and often cover much of the sky |
| nimbus | a rain cloud |
| fog | a stratus cloud that forms when air is cooled to its dew point near the ground |
| anemometer | an instrument used to measure wind speed |
| wind vane | instrument used to measure wind direction |
| thermometer | an instrument used to measure temperature |
| sling psychrometer | tool made of a wet and dry thermometer that measures relative humidity and requires a table to interpret the two temperatures |
| barometer | an instrument that measures atmospheric pressure |
| rain gauge | an instrument used to measure precipitation |
| weather map | a map the uses symbols to show weather data |
| weather satellites | type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the earth |
| weather radar | is an instrument that sends pulses of electromagnetic energy into the atmosphere to find precipitation, determine its motion and intensity, and identify the precipitation type such as rain, snow or hail |
| isobar | line on a map connecting points having the same barometric reading at given time |
| isotherm | a line on a weather map that joins places that have the same temperature |
| cumulonimbus | are thunderstorm clouds. high winds can flatten the top of the clouds into an anvil- like shape. cumulonimbus clouds are associated with heavy rain, snow, hail, lightning and even tornadoes. the anvil usually points in the direction the storm is moving. |
| relative humidity | the amount of water vapor in the air at any given time is usually less than that required to saturate the air. expressed as a percentage. |